The government has given a hint about the implementation of aggressive measures to strengthen Ghana’s food security systems.
The measures are also intended to ensure resilience in the food security architecture.
The Ashanti Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, Rev. Dr. John Manu who announced this in Kumasi said the strategies are to help sustain the 2022 gains and scale up targets for the years ahead.
He was addressing the opening of a 5-day capacity enhancement training workshop for technical staff of the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) in Kumasi.
The workshop was funded by the World Food Programme (WFP) under its south-south triangular cooperation pilot project.
A total of 23 technical personnel of NAFCO including Regional Managers, Food Safety Officers and Quality Control Managers drawn from all regions took part in the five-day training which was facilitated by a team of agriculture and food science experts from the Faculty of Agriculture of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The participants were taken through various topics including Post-Harvest Management, Grains Storage best practices, Modern Warehouse Management Techniques, Food safety, Quality Control and Standards.
Rev. Dr. Manu said following the huge success of government’s flagship interventions in the agriculture sector in the last few years, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture is mapping out plans to consolidate the gains.
“Over the years, farmers have taken advantage of favorable government policies to increase their productivity. Some of the policies include Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), one district one warehouse, one village one dam”, the regional director said.
He said the training was critical in helping the National Food Buffer Stock Company to position itself, organise and collaborate professionally with aggregators when PFJ 2:0 by the government takes off.
“NAFCO must ensure reliable emergency national food reserve and explore sub regional markets for surpluses in maize and rice to support national development”, he added.
He commended the World Food Programme (WFP) for supporting Ghana’s quest to be food sufficient, resilient and secured and also lauded the partnership between WFP and NAFCO describing it as strategically prudent for Ghana’s food security agenda.
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of NAFCO, Mr. Kofi Amankwah said the training workshop was aimed at enhancing the technical abilities as the company seeks to re-position itself for national tasks.
He expressed gratitude to the Ghana Office of the United Nations World Food Programme for its financial support towards the organisation of the training workshop.
The Head of Corporate Affairs at NAFCO, Mr. Emmanuel J.K. Arthur who coordinated the training workshop told journalists the outcomes of the training included an increased staff efficiency and improved operations to enable the company deliver on its mandates more effectively.
The workshop was on the theme “Working together for food security and resilient food systems”.
A group photo of participants
SOURCE: GraphicOnline
