General Manager for WeComm Agri-Media and Consultancy, Kojo Akoto Boateng, has said the current inflation on prices of food in the country is a representation of how Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) project has been an unprofitable investment.
Speaking at the Youth Economic Forum 2022 on the theme, ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Agribusiness’, he mentioned that even though the country is said to have made active investment into Planting for Food and Jobs for the past five to six years, it has not yielded the expected results in the agriculture and agribusiness industry.
“I don’t think Planting for Food and Jobs has been worth the investment, it has been a failure and we should revisit the books and reorganise how we are investing in food production and national food security. So if we have invested over GH¢3 billion, where is the evidence in our excellent food production? That evidence is in the cost and quality of food you get,” he said.
“How much is 5kg of rice? If Planting for Food and Jobs for rice was done right, we should be seeing a lot of rice in the market. We say we are mechanising the industry and bringing in processing but the result is the effect on the population. If we had invested correctly, the population must be feeling the effect and not buying food double the price you bought it in January,” he stated.
He stated that things like cost of plane tickets, hotels and luxurious vehicles, amongst others, can increase but when the cost of food goes up, it affects every body and those are the things the country has to deal with as a matter of national food security.
Mr. Akoto Boateng further emphasised the need to invest and aggressively pursue import substitution policies in order to overturn the US$4 billion import bill.
“Everything we import. If we are to substitute with local alternative, will create jobs, improve value, create wealth within the economy and reduce the stress on the economy in a situation where we have to look for dollars all the time to import and how it throws our economy off balance,” he stated.
Also, he mentioned that the problem in the agroindustry is as a result of the country allowing importers and traders to control the direction of the economy.
“We have allowed certain shifts in the economy to dictate what we do, because there was a time we produced enough of the key things needed in the country, but these traders are buying from countries with subsidies and could get them cheaper and lower grades which are repackaged and sent back to Ghana.”
Mr. Akoto Boateng added that support for farmers and agribusinesses needs to be well targeted at people who are actually doing the work and producing rather than spending the money on political cronies.
