Ghana’s Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, has unveiled prospective amendments to the nation’s procurement statutes that would compel government bodies to acquire their food supplies from domestic growers.
In his explanation, the reforms would harness the state’s buying capacity to establish a dependable outlet for homegrown produce, strengthen the farming community and generate employment.
“Ghana’s allocation for free senior high schooling stands at GH¢5 billion, and catering consumes nearly half of that sum. Let us even assume GH¢3 billion,” Dr Forson remarked.
“Nevertheless, growers are lamenting an oversupply they cannot sell. Why are we unable to employ the state’s spending power and its procurement regulations to cease bringing in foreign food to nourish our children?”
He continued, “The moment has arrived to apply procurement legislation so that anyone disbursing public funds must purchase from our own farmers.”
Dr Forson underscored that taxpayer money ought to uphold Ghanaian growers and produce Ghanaian livelihoods.
A note on the images: the search tool returned general photographs of Ghanaian farming and market life rather than pictures from the announcement itself, and I could not confirm their dates. Please check the publication date of each image before using it with the story.
