Government putting up precautionary measures to tackle potential drought – Minister
Dr Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), says the government is adopting proactive measures to tackle potential drought in the country.
The measures include construction of more irrigation facilities nationwide to enable farmers to cultivate their crops all year long, he stated.
He said the recent drought that hit parts of the country, affecting eight regions, and destroying large acres of farmlands was unfortunate, necessitating the need for the nation to put in place precautionary measures.
The affected regions include Eastern, North East, Bono East, Oti, Ahafo, Volta, Bono and Ashanti Regions, which he added remained the food basket of the nation.
Dr Acheampong said if immediate measures were put in place that could plunge the nation into food shortage and insecurity.
The Minister gave the assurance when he paid a working visit to some of the drought affected areas in the Bono East Region to assess the level of damages.
Some local communities in the Kintampo North, Kintampo South, Pru East, Pru West, Atebubu-Amantin, and Techiman North were the worst affected areas which had also experienced erratic rains in the past three months.
The Minister explained the purpose of his visit was to have first-hand information about the situation to guide the government put in place life-saving measures in the affected communities.
He stressed the government’s readiness and commitment to implement agricultural initiatives, interventions and policies that would enhance national food productivity to achieve United Nations Sustainable Goals (SDG3).
He also inspected some farms and sympathised with some of the famers affected by the drought.
Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, the Minister of Finance, who accompanied the Minister of Agriculture emphasised that food played a significant role in the economic growth and development.
He said though the 2024 budget did not capture such unforeseen contingency, the government would still find alternative funding to tackle the situation, saying food shortage could lead to high inflation.
Mr Kwasi Adu-Gyan, the Bono East Regional Minister, expressed satisfaction about the government’s intervention, saying the drought came as a worry to affected communities and farmers.
He said quantities of crops comprising large acres of yam, maize and rice were destroyed by the draught in the region.
Mr Adu-Gyan urged farmers in the region to remain calm as the government and her development partners’ work out modalities to alleviate their plight.
Source: GNA