By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA
Nsawam (E/R), Oct. 17, GNA – Ms Rukia Yacoub,
Country Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) has tipped the government’s
flagship programme, the Planting for Food and Jobs as one of the interventions
directly aimed at addressing food security and Hunger.
She said to attained Zero Hunger within the
next seven to twelve years, everyone must redouble efforts as the WFP reaffirms
its commitment to support the transformation of agriculture, agribusiness and
food security into a more inclusive, equitable, climate-smart and
nutrition-sensitive sector, oriented to improve the lives of the most
vulnerable and food-insecure.
She
said the fact that Ghana had achieved the Millennium Development target of
halving hunger ahead of the 2015 deadline, there was no doubt that the country
could help achieve Zero Hunger by the African Union target year of 2025 and the
world by 2030.
Ms
Yacoub was addressing the 38th World Food Day celebration at Nsawam in the
Eastern Region.
The celebration was on the theme: “Our
Actions, Our Future: A Zero Hunger World by 2030 is possible.”
She said the WFP had decided to focus its
efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 and 17, which were Zero
Hunger and Partnerships respectively out of the 17 SDGs adopted by the world in
2015.
The Country Director said President Nana Addo
Dankwa Akufo-Addo in May this year, launched the Zero Hunger Strategic Review,
which had a detailed roadmap highlighting gaps with time-frames of what needed
to be done to achieve Zero Hunger.
She said post-harvest losses; lack of markets,
adherence of food safety and quality, nutrition-sensitive food systems and
inadequate nutrition before and during pregnancies was some of the gaps
identified and included in the review document.
Ms Yacoub said the review findings informed
the current and future programmes formulated in the WFP’s Country Strategic
Plan for Ghana for the period 2019-2023.
She said the WFP is supporting agro-food
processors under its innovative integrated food security and nutrition
programme which is designed as a well-functioning value chain.
“Two Ghanaian-owned industrial agro-processors
in Kumasi and Sunyani have received funds and technical expertise to enable the
produce specialised fortified nutritious foods of international standards”.
Mr Francis Kingsley Ato Codjoe, Deputy
Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, said the Ministry had
introduced a number of programmes and strategies to enhance sustainable fish
production to achieve national food security and to improve the living standard
of fishing communities in Ghana.
He said rehabilitation works of two
Aquaculture Demonstration Centres at Ashaiman and Kona in the Greater Accra and
Ashanti Regions respectively, as well as hatcheries to boost fingerling
production, were in progress.
GNA