Dr. Bryan Acheampong, Minister of Food and Agriculture and Member of Parliament for the Abetifi Constituency in the Eastern Region, has stated that any Ghanaian who believes that the Russia-Ukraine war had no direct influence on Ghana’s economy is not a realist.
According to him, every product produced in the country has a per capita consumption rate, and any time such a product is not produced to meet the rate, it causes shortages, high demand, and price hikes.
Answering questions from the host of Republic FM Morning Show on the Big Interview carried live by all the radio stations in Kwahu, Dr. Acheampong, citing the production of maize as an example, said every acreage of maize with the application of fertilizer must harvest at least 40 bags, but without fertilizer, farmers harvest between five and 10 bags.
He said currently, Ghana does not have the ingredients for producing inorganic fertilizer.
“So, if you sit at Kwahu Nkwatia and you say that the Russia-Ukraine war does not affect me, let me tell you any bomb that drops in Russia-Ukraine affects your cooking port,” he stated.
The Minister said before the war, fertilizer was sold on the world market for $350 per metric ton, and during the war, the price jumped to $1200 per metric ton.
In addition to it, importers were unable to go for the product contributing to price hikes while the cost of transporting container from Europe to Ghana also increased from $3000 to $15000.
He revealed that Ghana’s Agriculture sector is controlled by 3.5 million farmers, representing about 40% of the working population, a situation he said Ghana must improve upon to be able to produce enough to feed the nation.
Dr. Acheampong added that within the period of 90 days in charge of the largest Ministry in Ghana, he has met at least 60 stakeholders ranging from the development community to finance in the Agriculture sector to listen to their contributions and what they want the ministry to do, listen to their concerns and problems, and how we can resolve the challenges by looking at the best ways to resolve the problems.
