Public Agenda (Accra)
Selorm Amevor
29 August 2008
A Convention Peoples' Party (CPP) government would develop a national nutrition policy to ensure the promotion of healthy lifestyles amongst Ghanaians based on foodstuffs locally produced.
The flag bearer of the party, Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom said this policy would not only promote the healthy lifestyles of the Ghanaian but also help raise the incomes of farmers and fishermen.
In addition, the Food Research Institute will be tasked to improve food preparation methods to make preparation of Ghanaian cuisine less time-consuming.
According to him good nutrition does not only help children to grow and learn better but also helps them to grow into healthy adults and a more productive labour force.
Speaking at a recently organized interactive session organized by Peasant Farmers Association (PFAG) in Accra, he said under his Presidency he would ensure that at all state functions locally produced food would be served to dignitaries whether foreign or local.
Dr. Nduom took a swipe at the attitude of both present and past governments towards the agricultural sector which he said has faced continuous neglect and decline, especially between 1997 and September 2007.
He indicated that the agriculture's share of domestic business for the past ten years fell from 12.8% to 4.2% because banks continue to shy away from the sector , blaming the trend on the fact that 63 % of the budget for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) is expected to come from donors.
"This is because of government's failure to provide the enabling environment for financing and marketing in the sector," he said.
According to him despite the many water bodies and long coastal lines of Ghana, the country imports about $200 million of fish every year. Dr. Nduom said that fishermen living in the coastal areas are becoming poorer because of the interference of politicians in the distribution of pre-mix fuel and the lack of protection by government from foreigners who are operating big fishing trawlers on our territorial waters.
The flag bearer said that the importation of rice, chicken, pork and beef has gone up significantly since 2001 and unfortunately the current NPP administration recently ignored the needs of small-scale rice farmers and reduced taxes on imported rice.
Touching on the issue of subsidy for farmers, he indicated that all over the world governments are taking bold steps to protect food stocks by restricting the amount of food items that can be exported to other countries.
"The American Congress in a recent session considered making available subsidies amounting to $300 million for the benefit of America farmers," he added.
He said a CPP administration would engage in energetic, sustained and well-organized efforts during its term to produce enough to meet the nation's food and nutritional needs.
According to him the sector requires the active participation of government in all aspects namely research, planning, production, storage, distribution and financing.
The Flag bearer revealed that the history of other developing countries shows that the transformation of the Agriculture sector is an essential pre-requisite for the sustained growth in national income which to him is the hallmark of a successful government.
"This transformation of agriculture is what the CPP aims to accomplish and it is this which will meet the needs of farmers, particularly small scale farmers in Ghana," he added.
At the end of the interactions, many farmers interviewed by this paper applauded the CPP flag bearer for a comprehensive program for farmers.
They were however of the opinion that it would be necessary for government and other stakeholders to come out with an agricultural policy with inputs from all the political parties and other stakeholders.
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