The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, has revealed that farmers in eight regions affected by the ongoing dry spell have incurred losses of approximately GH₵3.5 billion in investment.
He disclosed this at a press conference held today, Monday, August 26, 2024.
According to him, the affected farmers face a potential revenue loss of GH₵10.4 billion.
The affected regions are Bono, Bono East, Oti, Northern, North East, Savannah, Upper East, and Upper West.
He told journalists that as of August 20th, 435,872 farmers cultivating an estimated area of 871,745 hectares have been directly affected by the dry spell, adding that maize, rice, groundnut, soybean, sorghum, millet, and yam are the most widely affected crops across these regions.
“The affected farmers have lost an estimated investment of GHS 3.5 billion with a corresponding potential revenue loss of GHS 10.4 billion,” he said.
The dry spell poses a serious threat to food security, as these regions contribute about 62% of Ghana’s grain supply, he warned.
Meanwhile, the preliminary shows that about 928,523 farmers cropping 1,857,000 hectares are at risk, adding that these farmers will lose an estimated investment of GH₵7.4 billion if there is total crop failure.
“The corresponding revenue loss is estimated at GH₵22.2 billion, representing 10% of the agriculture GDP of the GH₵220 billion investment,” he indicated.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
