Food security in Ghana threatened by prolonged dry spell

Ghana’s food security is threatened by an alarming dry spell that has already wreaked havoc to farmers and agricultural production.

Over 435 thousand farmers in the country, cultivating an estimated area of 871,745 hectares have been directly affected by the prolonged dry spell.

 

These affected farmers are reported to have lost about GH₵ 3.5 billion in investments, with a lot more farmers also at risk, indicating possible severe food shortages and soaring prices.

 

As a measure to ensure food security and until the situation normalizes, the government has announced an immediate ban on the export of key grains, including maize, rice, and soybean.

 

"This measure is essential to ensure the availability of these critical crops on the domestic market,” stated the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong.

 

The dry spell leads to crop failure, which results in low productivity or yield on the farm, and eventually high prices of food on the market. The eight impacted regions of the country contribute about 62% of the country’s grain supply.

 

But there are skepticisms among farmers over the government’s proposed interventions.

 

President of the Association, Bismark Owusu Nortey, says the farmers will lose out to the ban as they may be compelled to sell their produce at cheap prices to avert post-harvest losses.

 

“They did not take on board the views, the concerns and the possible challenges that this might have on farmers,” he said.

 

The national weather forecaster, GMET, indicates although the five Northern regions could see some rains in the coming weeks, the transition belt - the Bono East and Oti regions - will suffer a prolonged period of dry weather.

 

“We’re expecting a little bit drier spell around the Kintampo, Wenchi, Atebubu, Ketekrachi areas. For the minor season, the rest of the country would have a shorter dry spell. Then towards the northern fringes of the country, we’re expecting the rainfall to pick up,” said Francisca Martey, Head of Research and Applied Meteorology at the Ghana Meteorological Agency.

 

By Kofi Adu Domfeh