Mahama Ignored Ghana’s 38.1% Food Insecurity in SONA –Dr. Yaw Opoku

The Member of Parliament for Offinso South, Dr. Isaac Yaw Opoku, who also serves as the Ranking Member on the Parliamentary Committee for Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, has criticised President John Dramani Mahama for failing to acknowledge Ghana’s rising food insecurity rate of 38.1% in his State of the Nation Address delivered to Parliament last week.

Contributing to the debate on the President’s address, presented in accordance with Article 67 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the legislator said the address was “full of omissions,” particularly the absence of key data highlighting the worsening food situation in the country.

According to him, a recent report by the Ghana Statistical Service indicates that food insecurity in Ghana has risen to 38.1%, yet the President failed to make any reference to the troubling statistic in his address to the nation.

“Mr. Speaker, conspicuously missing was the recent report by the Ghana Statistical Service that food insecurity has risen to 38.1%. The President failed to recognise this,” he told the House.

He further cited a study by the Institute of Economic Affairs which indicates that 71% of Ghanaians are worried about rising food prices, arguing that the omission of such critical concerns from the national address paints an incomplete picture of the country’s economic realities.

Agriculture sector under scrutiny

The Offinso South lawmaker attributed the growing food crisis to what he described as poor support for the agriculture sector.Quoting figures from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (2026–2029), he said the ministry had failed to meet several key production targets.

According to him, while the ministry targeted the procurement of 5,000 metric tonnes of maize seed, only 2,000 metric tonnes were procured—representing 40% of the target.Similarly, he said a target of 10,000 metric tonnes of rice seed resulted in the procurement of just 1,000 metric tonnes, representing 10% of the intended volume.

The situation with fertiliser, he added, was equally worrying.“Mr. Speaker, fertiliser procurement was targeted at 395,786 metric tonnes, but only 50,000 metric tonnes were procured, representing 12.6%,” he told Parliament.

He also noted that planned procurements for 45,000 litres of chemicals to control fall armyworm and 30,000 kilogrammes of biorational insecticide recorded zero purchases.

According to him, these failures stem largely from inadequate funding for the ministry.He claimed that by the end of the third quarter of 2025, only 16.9% of the ministry’s GH¢229 billion allocation had been released.

Rising food imports

The MP warned that the lack of investment in agriculture is forcing the country to depend heavily on imported food.He said Ghana’s food import bill exceeded $3 billion in 2025, a situation he believes is worsening the plight of local farmers.

“Every farmer today is suffering,” he said, adding that cashew farmers have also been hit by a 26% drop in prices.

Cocoa farmers in distress

Turning to the cocoa sector, Dr. Opoku said cocoa farmers are currently facing severe financial difficulties.He claimed that many cocoa farmers had not been paid for their produce since October, despite promises made by the government.

According to him, the government had pledged to pay GH¢6,000 per bag of cocoa, but the payments have not materialised.

He further alleged that the Ghana Cocoa Board owes licensed buying companies more than GH¢11 billion, a situation he believes is affecting payments to farmers.“If payments are made at the rate of GH¢1 million per month, it will take more than a year to clear the arrears owed to farmers,” he argued.

Questions over anti-corruption commitment

Mr. Opoku also questioned the government’s commitment to the fight against corruption.Although he welcomed the President’s proposal to introduce a Public Office Holders Code of Conduct Bill, he argued that Ghana already has sufficient anti-corruption laws.

“What we lack in this country is not laws, but the political will to enforce them,” he said.He further accused the government of shielding members of its own party from prosecution while allegedly targeting political opponents under the guise of fighting corruption.

“The evidence rather shows the President shielding members of his party who are involved in wrongdoing,” he claimed.

Mr. Opoku maintained that the government must demonstrate genuine commitment to addressing food insecurity, supporting farmers, and enforcing anti-corruption measures if it hopes to meet the expectations of Ghanaians.

 

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