MOFA Advocates Food Security
Dr. Alfred Sugri Tia, Deputy Minister for Food & Agriculture in-charge of Livestock, has stated that the ministry is committed to modernizing agriculture and increasing livestock as well as poultry production.
He said the move will reduce food imports in the next few years.
'The modernization and expansion of agriculture production of grains, cereals and soya bean will provide support to commercial poultry and livestock production in Ghana.'
Dr. Sugri revealed that government has put in place long-term measures that will make Ghana a net exporter of food.
'President Atta Mills is determined to make Ghana a food secure nation and that is why a lot of policy interventions have been put in place within the past three years to support increased food security in Ghana,' he added.
The minister made this known during the handing over of some 1,200 pigs to beneficiary farmers at Nungua under the credit-in-kind programme.
The Deputy Minister stated that government recently provided 45,000 small ruminants mainly sheep and West African dwarf goats to 4,500 small-scale farmers under the credit-in-kind programme to help increase livestock in Ghana in some 35 selected districts in seven regions.
He said last year government provided 1000 genetically-improved breeds of pigs to small-scale farmers in the Greater Accra, Western, Central and Volta regions to boost animal production.
According to him, each beneficiary received four pigs to be repaid with the same number within a period not exceeding two years.
Dr. Sugri said the move is to increase income of small-scale livestock farmers as well as animal protein consumption and restrict the imports of livestock products.
Each of the fifty beneficiaries from Dangme West, Dangme South, Tema, and Ashaiman received four pigs.
Advising the beneficiaries, the Director of Animal Production Directorate, Asare Mensah said the piggery industry is a lucrative venture which has the potential to provide employment to improve the livelihood of farmers through income generation.
He stressed the need to improve management, housing and health disease control.
Mr. Mensah tasked the new beneficiaries to take good care of the animals and pass on some of the offspring to other farmers for rearing.
By Mary Asabea Ansah