The Ministry of Food and Agriculture is planning to extend the vending points of the Planting For Food and Jobs (PFJ) market to places like Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Okaishi respectively.
According to the ministry, this initiative will make it easier for civil servants and non-civil servants to get access to foodstuffs on time and help to reduce the cost of transportation for the buyers.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture as of Friday, November 11, 2022, made available only plantain at the forecourt of the ministry for civil servants to purchase.
Yesterday, Monday, November 14, 2022, the ministry added yam to the plantain at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
In an interview with some of the civil servants who purchased some foodstuffs, they claimed the food is less expensive compared to those being sold at the major market centers.
According to one male civil servant, one tuber of yam which he bought at Okaishi at GH₵30.00, he was able to get the same yam at the PFJ market at only GH₵10.00.
Another woman also indicated that a bunch of plantains that she bought at the main market at GH₵45.00 was given to her at the PFJ market at GH₵15.00 and she was satisfied with the price.
In contrast, the buyers on Friday lamented over the high cost of the plantain available at the PFJ market. The abrupt reduction in the prices of the foodstuff is one of the ways the ministry has taken to make the foodstuff affordable for all.
Meanwhile, some of the civil servants pleaded with the government to intervene in the hikes in prices of food items on the market for the sellers to also get customers to buy their items.
The press secretary at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Issah Alhassan indicated that today which is Tuesday, November 15, 2022, there would be bags of local rice available at the Planting for Food and Jobs Market in Accra.
He stated that “Last Friday it was only Plantain and today we have yam. Tomorrow we are expecting bags of local rice to be here. Based on what happened and the success recorded on Friday, we have received calls, and arrangements are being made to extend the selling points to Okaishi and Circle”.
The Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Bagbara Tanko said the system is being funded by a private company as the ministry has arranged with private transport owners to convey the foodstuffs from the farm gates to the forecourt of the ministry.
Background
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto at a stakeholder meeting on November 2, 2022, pronounced that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture will liaise with the transport ministry to transport foodstuffs from the farm gates to the forecourt of the Ministry and sell them at affordable prices to consumers.
The foodstuffs are currently available for civil servants and are not to be bought in quantity for resale. The selling of the food started on Friday, November 11, 2022, and the ministry has promised to continue till further notice. The foodstuffs center at the ministry has been termed ‘Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Market’.