The information available indicates that the Minister of Agriculture in Ghana under Nana Akufo-Addo has confirmed the news that Ghana now imports cassava from China as being speculated by a legislator.
Ghana has been hit with a huge economic crisis with the prices of food and other agricultural products spiking at an alarming rate and the citizens speaking on the rate at which these prices rise in the market.
Speaking to the matter, the minister said; “Every firm has its own line of production.”
This was his reply on why the government of Ghana cannot stop or prevent enterprises from importing cassava.
While we are a cassava-producing country, we have not yet reached the point of manufacturing industrial starch here in Ghana, therefore if the firm cannot find any from Ghana, would you assume we are importing cassava?
“We disagree that all cassavas are the same. There is a difference between what we eat and what is utilized industrially. He should have done more study on what is imported and what is eaten locally”, he said.
According to him, the government is exploring working with investors to construct a facility that can manufacture industrial starch to cut imports and generate cash for the local market.
It is now possible to create high-quality cassava flour and even wheat, reducing the need to import wheat. After multiple feasibility studies, our task is to persuade investors to finance the ministry.
