EU plans €150m spending on agric

The European Union (EU) has said it is dedicating half of its development assistance budget over the next seven years to the enhancement and growth of agriculture and related activities in the northern part of the country.

The EU is thus expected to spend on average of €21million to support the agric sector, which is about 25 percent of the Government of Ghana’s spending on agric this year.

A chunk of the assistance is expected to be expended on improving access to utilities and road infrastructure to enhance the transportation of agric produce from the farm-gates to markets.

“We have allocated €150million as grants to agricultural development for Ghana and the first €90million is ready to be disbursed. We are just working on the actions to be undertaken under the programme and then approval for this year,” the EU’s Ambassador, William Hanna Hands, said.

The EU has previously offered its development assistance programme through the multi-donor budgetary support programme, and now wants to decide which sector should benefit from its assistance programme amidst claims by officialdom that agriculture is the backbone of the Ghanaian economy.

Under its 11th European Development Fund (EDF) -- the EU’s main instrument for aid development cooperation in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific (ACP Group) countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) -- half of over €300million will be used from now till 2020.

Last year, the EU and Ghana signed the 11th EDF National Indicative Programme (NIP) in the sum of €323 million spanning the period of 2014 to 2020. Ghana is among the 15 ACP member-states that signed the NIP.

Mr. Hands, expressed disbelief at the fact that Ghana imports so much food, and stated that there is potential for the country to achieve self-sufficiency in food production and for export.

“In our assistance over the next seven years, we have decided to invest half of the funds into agricultural support in the north of Ghana; and this is in consultation with the government and stakeholders.”

The ambassador stated that during his visit to the north recently, to understand the challenges and requirements for improving agriculture and rural development, he saw a huge potential for developing agriculture. “There are a lot of arable lands that can easily be irrigated.

“They are in different communities which face unique constraints. Production is possible but getting production to market can sometimes be a difficulty. We will be looking at feeder roads, energy, and water supply.

“There is actually a lot of potential in Ghana to feed itself and even export, in particular to the European market. Almost half of Ghana’s exports go to the European Union and a lot of them are agricultural produce, and the market remains open for more. We are very keen on Ghana,” he said.

Speaking at the handing-over of one of 28 state-of-the-art pieces of equipment at the refurbished Food Physiochemical Laboratory to the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in Accra, Mr. Hands said the European Union is very keen on quality.

“Whether it is being consumed here in Ghana by citizens or exported to Europe, the quality has to be very high and we have to be sure that it is of the right quality.”

The handing-over was done in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry with the support of the EU-funded Trade Related Assistance and Quality Enabling (TRAQUE) programme.

The equipment is expected to improve the capacity of the FDA to test the quality and to verify the compliance of food products produced in Ghana and commercialised on the local market, as well as food products imported from abroad according to the standards developed by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

The equipment allows, notably, the detection of any presence of mycotoxins (aflatoxyns). This will enhance FDA Food Physiochemical laboratory testing capacity and extend its field of competence, hence improving the efficiency of testing activities related to products marketed on the local market.

The support also serves as one part of a bigger picture wherein the EU assists Ghana to get the most from implementing the Economic Partnership Agreement, which is yet to be ratified.

Robert Baffour Tandoh, Director of Standards at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, said the handing-over of this equipment means that the laboratory can do more than what it currently does in terms of testing for quality for the local and export market. “This is a good action we have taken as a country to support all the laboratories.”

He added that ministry is working with all stakeholders to prevent the aflatoxyns menace to avoid a ban from the EU.

“Since we don’t want to be banned, we have put in measures to have all cereals, processed or raw, certified by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

“For the local market, FDA in collaboration with Codex Alimentarius -- a UN-FAO-WHO body established in 1963 to set up standards for foods and food products – is making efforts to send the message around. Also, health directors at the various MMDAs will lead the campaign to the market women on prevention of aflatoxyns.”

Source: Thebftonline.com

By: Bernard Yaw Ashiadey

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