Ghanaian Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has urged African countries to strengthen food security through designing and implementing deliberate programs.
Addressing the West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable on Tuesday in Accra, the capital of Ghana, Opoku-Agyemang said food security transcends agricultural concerns and is connected to macroeconomic stability, social protection and national security amid global challenges, including climate vulnerabilities and geopolitical tensions.
She said West Africa possesses fertile land, water resources, entrepreneurial farmers, growing consumer markets, and one of the youngest populations in the world, which are great potentials for sustainable agricultural development for food security.
“Rice has become one of the most consumed staple foods across West Africa, with demand rising rapidly, and West Africa alone imposes millions of tonnes of rice every year,” Opoku-Agyemang said.
She noted that the challenge facing the region is mobilizing the scale of capital required to invest in and transform agriculture from a subsistence sector to commercial production and integrated value chains, urging the subregion to see rice as a strategic economic asset.
She said this required treating agriculture as a key development project, investing in everything from irrigation to processing, research and climate-friendly production, while also using this sector to boost regional trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area agenda. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
