Former National Security Coordinator, Brigadier General Nunoo-Mensah has cast doubt over the 8.36% agriculture growth claim by President Akufo Addo saying the growth does not reflect in the prices of agricultural commodities in the country.
President Akufo Addo speaking at the 2018 Africa Green Revolution Forum, a platform for global and African leaders to develop actionable plans that will move African agriculture forward, on Saturday, September 8, in Kigali, Rwanda, noted that between 2014 and 2016, Ghanaian agriculture witnessed an average growth, over the period, of 2.5%.
He attributed the impressive 8.36% growth witnessed in Ghana’s agricultural sector in 2017 to effective policy making and implementation by his government.
In the President’s view “when you look at where we were, and what has happened since, it is largely because the policy has been properly aligned”.
He specifically attributed the success in the agricultural sector to government’s flagship programme, planting for food and jobs.
However, Mr. Nunoo believes the economy is yet to respond to the 8.36% growth as prices of foodstuffs keep hiking, making it difficult for the ordinary Ghanaian to have a decent square meal.
“How is the growth reflecting in the economy? How much do we buy banana now, even coconut how much is it? We say there is increase in agriculture but we cannot feel it in the common things we buy”, he told Kweku Owusu Adjei on Kasapa Fm.
He also wants the President to put in place policies that will ensure that prices of foodstuffs are relatively stable for a longer period of time.
By: Alex Semordzi
