EDITORIAL: Our Food Situation is Still [Difficult]

At his second press conference in Accra, President John Agyekum Kufuor told newsmen that as a result of good rains this year and the efforts of farmers throughout the country, there is a food glut in the country. Prices of food items have therefore come down. At the 22nd World Food Day flag-raising ceremony in Accra, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Courage Quarshigah assured the nation of his ministry's commitment towards a further boost in food production from the current four per cent annually to six percent.

One of the minister's strategies is to develop access to technology for sustainable natural resource management like the efficient use of water resources for agricultural production.

Read his lips: "We can find enough water to feed the world. But we must pool our resources and strengthen our commitment to improve water management for agricultural production."

Public Agenda does not believe we have reached the stage where the country could feed all its citizens without breaking the backs of most families. We might have done well for ourselves this year. But there are many families out there who simply cannot feed themselves. And it is not entirely their fault.

With all the food glut the President talks about, the cost of an average size tuber of yam is ?4,000 in Accra, more than half the average daily wage. A ball of kenkey sells at ?1,000 and the smallest finger of fish is ?2,000. In the rural areas, prices are even more prohibitive. Many people are finding cheaper means of filling the stomach without the requisite nutritional value.

Compared to our earning capabilities, Ghana, certainly, is one of the most expensive places to buy food in the West African Sub-Region.

A nation that cannot feed its citizens would have a problem with development and human advancement. That is why the Weekend Agenda calls for more effort to reduce the cost of food in this country. We believe the food situation would improve tremendously if concerted efforts were put into eliminating the many middlemen in the food business. In the markets across the country, there are the so-called 'market queens' who simply collect commissions on things sold in the markets. They add nothing to the actual process of bringing food and goods to the markets, but they put themselves in the middle of the poor women who struggle to bring the food items and the buyer.

The state of our roads is also not helping the food cause. Many food items end up on the rubbish tips instead of the homes of consumers as a result of the deplorable roads that lead to the hinterland. If and when the road situation improves, there is every evidence that most of the food going waste in the hinterlands will be carted to the needy in the many towns and villages.

Talk of transportation and some of our drivers charge exorbitant fares for carting food items. Exhortations to our drivers to be reasonable with the fare system appear to have fallen on deaf ears and someone ought to get tough with them. In the long run, farmers would have to be encouraged with subsidies to feed the nation and for export. The so-called advanced nations give their farmers all sorts of incentives to produce. We cannot abandon our farmers to their fate and expect them to be motivated to feed the nation.