Stakeholders along the grains value chain want the new Grains Development Authority Bill to focus more on value addition to boost economic gains.
Parliament is considering the passage of the bill for the establishment of a public institution that would regulate the activities of the sector.
Speaking at a consultative dialogue organized by the Parliamentary Network Africa, some grain processors advocated for the inclusion of measures that would see the country not only export its grains but processing them into finished goods.
In 2022, Ghana announced plans to establish a Grains Development Authority with the sheer vision of boosting productivity in the sector.
The proposed public institution is to help deal with challenges in the sector, including annual food price fluctuations, ineffective and inefficient buffer stock system, the uncontrolled activities of foreign traders, and the unregulated export of maize and soybean.
This saw the fashioning of a bill for consideration to facilitate the development and regulation of the market for domestically produced grains and legumes, particularly maize and soybean.
The Parliamentary Network Africa held a stakeholder dialogue to solicit views as parliament’s select committee reviews the bill.
Senior Programmes Manager at Parliamentary Network Africa, Cynthia Afi Dzudzor, indicated that stakeholder dialogue was to allow the voices of the actors in the sector to be heard.
“This forms part of the process tapping the views of all those who will be affected when this is implemented. So, to ensure their voices are factored in the bill, we came together to make our voices heard,” she said.
The event brought together stakeholders along the grain sector value chain to deliberate on ways to improve production from the farm gates to the processing hubs.
In its current state, the Bill when passed into law would allow the President to be the sole individual to appoint a head of the Authority pursuant to Article 70.
But some stakeholders are in objection as they argue successive governments and political leaders have failed to uplift Ghana’s agricultural space.
“The board will have various value chain representatives but the chief executive who would be the pivot of the whole institution and the staff will be appointed by government, who does that?” Yaw Afrifa, Executive Secretary of the Soya Value Chain Association of Ghana.
Meanwhile, there are calls for a more focused approach in investing in the processing value chain of the sector.
“More emphasis should be given to value addition like processing of grains and legumes more than just selling them as raw materials,” one of the participants advocated.
A member of the Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs, George Obeng Takyi is emphasizing the commitment of the committee to ensuring all recommendations are well captured to push the sector forward.
A position paper is expected to be formulated and submitted to Parliament to help shape a more inclusive and effective regulatory framework for the grains sector.
