Ghana’s agric sector is a catalyst to African transformation – US Envoy
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations on Food and Agriculture Agencies, Madam Ertharin Cousin, has lauded the significant growth of Ghana’s agricultural sector saying that Ghana is a catalyst to the transformation of Africa.
She said the significant growth of the country in agriculture despite huge unutilized arable land indicates that if about 40 to 60 percent of such lands were put on agricultural activities, Ghana could feed the rest of the continent.
Madam Cousin said this on Tuesday at Sorugu, a farming community in the Tamale Metropolis where she visited to see the progress of Sorugu Tung-Teeya, a smallholder women rice farmers and processors association.
Her visit forms part of a familiarization tour to acquaint herself with the progress of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) interventions in improving food security in Ghana.
Madam Cousin said she was very satisfied with the activities of the WFP’s programmes in Ghana and commended the Government of Ghana for taking the appropriate interventions to improve the food security needs of the populace.
She said the U.S and Ghana has had a long historical partnership that was going to be strengthened more especially as Ghana was going to be used as a test case of a success story for the rest of Africa adding that the U.S was more interested in seeing Ghana as a catalyst for the continent.
She said Ghana was a target country for the U.S in building the private sector to serve the economic empowerment needs of the rest of the continent by widening and increasing market opportunities.
Madam Cousin paid a visit to Malshegu community in the Tamale Metropolis to see a supplementary feeding centre where pregnant and nursing mothers are being supplied with some rationing to supplement their feeds.
She also visited to Kpachelo community in the Savelugu/Nanton District where the WFP is assisting some farmers to grow 33 hectares of teak and acacia trees through the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) as part of the Ghana’s afforestation project.
Earlier, Mr Aboubacar Koisha, Head of Sub Office of WFP in Tamale, addressed the Ambassador and said about 1.2 million Ghanaians were food-insecure with two million people vulnerable to food insecurity.
He said Ghana was also ranked 130 out of 169 countries in 2010 Human Development Index of the UN adding that 70 percent of the extremely food insecure people live in the three Northern regions.
Source: GNA