The Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to Ghana, Ms. Jocelyn Gayden Brown Hall, has called on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, to present her letter of Credence on Friday, 19th March, 2021.
She was accompanied by Mr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel GebreYohannes, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa.
It may be noted that the Government of Ghana in March 2020, granted approval for the appointment of Ms. Jocelyn Gayden Brown Hall as FAO’s Representative to Ghana. However, due to the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms. Hall was unable to travel to Ghana to present her Letter of Credence until now.
Madam Ayorkor Botchwey in an interaction with the FAO representatives said, “the state of Ghana’s agricultural sector has largely been influenced by the valuable technical assistance and advice, proffered in the implementation of programmes and projects in the area of food and agriculture, nutrition and natural resource management.”
She elaborated on the Government of Ghana’s flagship initiatives of ‘Planting for Food & Jobs’, ‘Rearing for Food & Jobs’, and ‘One Village One Dam’, which are all primarily aimed at increasing food production, addressing the issue of food insecurity in the country and the creation of jobs for the youthful Ghanaian population.
She commended the FAO for the excellent partnership with Ghana and observed that “the physical absence of the Country Representative notwithstanding, the FAO Office under the leadership of Mr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel Gebreohannes had functioned effectively and ably supported Government’s implementation of policies despite the difficult challenges posed by the pandemic”.
For her part, the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to Ghana, Ms. Jocelyn Gayden commended Ghana for the feats chalked in getting the Secretariat of the Africa Free Trade Area to be stationed in Ghana.
She expressed the FAO’s commitment to working together with Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire to improve the Cocoa sector as the two countries control more than 60% of Cocoa produced in the world.
Story by Nathaniel Nartey.