Charles Nyaaba, a former director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), has claimed that local farmers were ignored in a recent government school food program purchase.
“We were very excited when we got the directive from the president that the school feeding programme is going to buy rice and maize from the local farmers.”
“We were all prepared, waiting for them to arrive. The contractors they engaged to purchase produce from farmers decided to import it,” he told JoyNews.
“They gave a contract to people; instead of buying from the farmers, they imported the rice, leaving the farmers,” he added.
Nyaaba also expressed disapproval of the process’s lack of transparency.
“We keep engaging the National Food Buffer Stock Company to publish the lists of the people they engaged to mobilise this produce, and they are failing to do that.”
“And there is no evidence from any farmer that the National Food Buffer Stock came to buy from them,” he said.
He said farmers were prepared to provide rice and corn for the scheme, but they were ignored.
Source: newsthemegh.com