The country director of Oxfam Ghana, a non- governmental organization, Mr. Sebastian Tiah, has expressed worry over a likely food insecurity crisis in the country.
He said a recent research shows that about 5 percent of Ghanaian are food insecure, a situation he describes as be very disturbing. He explained that this means 5 percent of people in the country can hardly eat a day.
Ghana has a huge arable land and horticultural crops for large scale production yet the numerous natural resources do not bring economic returns to impact meaningful on smallholder farmers.
Speaking at a “National Stakeholders Dialogue Meeting on Donor Investment in the Agriculture Sector,” fronted by Send-Ghana, Mr. Tiah said there should be a holistic approach in addressing the current challenges confronting the agriculture sector.
He noted that the investment witnessed in the sector have not impacted positively on smallholder farmers . He thus observed that it will be prudent for actors in the industry to re-look at the development from a broader perspective.
“We are so concerned that those investment are not bringing in the desired result, particularly in favour of smallholder agriculture.” He therefore suggested a paradigm shift from what he termed ‘tokenistic’ investment agriculture towards agriculture investment that can transform the lives of farmers.
He he also called for a consented effort to champion and invest more in smallholder agriculture. This he said can change the fortunes of smallholder farmers.
Smallholder farmers keep struggling in area of logistics, funding and ready markets for their produce. Although it has been widely acknowledged that agriculture offers the best solution to end the high unemployment situation being witnessed in the country very little is being done to improve the sector.
Audio attached
