In a stark revelation of the shortcomings of the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) policy, Ghanaian onion traders find themselves stranded at the Benin border due to the recent military coup in Niger. The closure of the Niger border has left approximately 70 trucks laden with onions immobilized for weeks, prompting concerns about the efficacy of the PFJ program.
The Minority in Parliament has seized upon this situation to criticize the PFJ policy, highlighting the failure to achieve self-sufficiency in key vegetable production. Eric Opoku, the Ranking Member on the Food and Agriculture Committee of Parliament, lambasted the government for importing vegetables, particularly onions, that were meant to be cultivated under the PFJ program. Opoku expressed dismay at the insufficiency of local onion production, leading to an annual expenditure of over $100 million on onion imports from Niger and ginger.
“The coup in Niger and the subsequent border closure have cast a spotlight on the dire consequences of the PFJ program’s inadequacies. Despite substantial investments, we find ourselves heavily reliant on imports,” Opoku lamented. He further criticized the PFJ initiative as a “monumental failure” and highlighted the disparity between the program’s goals and its actual outcomes.
As a result of the border closure and political unrest in Niger, the prices of vegetables, especially onions, have skyrocketed within Ghana. The cost of a bag of vegetables has surged to an unprecedented range of GH¢1,500 to GH¢1,600. Industry experts are apprehensive that if the situation remains unresolved, prices could surge even higher, reaching levels of GH¢3,000 to GH¢4,000.
The stranded onion traders have appealed to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for urgent intervention to secure the release of their stranded goods. This incident sheds light on the need for Ghana to enhance its agricultural self-sufficiency and reevaluate the implementation of agricultural policies like PFJ.
The government now faces mounting pressure to address the underlying issues highlighted by the stranded onion traders and to reassess its agricultural policies to ensure that self-sufficiency becomes a reality rather than a distant goal.
Source :citinewsroom