Vice Presidential Candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has attributed the paltry allocation to the Agriculture sector as one of the reasons it is not doing well.
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Ghana on the brink of food crisis - Bawumia
He made these comments on the back of National Farmers' Day which will be organised on December 3, 2015.
According to him, growth in Agriculture moved from 7.4% in 2008 to 0.04% in 2015.
“Agriculture is stagnating and has since 2008 underperformed. Real growth in Agriculture tumbled from 7.4% in 2008 to 7.2 in 2009 through 5.3% in 2010; 0.8 in 2011; 2.3% in 2012; 5% in 2013; 4.6 in 2014 and now the rock-bottom figure of 0.04% for 2015. Indeed the crops sub-sector, the dominant factor in agriculture, experienced a negative growth rate, i.e. -1.7%," Dr. Bawumia said.
He made these comments on the back of National Farmers' Day which will be organised on December 4, 2015.
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Addressing a press conference, Dr. Bawumia said the country is likely to experience a shortage in food supply as production of meat and fish has not seen any improvement.
“The stagnation in Agriculture found expression in the importation of $1.5 billion of food stuff into the country in 2014 against a food import bill of $600 million in 2008. The import of fish, poultry, tomatoes, cooking oil, have all doubled between 2008 and 2015.“In 2009 government promised to commence with 5000 hectares. This same figure of 5000 hectares was promised again in 2010. In 2011, government pledged to irrigate 10,000 hectares. This figure grew to 11,000 hectares in 2012. In 2013 and 2014 the Afram Plains and Accra Plains irrigation were dropped only to surface in the 2015 budget only for mention. In 2016 they have again been dropped," Dr. Bawumia added.
“The production of basic food staples (cereals, legumes, roots and tubers) have all been stagnating. The huge yearly vacillations in outputs and the rising imports of rice from 395,400 metric tons in 2008 to 543,465 metric tons in 2011 and over 600,000 tonnes in 2013 for which alone the nation spent $374 million (Ref. Pg. 11 of 2014 State of the Nation Address) testify to the escalating food insecurity in the country,” Dr Bawumia added.“The question we all have to ask is - how are we going to transform the economy if we continue to pursue policies that result in the stagnation of the agricultural sector? There is no transformation taking place in the agricultural sector under this NDC government. Certainly, Agriculture, the largest employer of the Ghanaian people, under this government has been deformed and not transformed,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia has over the years bemoaned the poor administration of President John Dramani Mahama.According to Dr. Bawumia, the current government lacks the fiscal discipline to revamp the economy.
Dr. Bawumia has recently punctured holes in the 2016 budget, saying it failed to address the basic challenges of the citizenry.
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He said the borrowing by the government will eventually saddle the state with about GH¢99 billion by the end of the year.
Ghana’s total debt stock, according to Mr Terkper in the budget, currently stands at GH¢92.2 billion from GH¢9.5 billion in January 2009 when the NDC took over power.
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