The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Bryan Acheampong, has assured of the capacity of the ministry to deliver on food security through the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) phase two.

Dr. Acheampong made the statement when he addressed farmers and financial institutions at a Presidential Breakfast Meeting on Agriculture and Agribusiness Financing in Accra.

According to him, the government is putting in measures to ensure availability of food supply in the next five years.

This, he said, will help Ghana reduce the import of basic vegetables such as onions and tomatoes from the Sahelian regions.

“The enormity of leading the charge to transform Ghana’s agriculture through the new strategy has never been lost on me, right from the inception of my stewardship”, he recalled.

Dr. Acheampong expressed optimism the agric sector could turn the fortunes of Ghana around and transform the economy.

He pointed out that Ghana has all the right conditions that could help the country grow what it needs to feed its population.

“They include; abundant arable land for crop production, especially the virgin valleys suitable for rice production, good soils for the production of a variety of crops, across the country, water resources for irrigation, favourable weather, and a diversity of food commodities that provide numerous avenues for job creation along the agriculture value chain, to mention a few”.

He explained that the phase two of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme will work as an intervention on a sound footing.

Ghana consumes 324,000MT of poultry

Announcing some figures, he stated that Ghana consumes a total of 324,000 metric tonnes (MT) of poultry, but is only able to produce about 15,000 MT.

This, he said shows a woeful self-sufficiency of under 5%.

“In the five-year plan of PFJ 2.0, Ghana is expected to move its self-sufficiency from 5% to 7% by the end of 2023, and to 13% in 2024, and progressively attain full self-sufficiency of 110.6% by 2028. Specific steps have been taken in this regard”.

Dr. Acheampong announced that, in the immediate term (October to December 2023), MoFA is supplying 4.5-million-day-old chicks, vaccines, and starter-pack feed to anchor farmers and their outgrowers.

He stated that the intervention will result in the production of an additional 13,200 MT of poultry meat by the end of this year, which will increase Ghana’s self-sufficiency to 7%.

He stated that in 2024, the ministry will ramp the poultry sector up with support to 18 million day-old chicks, vaccines, and starter-pack feed, which will lead to the production of 42,600 MT of meat and increase our self-sufficiency to 13%.

This trajectory will continue until we reach full self-sufficiency.

“Plans are also advanced to revive the poultry industry this year through the rehabilitation of 300 outgrown poultry farms across the country over the next 12 months. Each of these farms can be scaled to produce 200,000 birds within each poultry cycle of 4 months”, he added.