Harry Yamson, the NDC Spokesperson on Agriculture, has criticised Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, for his handling of the current dry spell affecting northern Ghana.
According to him, the minister is not listening to the concerns being raised by players in the agricultural sector.
The Agricultural Minister, Bryan Acheampong, on Monday, August 26, announced an immediate ban on grain exports as a result of the dry spell in the northern regions of the country.
He also added that the government would require about GH₵ 8 billion to avert a possible food crisis, a claim the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, have described as an exaggeration.
Speaking on The Big Issue on Channel One TV, Mr Yamson argued that Acheampong's approach is not the best.
He noted that the industry has called for alternative solutions, but the minister's responses have been inadequate, leading to further frustration among those affected by the dry spell. "…there is grain in the country and people may export.
so, the question is, what grain, how much grain and at what value?
Because we cannot always be speaking in generalities.
That is the minister's job and the minister is not doing his job.
The industry has not been engaged, parliament has not been engaged. "The minister went to parliament and made his announcement, he went to the press and made his announcement but the people on the grounds are saying, listen to us but the minister is not listening.
You cannot run the sector that way.
So, at the end of the day, all this confusion that we have whose fault is it?"