By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
A Ghanaian Economist Alhassan Andani has called on Ghanaians to switch to locally produced food and goods to save Ghana’s economy.
He explained that the fundamentals in the Agriculture sector of the economy are that Ghanaians consume more than they produce locally.
This according to him means a lot more foreign exchange earnings are required to bring in additional food supplies.
The former Managing Director of Stanbic Bank made the call at the 3Business Agribusiness Dialogue on Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Mr. explained that when the exchange rate is affected, it means the food supply is heavily affected thereby creating difficulties for Ghanaians.
“This event could not be happening at a better time than now and I hope our panelist will elevate the conversation to the level of state and to the level of global coordination.
“Agriculture is probably one gifted industry to Ghana, to Africa, not all of Africa, Ghana. When the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you.
“On this one in agriculture, the fundamentals are that we consume more agricultural products in this country than we produce. Therefore, for the surplus that you consume you have to bring from outside.
“What do you need to bring in the surplus? You need foreign exchange and when the foreign exchange is not there the fundamentals will expose you. So, I think today’s Ghana and the world economy has exposed us in terms of the way we are organized in our agricultural sector.” He noted.
A report by Oxford Economics Africa, corroborated by many other reports, says the war in Ukraine, bans on food exports such as palm oil, supply-chain glitches, and a drought curbing the US wheat crop, have sent food prices skyrocketing. This is aptly reflected in Ghana’s high food inflation of 34.4% for August 2022.
