Ghana imports US$26 million worth of onions from Niger, says Acheampong
Prices of onion have witnessed some increase in the past few weeks following the coup in Niger
The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has expressed worry over Ghana’s reliance on neigbouring countries for food commodities adding that the country imports about US$26 million worth of onions from Niger alone.
Prices of onion in Ghana have gone up in the past few weeks as a result of the coup in neigbouring Niger, which is a major producer of the commodity.
The Peasant Farmers Association has called on the government to take advantage of the situation to shore up local production of onions to avert such crisis in future.
Speaking to Benjamin Offei-Addo on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday (12 September), Acheampong said plans are far advance to avert the trend.
“We have identified zones; we know the seed requirement, fertiliser and people requirement and we are going to get it done … we imported close US$24 million of onions from Niger,” he said.
“I need a quarter of that to fix our onion problem with the land available in the Volta, Bono, Northern Regions with a quarter of that money because they produce US$26 million worth of onions, Ghana takes US$24 million, Nigeria takes about US$800, 000.”
“We are going to deal with it, under Planting for Food and Jobs phase two we have a clear plan that we are going to share. So Ghanaians know the size of our problem and how we are dealing with it. We are dealing with ten crops,” Acheampong added.
Listen to Bryan Acheampong in the attached audio clip below:
Watch the full interview in the attached video clip below:
Reporting by Fred Dzakpata in Accra
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