The National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) has assured its current strategy is robust enough to ensure uninterrupted supply of food commodities to Senior High Schools.
Chief Executive of the company, Mr. Hanan Abdul-Wahab explained adequate measures have been taken to ensure academic work in government High Schools is not hampered.
Mr. Abdul-Wahab was interacting with the headmaster and a section of students when he paid an unannounced visit to the Bawku Secondary Technical School in the Upper East Region.
The visit was to assess the food needs of the school.
He toured the school’s pantry, kitchen, cooking facilities and interacted with some canteen staff.
Briefing the CEO, the Headmaster of the school, Mr Bukari Abdulai said the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFUND) is financing the construction of a Dinning Hall and a Dormitory to ease accommodation challenges.
Currently, students use an improvised setting during dinning.
He said the school’s current population stands at 2,185 and runs the Double Track System.
The Buffer Stock Chief Executive said aside quantity issues, the company has also implemented measures to ensure food commodities that are supplied to the schools are of the best quality.
He urged the students to take the study of agriculture as a subject seriously since in his words “it holds the key to Ghana’s future”.
Citing some of the measures to safeguard food security in the country, Mr. Abdul-Wahab said NAFCO deepened its partnership with some state and private entities such as the Ghana Commodity Exchange and Licenced Buying Companies and Suppliers to ensure stability in the demand for food in all parts of the country.
“We are not leaving anything to chance. While guaranteeing assured income to our hardworking farmers, we are also taking every necessary step to ensure you school children have nothing to worry about in terms of food as you study to pass your exams and to become better citizens of our nation”, he assured the students.
Government set up NAFCO will ensure the stability of food grain supply and price which is of continuous concern to the government.
According to year 2009 data by SRID, the total domestic production of maize amounted to 1,619,600 MT with a demand of 1,197,000 MT, thus, showing a surplus of 422,600 MT which needs to be stored.
In times past such surplus goes to waste. NAFCO however mopped up the excess food supply and release them to the market at appropriate times to ensure a continuous food supply and therefore stabilization of food prices.
As part of its mandates, NAFCO is charged with the responsibility of guarantying an assured income to farmers by providing a minimum guaranteed price and ready market, mopping up excess produce from all farmers in order to reduce post-harvest losses resulting from spoilage due to poor storage, thereby protecting farm incomes and purchase , sell, preserve and distribute food stuffs.
It is also the duty of NAFCO to employ a buffer stock mechanism to ensure stability in demand and supply, expand the demand for food grown in Ghana by selling to state institutions such as the military, schools, hospitals, prisons etc, manage governments emergency food security and carry-out such other activities that are incidental to the attainment of above objects or such other duties as may from time to time be assigned by the Minister of Food and Agriculture.
Source: 3news.com | Ghana