The Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu, has announced that government has begun the process of re-developing all defunct food distribution silos across the country.
According to him, National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) has taken possession of all the silos and is in the process of obtaining the relevant legal documents from the Lands Commission to begin the process.
Dr. Yakubu said this on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday in a response to a question by the Member of Parliament from Nsuta-Kwamang Beposo, Kwame Asafu-Adjei who sought to find out the plans the Ministry has to rehabilitate the defunct food distribution silos nationwide.
Dr Yakubu said NAFCO was engaging the private sector to provide funding to repair and/or replace all silo sites and warehouses in the country.
“NAFCO has engaged the services of a surveyor to assist with the mapping of all properties and the preparation of relevant documents for approval by the Lands Commission,” he said.
The Minister further stated that following the establishment of NAFCO in 2010, all properties belonging to the defunct Ghana Food Distribution Corporation were delisted by the Divestiture Implementation Committee and released to Ministry of Food and Agriculture for NAFCO’s use.
“The said properties had not seen any significant rehabilitation and maintenance for the past 20 years. There is massive encroachment at most silo sites,” he said.
NAFCO, which is a semi-autonomous organisation, was set up by government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to ensure food security and to insulate farmers against losses resulting from anticipated increases in production.
It was expected that Ghanaian farmers would no longer experience post-harvest losses, with the setting up of the NAFCO in 2010.
Source: Government of Ghana.
