Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom the presidential candidate of the Convention People's Party (CPP) has said it is part of his party's programme to revive the Workers Brigade of the 1st Republic to help in food production.
He challenged the Minister of Food and Agriculture's assurance that Ghana has enough food and would therefore not be affected by the current world food crisis.
GA_googleFillSlot("AllAfrica_Story_Inset");
document.write('  ');
|
He said the government's effort in the area of food security is not satisfactory.
Dr. Nduom speaking at a press conference last week noted that, "We are not satisfied that enough is being done to deal with short term challenges in the availability and pricing of food items. We do not believe that enough is being done to ensure food security in the long term".
He disagreed with the current policy on food production and distribution and said the CPP has a policy to take care of Ghana's agricultural sector in a holistic manner.
"We cannot be comforted over the fact that we seem to have marked time - we know what needs to be done, but we have proven incapable of doing what needs to be done," he said.
Dr. Nduom asked Ghanaians to pray that countries that export food to Ghana do not restrict export because "we here in Ghana will face the unpleasant circumstances of escalating prices of the food items we eat with the social and economic consequences".
The CPP presidential candidate called for immediate mobilization of workers or funding by the state to expand the production and storage of rice, fish, yam, cassava, maize, millet, groundnuts, vegetables and other food items.
Dr. Nduom said if the CPP is voted into power after the December elections "our policy on food production will require energetic, sustained and well-organised efforts over the next four years, to produce what we need and eat what we produce".
Making currency of the Seven Year Development Plan by the CPP in December 1963, he said the content of the document is largely relevant to ensure effective administration of the country.
Retain the Agricultural Development Bank as a state-owned financial institution but restructured to ensure that it goes back to the original mission of financing agricultural modernization, production and the processing of raw materials particularly food for domestic consumption.
Support the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the universities to bring research to practical use by investing and providing modern research tools equipment and facilities. In addition, provide tax incentives to the private sector for the use of research output to encourage innovation in food production.
Redesign the Workers Brigade program to ensure that large-scale farms are developed using modern methods and equipment.
Redesign the Food Distribution Company to focus on food storage to ensure national security, to manage food surplus purchases, manage food silos to be located strategically across the country and ensure even distribution of food to prevent hunger and shortages.
Use the state's purchasing power to ensure that all state-sponsored organizations including schools, ministries, prisons, school feeding programme, police, hospitals, etc, all purchase food (including beverages) produced in Ghana.