The Minister for Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto says the Planting for Food and Jobs is yielding results and Ashanti-Akyem Agogo is a typical example of the flagship programme’s fruit.

He said the programme has led to Agogo being put on the map of Ghana as the plantain centre of excellence, where farmers and traders alike have their own plantain market in Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

“…it is working. Anybody who goes outside Accra into the country will bear witness to me that the food security in this country have strengthened substantially. If you go to the north, you are going to meet a lots of trucks with foreign number plates – Nigeria, Bukina Faso, Niger, and Mali – purchasing grains from our farmers in Ghana,” he added.

Dr Afriyie Akoto stated that this was exactly the reverse when he took office in 2017, where the country was importing food from neighbouring countries.

The minister said this at the swearing in of nine board member -Josiah Wobil, chairman, Prof Moses Brandford Mochiah, CSIR, Dr Solomon Gyan Ansah, Bentsil Quaye, Alhaji Nuhu Salifu Orison, Seifu Mubarak Abdulai, Dr Michael Yao Osae, Samuel Boadu and Ing. Dr Veronica Boakye Kufuor- in Accra on wednesday.

“So things are improving but the sustenance of that growth can only be assured if this board worked by making sure that it sit on the necks of those who are responsible to supply the quality seeds and ensure that everything goes well,” he stressed.