Food Security in Ghana - Essay Example

?Overview Every human being requires food for them to continue living and engaging in nation building. However, the environment we are living in has continued to undergo vigorous degradation which has affected weather patterns thereby resulting to unexpected extreme weather conditions such as floods and drought. In this essay, global food security will be discussed whereby statistics will be provided to show that a lot of people are dying and suffering due to hunger. Food security in Ghana will also be discussed whereby issues such as urbanization, poor infrastructure, poor government policies among others, will be noted as major challenges. Government responses to these challenges will also be discussed whereby it will be concluded that a lot of efforts are to be made if food security in Ghana is to be achieved. In general, the purpose of this essay is to discuss global food crises using Ghana as a case study Introduction Food security can be defined as the availability of sustainable food supply accessible to all citizens regardless of their social or economic backgrounds. Unfortunately, it has been observed that a significant number of people worldwide have continued to face food shortages with reports indicating that more than 850 million people are suffering from extreme hunger, which to a greater extent, has been blamed on poverty. It is sad to note that children are the most vulnerable and according to world statistics, more than six million of them are losing their lives every year, translating to approximately 17000 deaths per day (Shaw, 2010). To some extent, food insecurity in the world has been brought about by urbanization whereby people have neglected subsistence farming in rural areas in favor of white collar and technical jobs available in urban areas. It is estimated that 50% of world’s population are currently residing in urban areas, with youths and able bodied men and women leaving the weak and the aged population in the rural areas to participate in food production. This coupled with the rising costs of production especially due to increased fuel prices have contributed significantly in the cost of acquiring food stuff. For example, global wheat prices rose by 56% in September 2010 while the general food price index rose by 17% in the same year (Shaw, 2010). This has forced the management of the Global Food Crisis Response Program to extend its mandate to June 2011, hoping that the situation will have stabilized by then. This essay is a critical evaluation of food security in Ghana. Food Security in Ghana As earlier mentioned, food insecurity is a phenomenon that is continuing to pose a challenge for majority of citizens around the world, especially in the underdeveloped as well as the developing countries. A country such as Ghana for example has been facing insufficient food supplies mostly due to the fact that food production is highly based on availability of sufficient rainfall. This has made it a common problem to find that food is produced in large quantities during the rainy season but shortages persist during the dry season especially in the northern part of the country, which suffers drought mostly in the season between the months of February and July (IFAD, n.d). In this context, it has been observed that cultivating grains such as wheat and maize among others, which take a long time to mature, is not viable to the poor farmers and this has necessitated huge importation of grains to sustain their demand. For example, the government imported rice worth $100 million in 2010, with cereal imports supplementing food requirement by 4.7% (Bruce, 2010). However, it has also been observed that communities which are favored with sufficient rainfall to guarantee food production are not assisting much to alleviate the problem. This is due to the fact that the government has failed to invest in storage facilities which, coupled with poverty, force rural farmers to sell their produce immediately after harvesting so as to supplement their financial needs as well as to prevent their food from being spoilt. In fact, it is estimated that more than 35% of cereals are damaged due to poor storage, with losses accrued from other perishable products such as fruits and vegetables being higher. As a result, studies indicate that these people end up spending approximately 75% of their income to reacquire the food during the dry season, which is sold to them at a higher price due to high demand and scarcity (IFAD, n.d). Though reports indicate that the government has built several silos, it has failed to make it affordable for farmers to store their grains thereby making them useless to the farmers (Bruce, 2010). If the government is unable to manage these facilities, farmers should be allowed to manage through privatization else, the government should consider buying grains directly from the farmers at standardized prices, which would go a long way in alleviating poverty while at the same time increasing national food reserves. It is ironic to find that flooding is considered to be one of the challenges that farmers are facing in Ghana as their crops are destroyed by the running waters. Measures should be taken to facilitate harvesting of this water so as to utilize it in more economic means. If this is not done, the levels of malnutrition as witnessed in children from areas such as western, northern and upper eastern parts of Ghana will continue to cause more health hazards to an already suffering population. In these parts of the country, citizens are impoverished to the extent that foods such as meat and fish are the reserve of the few rich people (Bruce, 2010). Ghana’s rural urban migration has been identified as one of the major problems, besides drought, which has contributed significantly to food scarcity in urban centers. In 2000 for example, the rate of people moving into urban centers increased urban population to 49% of the total population, leading to the emergence of informal settlements (Roberts, 2008). Due to this, it has become impossible for these people to afford healthy diets and to a greater extent it has shifted their focus from traditional foods such as yams and cassava, to wheat and rice thereby increasing their demand hence