Work on 1,000 metric tonnes grains warehouse completed - Dr Bawumia

The Vice-President, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has inaugurated a completed 1, 000 metric tonnes grains warehouse at Asaam near Asante-Mampong in the Ashanti Region.

The project executed under the Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Programme (IPEP), was supervised by the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives (MSDI).

It is in line with the Government of Ghana’s agenda to boost food storage and production, thereby ensuring food security in the country.

Alhaji Dr Bawumia described the project as timely given the high cost of food losses in the country.

The Nana Akufo-Addo-led Administration, he said, was committed to alleviating the plight of farmers for increased productivity.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s (MoFA) statistics had shown that at least 30 per cent of farm produce in the country is lost annually through post-harvest losses, a situation which reduces the incomes of farmers.

This tends to make farming unattractive, and also inhibits efforts at ensuring food security while perpetuating poverty amongst a significant number of Ghanaian farmers.

According to the Vice-President, significant progress had been made by the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) in delivering on its campaign promises to make life better for farmers.

He said the country’s economy which was agro-based was being expanded through the requisite investment in agriculture, to create more job opportunities for the people.

Nana Nyamaa Sarfo Sipong Panin II, the Chief of Asaam, said Asante-Mampong and its environs were noted for their high production of grains and other staple crops.

Therefore, the project had come at the appropriate time when many farmers were grappling with food losses due to the unavailability of storage facilities, he added.