Former Managing Director of the Stanbic Bank, Naa Alhassan Andani has observed that the agric sector of the Ghanaian economy and other parts of Africa has been exposed by global happenings.
He indicated that Ghanaians consume more than they produce locally. This means a lot more foreign exchange earnings are required to bring in additional food supplies to feed the people.
When the exchange rate is affected, he said, it means food supply is heavily affected thereby creating difficulties for Ghanaians.
“This event could not be happening at a better time and I hope our panellist will elevate the conversation to the level of state and to the level of global coordination.
“Agriculture is probably one gifted industry to Ghana, to Africa, not all of Africa, Ghana, When the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you.
“On this one in agriculture the fundamentals are that everything we consume in this country, we consume more of our agricultural product in this country than we produce. Therefore for the surplus that you consume you have to bring from outside.
“What do you need? You need foreign exchange and when the foreign exchange is not there the fundamentals will expose you. So I think today’s Ghana and the world economy has exposed us in terms of the way we are organized in our agricultural sector.”
3Business Dialogue on Agribusiness is a thought leadership programme organized by the
BUSINESS DESK of Media General, to create the right platform for a progressive conversation by the best brains, on how Ghana can reverse the rising cost of food as well as take advantage of the global food crisis and convert it into an opportunity, to feed itself and feed the world.
Surging food prices is hitting Africa’s economies the hardest and, in some countries, triggered social unrest.
A report by Oxford Economics Africa, corroborated by many other reports, says the war in
Ukraine bans on food exports such as palm oil, supply-chain glitches and a drought curbing the US wheat crop, have sent food prices skyrocketing. This is aptly reflected in Ghana’s high food inflation of 34.4% for August 2022.
On the global stage, the World Bank reports that record-high food prices have triggered a
the global crisis that will drive millions more into extreme poverty, magnifying hunger and
malnutrition, while threatening to erase hard-won gains in development.
Meanwhile, the World population is expected to grow by over a third, or 2.3 billion people,
between 2009 and 2050. Demand for cereals, for both food and animal feed uses, is projected to reach some 3 billion tonnes by 2050, up from August’s nearly 2.1 billion tonnes.
The projections show that feeding a world population of 9.1 billion people in 2050 would
require raising overall food production by some 70 percent between 2005/07 and 2050.
Production in developing countries would need to almost double to achieve this target.
Source:3news.com|Ghana