more importation. Roads connecting rural areas to urban settlements are also poorly developed such that entrepreneurs have continued to find it difficult to transport farm products thereby creating a situation whereby rural areas have sufficient or excess food supply while there is scarcity in the urban centers. This has been made worse by the increased fuel prices, which, according to analysts, increases production costs hence high food prices. To signify the gravity of the matter, observers and economists in the country have challenged the government to come up with a quick and effective solution especially by creating jobs for the numerous unemployed youths, failure to which the country may be faced with civil unrests (Alderman, 2009). Food insecurity in Ghana has forced the government in conjunction with world food program to respond in various ways so as to ensure vulnerable citizens are not affected by malnutrition. For example, both institutions have come up with a program to support approximately 300 schools, having more than 200 students, with cooked food on daily basis (World Food Program, 2011). This ensures that malnutrition among children, who are mostly affected by poor dieting, is controlled. In addition, these children are allowed to carry a portion of the meal to their homes, which is an effort that has been informed by the fact that most families especially in the northern region rarely have more than two meals in a day. Statistics indicate that poverty in this area is rampant especially due to the fact that 9 out of 10 people are considered to be living below poverty line. It is estimated that more than 45% of citizens can only afford to spend $1 in a day thereby explaining the prevalence of two meals a day in the society (Alderman, 2009). Most importantly, the WFP has initiated a program known as purchase for progress, whereby small scale farmers are facilitated with a ready market for their products. This organization is concerned with reducing and managing the effects of hunger and as such, it has to have sufficient food in the stores thus making it a potential market provider. In Ghana for example, the organization has contracted more than 300 farmers to supply approximately 500 metric tones of maize (World Food Program, 2011). This project is intended to protect and to empower farmers especially women, who are the most productive, so as to protect them from discrimination by cartels, who buy their products cheaply only to resell to them at exorbitant prices. Under this program, farmers will also be offered training on the best seeds and other farm inputs, such as fertilizers, suitable for improved production. Farmers will also be trained on how to treat and store their harvests as a way of reducing losses accrued from poor storage thus motivating them to continue putting more efforts in their farming activities. The government has in times of crisis facilitated the importation of food as a measure to counter food shortages. For example the administration in 2008, a year which was characterized by global food crises, removed import duties on rice and other grains. However, these import duties had to be reintroduced in 2009 as a result of stabilization in the food availability (Alderman, 2009). According to reports, this initiative was meant to protect the local farmers from cheap imports, which were unnecessary at that point though critics indicated that the move was misinformed since food prices were still high for the common man to afford. This shows that the government is constantly evaluating the status of food security but it has not been without shortcomings. For example, it has been noted that there has been an increase in rice smuggling which is conducted through the border point between Ghana and Ivory Coast. Apparently, importing rice directly to Ghana costs an import tax of 37% whereas doing the same in Ivory Coast costs 12.5% thereby encouraging rogue businessmen to evade paying the huge taxes and instead import through Ivory Coast then smuggle the rice to Ghana (Alderman, 2009). The effect of this on the economy is that the local rice producers are faced with unfair competition whereas the government continues to lose a lot of revenue due to tax evasion. Revenues lost in these circumstances could be used to promote agriculture for example by facilitating the building of new dams and sinking of wells in areas which are dry. It could also be utilized to create employment opportunities for youths for example by facilitating them with the building and stocking of fishponds especially since the country is said to have a deficit in fish production. Conclusion Food security refers to the availability of sufficient food for everyone irrespective of their social or economic status. Unfortunately, this has not been the case all over the world as people continue to suffer chronic hunger especially in third world countries. Statistics indicate that at least 850 million people world wide are affected by food scarcity whereas more than 17000 people are losing their lives on daily basis. Poverty, insufficient rainfall, poor planning and policing are the major factors contributing to food insecurity in Ghana. The efforts being made by the government as well as other non governmental organizations, to promote food security, are paying off but they are short term solutions. Long term solutions, such as drilling boreholes and damming water to facilitate irrigation, should be given more attention as they have the capacity to enhance food production throughout the year. Bibliography Alderman, H. (2009). Food Security and Grain Trade in Ghana, Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program Bruce, D. (2010). ‘Responding to Economic Shocks in Ghana: The Agricultural Sector as a Social Safety Net,’ Journal of Agricultural and Development Economics, vol. 1(1): 117-137 IFAD (n.d). ‘Ghana Women's Contribution to Household Food Security,’ [Online] Available at: http://www.ifad.org/hfs/learning/46.htm (Accessed: 9 March 2011) Roberts, P. (2008). The End of Food, Houghton Mifflin Shaw, D. (2010). World Food Security, Palgrave Macmillan World Food Program (2011). ‘P4p Overview,’ [Online] Available at: http://www.wfp.org/purchase-progress/overview (Accessed: 9 march 2011) Read More