JUST IN: In Ghana, the quest for food sovereignty involves pasta
A stock of rice bags in a shed in Offinso, Ghana, June 7, 2022. FRANCIS KOKOROKO/REUTERS
On March 5, Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama witnessed the commissioning of a major pasta manufacturing plant in Accra.
“Our policies only make sense when they lead to the creation of factories, real jobs, and concrete production on the ground,” he said, welcoming the commitment of the Singaporean agri-food giant Olam Agri, at the origin of an investment of 40 million dollars (35 million euros) for the firm. This should generate 300 jobs.
The Head of State took the opportunity to recall the adoption by the Ghanaian Parliament, on February 6, of the law for the “24-hour economy,” the realization of one of his campaign promises aimed at promoting economic activity and job creation.
Also present at the inauguration, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, stressed that the production capacity of the factory, estimated at 66,000 tonnes per year, should make it possible to “considerably reduce the bill for our pasta imports.”
Because beyond job creation, the issue is that of food sovereignty. Ghana, with its 35 million inhabitants, is very dependent on imports for basic products such as rice (half), wheat, and pasta.
On the scale of the African continent, the African Export-Import Bank estimated, in a report published at the end of 2024, that the “growing dependence on external food resources” was “worrying.”
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Source: This article was originally published in another language by International : Toute l’actualité sur Le Monde.fr. and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.