The Cabinet has authorized an initial GH¢100 million for the National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) to purchase surplus produce from farmers nationwide, a move aimed at curbing post-harvest losses and building emergency food reserves.
Announcing the intervention at a press conference in Accra, Osmend Amuah, Deputy Chief Executive of NAFCO, stated that the funds have already been used to procure significant quantities of key staples. The purchases include 60,000 bags of rice, 120,000 bags of maize, and 10,000 bags of gari.
The initiative is a direct response to urgent pleas from farmers, particularly in the Afram Plains and northern regions, who are facing market gluts and limited storage capacity after a high-yield season.
He detailed that the Agriculture Minister, upon receiving these appeals, engaged the Cabinet, which swiftly approved the initial funding for NAFCO to begin the market “mop-up” process.
Additional Funding and Pricing Protection
In a further development, Mr. Amuah revealed that the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, is seeking Cabinet’s approval for an additional GH¢100 million to expand the exercise to other farming zones, including the coastal, Volta, Ashanti, and middle belts.
To protect farmers from exploitative pricing, NAFCO has also established a official floor price of GH¢5 per kilogram for paddy rice.
“The previous arrangement covered prices for various grains, but none had been set for paddy rice,” Mr. Amuah said, noting the large quantities of unsold rice in areas like Fumbisi. “Following extensive deliberations, the committee has recommended a price of GH¢5 per kilogram.”
Building a National Food Reserve
The purchases are a key component of the newly introduced National Food Reserve Programme. The program’s goal is to store 10% of Ghana’s annual staple food consumption—approximately 680,000 tonnes of the 6.8 million tonnes consumed—as a strategic buffer against emergencies or famine.
“This will mitigate food insecurity and generally improve the security conditions in the country,” Mr. Amuah stated.
He emphasized that the government’s intervention is specifically designed to sustain farmers’ livelihoods, stabilize food supply, and ensure that the efforts of smallholder farmers do not go to waste due to a lack of market access.
