The General Agricultural Workers Union has raised concerns about the regulatory body responsible for checking standards of foodstuffs sold on the market.

According to the General Secretary, Edward Kareweh, some traders temper with their scales and other equipment used to measure the quantity being sold without the knowledge of the customer. This therefore deprive the customer of getting value for money.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Ghanaian Farmer Conference championed by Joy Business, General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union, Edward Kareweh said, “because the role of policyholders are not clearly determined and enforced, it leaves us with a chaotic, poorly organized and unregulated agricultural production system. For example, who sets the standards and enforcement of how goods should be handled on the market.”

Country Representative for Continental Free Trade Area, Louis Afful said AfCFTA will consider bringing back barter trade. This he said is to ensure the efficacy of the trade agreement.

“Africa Continental Free Trade Area is moving into the barter trading system soon. There will be the need for African countries to rely on each other,” he hinted.

A.K.B Deyang, representative of the Ministry of Agriculture at the event disclosed that the ministry is on course to digitalizing the sector and providing agro-processing facilities.

“Our next phase of the value chain development in the food and agricultural sector would be set and led by technology and digitilisation agenda where comprehensive development and utilization of of ICT access and usage in the country would be tapped to augment development in the sector,” he stated.

Researcher at the Crop Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr. Ernest Baafi, outlined some strategies to improve the institute to ensure the sector fully benefits from research.

“The way forward in achieving food security in the country; there is the need for government to increase support for research and we encourage private sector participation in supporting agricultural research activities. We need to recruit more staff to replace the retired ones, there’s the need to invest in education facility at the institute’s outstation. We also need to move to climate-smart agriculture going forward to sustain higher yields of our crops, and there’s the need to have a significant growth in our seed industry,” he outlined.