Regional Minister prioritises processing to address maize glut challenge

Charles Lwanga Puozuing, the Upper West Regional Minister, has expressed grave concern about the glut of some farm produce in the region, particularly maize, and called for measures to increase local processing as a sustainable solution.

He stated that one of the key interventions was the facilitation of a credit facility from the Ghana EXIM Bank to enable Kedan Limited, a grains processing factory in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality, to expand its capacity and absorb excess maize produced by farmers.

“If we have a factory that is big enough to have the capacity to acquire these farm products, we will not be calling on people to come and buy.

One of the factories that I have led to ensure that they get a facility from EXIM Bank is Kedan in the Sissala East area, and we are at the stage of finalising it, where the Board will approve the loan,” the Minister explained.

Puozuing said this in Wa during a press soirée as part of his planned regular media engagement to market the region’s development potential and challenges to attract investment and support.

The intervention by the Minister followed concerns raised by stakeholders in the Sissala area, including the Council of Sissala Paramount Chiefs and the Sissala Union, regarding the lack of a market for maize in the area.

Reports indicated that a 100kg bag of maize was sold in the Sissala area at about GH₵350.00.

As part of efforts to address the low-price challenge, the Government of Ghana, in 2025, released GH₵100 million to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to off-take excess farm produce in the country.

However, stakeholders in the Sissala area said they had yet to see any officer from the Buffer Stock Company in the area to buy their produce.

For instance, while the Council of Sissala Paramount Chiefs, in a recent communiqué, welcomed government intervention to buy maize from farmers at GH₵450.00, it said it was yet to locate Buffer Stock buyers in the area.

However, Puozuing indicated that NAFCO officers in the region did not have the express authority to buy food items from farmers, but to supervise and regulate the movement of food items to warehouses and schools where contractors had been engaged.

Meanwhile, the absence of authorised NAFCO buyers in the region had deprived farmers in the region of the opportunity to benefit from the government’s GH₵100 million food purchasing programme.

The Minister, therefore, appealed to the media to increase advocacy to draw the attention of stakeholders, including NAFCO, to the maize glut in the region.

Puozuing added that Kedan Limited had also bid for a factory in Funsi in the Wa East District to augment grain processing in the region.

The expansion of Kedan’s operational capacity would significantly reduce post-harvest losses, stabilise maize prices, improve farmers’ income, and encourage young people to venture into farming, especially maize production.