The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has expressed concern over Ghana’s dependence on external sources to address its food-related challenges.
Acheampong revealed that Ghana currently imports approximately $24 million worth of onions exclusively from Niger. He emphasized that the nation could achieve self-sufficiency by importing only a fraction of its current imports.
“We have identified zones; we know the seed requirement, fertiliser, and people requirement and we are going to get it done … we imported close US$24 million of onions from Niger.
“I need a quarter of that to fix our onion problem with the land available in the Volta, Bono, Northern Regions with a quarter of that money because they produce US$26 million worth of onions, Ghana takes US$24 million, Nigeria takes about US$800, 000,” he said on Asaase radio.
Bryan Acheampong also outlined the government’s plan to tackle this issue as part of the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs program.
Bryan Acheampong further announced that the government intends to address this issue as part of the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs program.
“We are going to deal with it, under Planting for Food and Jobs phase two we have a clear plan that we are going to share. So, Ghanaians know the size of our problem and how we are dealing with it. We are dealing with ten crops,” he added.