Five per cent of Ghana's population goes to bed
hungry each day, a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) recent Report has
shown.
The Report further disclosed that the said population was mostly
farmers in the rural areas especially the in northern regions of the
country.
Mr Musa Saihou Mbenga, a representative of the FAO, disclosed this in
Accra on Saturday during a 'Walk for Food Programme,' which forms part of
activities to mark this year's World Food Day on October 16.
It was organized by the World Food Programme in collaboration with the
FAO and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA).
The World Health Organisation (WHO), National Farmers and Fishermen
Award Winners Association Ghana (NFFAWAG), Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and
the Amen Amen Institute, a religious group, also helped to organise the
event.
Mr Mbenga said this year's global report by the FAO puts the number of
people who were hungry at one billion.
He said the FAO together with other partners had targeted to reduce the
figure by half by 2015.
Mr Mbenga said though the Organisation was committed towards achieving
the said target, investments in the agriculture sector had been reducing for
the past 25 years.
"With the commitment by the G-8 and G-20, there will be more
investments in agriculture so we may see a trend towards reducing the one
billion hungry people by 2015," he said.
He said the World Food Day had been set aside by the United Nations
General Assembly to raise the awareness of the fact that some of the world's
population go to bed hungry each day.
Mr Mbenga lauded government's strategies towards addressing the food
security and accessibility in the country but called for increased
investment in the agricultural sector to ensure adequate nutrition for the
citizenry.
He called for increased investments in sustainable land management,
irrigation, good and well developed roads and storage facilities especially
in the rural areas.
Mr Mbenga said; "Markets need to be properly developed so that farm
produce could be easily collected, transported, transformed and its value
and shelf life increased to facilitate easy distribution."
He said this would enable Ghana to come out of being a deficit country
to a net producing and exporting country.
Mr Sam Attipoe, from MOFA, who read a speech read on behalf of the
sector Minister, said the Kwame Nkrumah Circle was chosen as venue for the
event to remember the contributions of the Late Dr Kwame Nkrumah towards
ensuring food security in Ghana.
"He set up the national agricultural institutions, farms, irrigation
schemes, silos and distribution networks throughout the length and breadth
of the country in order to ensure food availability all year round," he
said.
Mr Attipoe lauded the gallant initiative by Dr Kwame Nkrumah saying
that the country still benefits from his foresightedness.
"Our walk this morning from Kwame Nkrumah Circle through the heart of
Accra and ending at the beach of the Atlantic Ocean, which is the source of
fish and food for our people, is a firm announcement of the need for food
security as envisaged by the FAO, WFP and government," he said.
Other activities slated for the commemoration of World Food Day include
a food forum at the Civil Servants' Association Auditorium on Tuesday and a
flag raising ceremony on Friday at the Independence Square.