The Ministry of Food and Agriculture says the “worrying” concerns about the lack of demand for eggs from local poultry farms will receive inter-ministerial attention.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, the Ministry’s PRO, Bagbara Tanko, however, did not give further clarity on this development.
“It is a source of worry for every Ghanaian and the ministry, so going forward, I think we need to have an inter-ministerial discussion on this matter.”
“I won’t be able to give timelines but certainly, there will be a resolution,” he assured in his comments on the matter.
Mr. Tanko added that these discussions will include the Finance, Education and the Trade and Industries ministries.
According to the Executive Director of Africa Education Watch, Kofi Asare, the major cause of this problem has been the inability of Senior High Schools to procure eggs in line with past trends because of a lack of funds.
As part of research into the impact of school closures during the coronavirus pandemic on the poultry sector, the NGO found that market disruption caused by the lack of demand for eggs by Senior High Schools.
Schools purchase the eggs directly because the Buffer Stock Company does not procure perishable goods.
Mr. Tanko admitted that something had clearly gone wrong this year that needed to be looked into because these concerns have not occurred in the recent past.
“From 2007, we haven’t encountered this problem as we are discussing today, so something went wrong somewhere… the ability to purchase from these farmers.”
“Definitely someone hasn’t done his or her work well somewhere which I can’t explain,” he said.
Also speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Asare noted that there “is no policy directive that compels schools to even buy the eggs.”
As a consequence, the only protein available during the money challenges is mackerel.
According to Africa Education Watch’s checks, it “discovered that a certain company has the contract to supply all the schools with mackerel.”
“The Mackerels are branded Senior High School Mackerel, and they are imported from China,” he noted.
