The Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) has warned of an impending hunger in Ghana if the government fails to invest in the agriculture sector.
According to General Secretary of the Union, Edward Kareweh, the government’s refusal to pump resources into the sector is a deliberate strategy to reduce agricultural output.
“As we speak, the food you are eating was not produced in 2022. There will be hunger, already there is hunger and the hunger will be more because I don’t foresee government getting money to support farmers to produce.”
He made the following submissions on TV3’s New Day Show while contributing to a discussion on the impact of the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine on food supply in Ghana.
“There is deliberate policy to reduce output. When you refuse to invest what are you doing?”
The government, in 2021, assured Ghanaians that there was not going to be a food shortage due to the hard work of farmers.
“This year’s event has taken on added significance because of the efforts of our farmers and fisherfolk in ensuring that there were no shortages of food at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. There is wealth in agriculture, and the government will continue to create the enabling environment and put in place the necessary policies and programmes for the rapid growth of the agricultural sector”, said President Akufo-Addo in a post to mark the 2021 Farmers’ Day.
But Mr. Kareweh stressed that “the reality is that we do not have enough food in this country. The reality is that we import so much into this country. So if there is a problem in those countries you import those problems [into Ghana],” he said.
