Editorial (The Daily Searchlight, Tuesday, 23rd May, 2022)
Mr Habibu Adam, a Senior Economist at the Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor has stated that continued global food shortage during the latter part of this year, and 2023 is imminent due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
He added that already, the United Nations and the World Food Programme have hinted of the looming food shortage, and asked countries to brace themselves for the worst, as there would be a food shortage globally due mainly to shortage of Fertilizer.
Speaking on the Ghana News Agency-Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue platform, he said this is one thing that the government has nothing to do with, it being a global phenomenon. He said that there is likely to be food shortage next year beginning from this year onward.
The GNA Tema Industrial News Hub Boardroom Dialogue is a media think-tank platform for state and non-state and commercial and business operators to communicate to the world and address global issues.
Speaking on the theme, Effects of Russia and Ukraine war on the global economy: prospects and challenges for Ghana, Mr Adam said to mitigate the effect of the war, especially the feared food shortage, the Government was looking for substitutes to fertilizer to enable farmers to produce adequate food for the country.
The Daily Searchlight is of the firm belief that the government of Ghana should pursue sustainable policies towards food production to offset he vagaries of the international trading system.
We believe that as a nation with fertile lands, year round rainfall and sunlight, we have no excuse blaming war in ice-bound climates like Ukraine and Russia as the reasons why we cannot feed ourselves. It is a lazy way of thinking.
In that vein, we believe that instead of concentrating on industrial fertilizer, Ghana should be looking for opportunities for the exploitation of organic fertilizer on an industrial scale.
Organic fertilizers are plant- or animal-based materials that are either a byproduct or end product of naturally occurring processes, such as animal manure and composted organic materials.
Ghana is fortunate to have very large animal production centres such as piggeries and poultry farms, all of which produce waste in huge numbers. We also have cattle. If government can convince producers of cattle to remain stationary, the waste can become a major source of organic fertilizer.
Organic fertilizer is also friendly on the environment, because they leave very little signatures on the environment.
Although we clearly realize that some food crops require more adequately prepared fertilizer, we must also agree that it would be more be suited that we start finding solutions to our own problems sooner than later. We hope that the government of Ghana would reduce the complaints about the international effects of Russia-Ukraine, and rather concentrate on galvanizing the energies of the people of Ghana to produce food on a sustainable basis.
(This article was first published in the column EDITORIAL of the Daily Searchlight of Tuesday,, 23rd May, 2022. The Daily Searchlight appears on the newsstands of Ghana every working day and for sale online twenty-four hours a day all day throughout the world on www.ghananewsstand.com).
