Accra: Mr Charles Lwanga Puozuing, the Upper West Regional Minister, has expressed grave concern about the glut of some farm produce in the region, particularly maize, and called for measures to increase local processing as a sustainable solution. He stated that one of the key interventions was the facilitation of a credit facility from the Ghana EXIM Bank to enable Kedan Limited, a grains processing factory in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality, to expand its capacity and absorb excess maize produced by farmers.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Puozuing explained, "If we have a factory that is big enough to have the capacity to acquire these farm products, we will not be calling on people to come and buy." He highlighted efforts to secure a facility from EXIM Bank for Kedan in the Sissala East area, which is currently at the stage of finalising approval by the Board. The Minister shared these insights during a press soir©e in Wa, part of his regular media engagements aimed at marketing the region's development potential and challenges to attract investment and support.
The intervention by the Minister followed concerns from stakeholders in the Sissala area, including the Council of Sissala Paramount Chiefs and the Sissala Union, regarding the lack of a market for maize in the area. Reports indicated that a 100kg bag of maize was sold in the Sissala area at about GH?350.00. In an effort to address the low-price challenge, the government of Ghana released GH?100 million in 2025 to the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to off-take excess farm produce in the country. However, stakeholders in the Sissala area reported they had yet to see any officer from the Buffer Stock Company in the area to buy their produce.
For instance, while the Council of Sissala Paramount Chiefs welcomed government intervention to buy maize from farmers at GH?450.00, they noted in a recent communiqu© that they were yet to locate Buffer Stock buyers in the area. Mr Puozuing clarified that NAFCO officers in the region did not have the express authority to buy food items from farmers but were tasked with supervising and regulating the movement of food items to warehouses and schools where contractors had been engaged.
The absence of authorised NAFCO buyers in the region has deprived farmers of the opportunity to benefit from the government's GH?100 million food purchasing programmes. The Minister appealed to the media to increase advocacy efforts to draw the attention of stakeholders, including NAFCO, to the maize glut in the region. Mr Puozuing also mentioned that Kedan Limited had bid for a factory in Funsi in the Wa East District to augment grain processing in the region.
The expansion of Kedan's operational capacity is expected to significantly reduce post-harvest losses, stabilise maize prices, improve farmers' income, and encourage young people to venture into farming, especially maize production.