Economist Prof. Patrick Asuming has advised the John Mahama government to approach the agriculture sector differently by cultivating large commercial farms in the Afram Plains area to increase production and stabilize prices of foodstuffs.
He is of the view that prioritizing agriculture is the most effective solution to address the surging food inflation, which continues to drive overall inflation up.
Prof. Asuming’s proposal comes in the wake of the December inflation which recorded a marginal increase to 23.8% from 23.0%.
According to him, “since 2022 food inflation has been the biggest driver of inflation and that is problematic”.
“The immediate thing the government can do is to actually go and set up large scale commercial farms in the Afram Plains area and get a lot of young people to go and help with the production of some of our basic staples immediately”, Prof. Asuming stated.
According to him, most of the policy intervention programmes introduced by the Nana Addo administration did not efficiently tackle the food inflation challenges.
He added that leveraging Ghana’s vast arable land to grow essential food staples would increase local food supply and stabilize prices.
Prof. Asuming underscored the need for improved food distribution to stabilize prices.
“Even in areas where food production has been reasonably okay, transport cost has been extremely high because the road to the main food production centers are not good. If you take yam for instance, you can have places where the northern path will have an abundance of yam and yam prices are extremely high down south.”
Prof. Asuming’s recommendations underscore the urgent need for a robust agricultural policy that prioritizes local production as a sustainable solution to curbing inflation and ensuring food security.Economist Prof. Patrick Asuming has advised the John Mahama government to approach the agriculture sector differently by cultivating large commercial farms in the Afram Plains area to increase production and stabilize prices of foodstuffs.
He is of the view that prioritizing agriculture is the most effective solution to address the surging food inflation, which continues to drive overall inflation up.
Prof. Asuming’s proposal comes in the wake of the December inflation which recorded a marginal increase to 23.8% from 23.0%.
According to him, “since 2022 food inflation has been the biggest driver of inflation and that is problematic”.
“The immediate thing the government can do is to actually go and set up large scale commercial farms in the Afram Plains area and get a lot of young people to go and help with the production of some of our basic staples immediately”, Prof. Asuming stated.
According to him, most of the policy intervention programmes introduced by the Nana Addo administration did not efficiently tackle the food inflation challenges.
He added that leveraging Ghana’s vast arable land to grow essential food staples would increase local food supply and stabilize prices.
Prof. Asuming underscored the need for improved food distribution to stabilize prices.
“Even in areas where food production has been reasonably okay, transport cost has been extremely high because the road to the main food production centers are not good. If you take yam for instance, you can have places where the northern path will have an abundance of yam and yam prices are extremely high down south.”
Prof. Asuming’s recommendations underscore the urgent need for a robust agricultural policy that prioritizes local production as a sustainable solution to curbing inflation and ensuring food security.
Latest Stories
-
Debby Sway’s ‘Searching’ gains momentum weeks after release
34 seconds -
Motorsport Ghana and British High Commission host thrilling F1 Grand Prix watch party
3 minutes -
Appietus relocates to UK; sets up new studio
10 minutes -
We have moved from policy to implementation- Mahama
13 minutes -
Eni Ghana submits Declaration of Commerciality for Eban-Akoma discoveries
15 minutes -
Bawumia leads NPP delegation to commiserate with late Ernest Kumi’s family
17 minutes -
Mahama charges GoldBod taskforce to serve with integrity and discipline
22 minutes -
UEW Dean rescues abandoned school block at Tampion Kukuo
27 minutes -
Tema Port undergoes major infrastructure upgrade to support 24-hour operations
28 minutes -
Nkwanta South MCE urges factions to choose peace through dialogue, not guns
35 minutes -
Cardinal Turkson issues powerful call for collective nation-building
35 minutes -
Equatorial Coca-Cola Bottling Company acquires Voltic and West African Refreshments Limited
45 minutes -
National Service Authority farms over 5,000 acres of maize to support government’s ‘Feed Ghana’ Project
45 minutes -
Ghana, Korea strengthen climate cooperation for resilient and sustainable future
52 minutes -
Kimathi Rawlings steals the spotlight on the dancefloor with his ‘better half’ [VIDEO]
53 minutes