Agric ministry targets abundant food at competitive prices

Accra (Greater Accra) 23 March '99

The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday said it is taking steps to ensure that farmers produce quality crops abundantly at a low unit cost and at competitive prices. In an interview with the GNA in Accra, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, a Deputy Minister of Agriculture, said a number of programmes have therefore been initiated. These include the Roots and Tubers Improvement Programme aimed at enhancing the quality of crops such as cassava, cocoyam, potatoes and yam. The Village Agriculture Infrastructure Programme has recently been launched, under which feeder and farm roads would be constructed. It would also introduce an Intermediate Transport Technology - the use of donkeys and tricycles to cart produce from farms to depots. '' This will replace the dependence of human conveyance that relied on the strength of the individual". "Our long term vision is to move the sector uphill in such a way that Ghanaians could have three square meals a day at affordable prices." Mr Nketia said the Ministry's efforts can only succeed when farmers adhere to good farming practices, adding that ''there are some, particularly rice farmers, who still want to go into traditional crops against the advice that their land is unsuitable for the crop. "So what the Ministry is doing now is determining the best soil and agro-ecological zones that will give the highest yield and introduce farmers to improved cultural practices. ''Gradually farmers are being made to understand that the nation has departed from a command economy where government determines what is to be produced, at what quantity and buying directly from farmers whatever is produced. "This is not possible in a free market economy which government has been pursuing since the inception of the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP). So production now must take into consideration the market". In effect, Mr Nketia said, ''government does not market individual farmers' produce but helps to build linkages between producers and consumers, processors or agricultural industries''. He said because farmers end up producing for instance, ''rice at high unit cost of production, they cannot sell on the local market let alone export. ''As a result, some rice farmers are suggesting a total ban on importation of rice or slapping high tax on imported rice. "Unfortunately, as a nation we are parties to international fair trade agreements which limit our ability to apply some of the solutions being called for." In fairness to consumers, Mr Nketiah said, restrictions must not be placed unduly on consumer choice unless it is absolutely necessary. With good rains it is possible to achieve the 5.6 per cent growth rate projected in the budget, saying that despite poor weather conditions last year, "we were able to achieve more than four per cent''.