Patrick Assuming, an economist, has questioned the supposed effectiveness of the Akufo-Addo administration’s major programs like Planting for Food and Jobs in light of the recent increase in the cost of living in Ghana.
Dr Asuming Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM/Citi TV said the government needed to confront the flaws in these programmes.
“We have to accept that the flagship programs that were intended to fix currency concerns and high dependency on imports while also mitigating the impact of current foreign programs haven’t worked as well as they should have,” he said.
He used the agriculture sector as an example of a sector with poor outcomes. Ghana is experiencing its highest inflation rate since 2009. The Ghana Statistical Service estimated inflation to be 23.6 per cent, with food accounting for 50 per cent of inflation in the previous month.
Despite measures like Planting for Food and Jobs and Rearing for Food and Jobs, cereal goods have increased by 31.5 per cent, while live animals and meat have increased by 28.1 per cent.
“When you’ve been doing this [Planting for Food and Jobs] for five years and are still exporting grains, you can’t have One Village, One Dam for several years and then complain when the rainfall pattern alters a little,” Dr Assuming remarked.
As a result, he encouraged the government to review the outcomes of the key programs he mentioned.
“We need to go back and address the flagship issues instead of pretending that things are working properly.” And if we achieve that, we’ll be able to start dealing with the longer-term factors that are driving present inflation.”