Buffer Stock Company handicapped

The Director of Operations at the National Food Buffer Stock Company, Kenneth Aquaye has confirmed that the company has not been able to purchase maize from the northern region because it does not have the facilities to store them.

“The National Food Buffer Stock Company has bought huge quantities of maize in the last season which we are still holding on to. Currently we lack storage space and we are not resourced to buy further”

Speaking on the Midday Brief on MultiTV, he said it is true that there is a lot of maize been kept in warehouses not only in the Northern Region, but across the country.

Earlier this week, there were reports that tons of maize have been left to rot in the Northern Region, because the National Food Buffer Stock CSompany was not buying from farmers.

He however said the company intends to start buying once they are able to offload some of the food in their stock.

He revealed that, there is shortage of maize in the Southern part of the country whereas there is so much up North, with prices as high as 100ghc or more in Accra, Tema, Takoradi and Cape Coast, while a bag sells for Ghc50 in the North.

According to him, middle men have been buying maize from the north and bringing down to the South to sell at exorbitant prices due to inability of the National Food Buffer Stock Company to buy everything from the farmers.

“The National Food Buffer Stock Company is just one of the players in the maize market. It is a last resort buyer and we cannot buy a hundred percent of what is available on the market”

Speaking on why the company is still complaining about storage despite reports earlier this year that some money had been given to them for expansion, Mr. Aquaye said, “nothing has materialized yet. Though we have been including expansions in our budget for the past two years, no funds have been released.