Policy analyst calls on government to address post-harvest losses
Mr Enoch Okonah, a policy Analyst at the weekend called on the government to device realistic mechanisms to address post-harvest losses for farmers to derive maximum benefits from the food they produce.
According to him, figures from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture showed that 40 percent of agricultural produce got wasted and did not get to the final consumer.
Mr Okonah told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sunyani when he reacted to the maiden State of the Nations Address (SONA) delivered by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last week.
He lauded the interventions put in place by the government to revamp the agric sector, but added that prudent measures ought to be upped to curtail post-harvest losses which remained a daunting challenge to farmers.
Mr Okonah also called on the government to enhance stronger relationship with the private sector and provide a more relaxed, friendly and congenial business environment for the sector to accelerate rapid economic development.
In his view, this could be done if the government reduced taxes on imported raw materials, provide incentives and enhance the regulatory framework of starting businesses in the country.
Mr Raphael Godlove Ahenu, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Media Foundation, a media advocacy non-governmental organisation, recommended a comprehensive pension plan to be designed and infused into traditional and non- traditional agricultural market.
“This will guarantee farmers of income security in their old age,” he added.
Mr Ahenu lauded efforts and interventions announced by the government to enhance and expand access to education, saying the proposed implementation of the free Senior High School policy were highly appreciated.
He stressed that “this must be done consciously to ensure that we don’t compromise quality with access”, and asked the government to also find solutions to the huge infrastructure gap, low teacher-student ratio, and inadequate teaching and learning materials in the SHSs.
Mr Richard Boahen, the Executive Director of Think Health International, a health centered non-governmental organisation, expressed concern about the gradual collapse of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
He noted that challenges confronting the implementation of the NHIS were not basically financial but managerial.
The government must however take necessary steps to reduce the bottlenecks in the scheme and ensure prompt release of fund.
Mr Boahen also called for enactment and strict enforcement of laws on littering to improve on national sanitation.
Source: GNA