Poultry farmers in the country have been urged to consider supplying their eggs and other perishable products to senior high schools across the country but on a credit basis.
This, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO), Hanan Abdul-Wahab, could be a good business opportunity for the farmers.
He explained that even for them, after the supply of non-perishable foods to the schools, under the Free Senior High School arrangement, they are only paid after 60 days by the Ministry of Education.
"We are very much aware of the sensitive nature of the work we are doing here. Food is very very important and you'll also agree with me, government business is not like private business where payments and approvals can be done within a minute or within an hour; it's a process because are actually spending public money. This is money for the good people of Ghana and so we cannot just rush and do things.
"Buffer Stock goes to supply and wait for 60 days before we are paid by the Ministry of Education - that is the arrangement we have with the Ministry of Education on the Free Senior High School supply of the non-perishable food items so I'll also encourage poultry farmers who have eggs and other products, that want to do business with the schools since the schools are responsible for the day to day buying of perishables that include eggs, to also go into similar arrangements with them so that they can give them on credit," he said.
Hanan Abdul-Wahab further encouraged the poultry farmers to re-adjust the way they do business with the schools, seeing that they are doing so with government.
"The information we have picked on the grounds is that poultry farmers want to do cash and carry and this is government business: you cannot do cash and carry with government," he said.
He made this known during a press conference to clarify some claims made by the Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, that SHSs were no longer buying eggs because the government had replaced it with the supply of some "Chinese mackerels", thereby killing the local poultry business.
The NAFCO insisted that the claims are false and misreported.
