Ghana receives fertiliser donation from Morocco

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has received 2,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser from the government of Morocco to support the national agriculture efforts. 

It was one of the outcomes of a two-day working visit the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration (MoFARI), Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, made to Morocco in early June this year.

The Moroccan Ambassador to Ghana, Imane Ouaadil, made the presentation in Accra yesterday, on behalf of her government, while Mr Ablakwa and the Deputy Minister of MoFA, John Setor Dumelo, received it.

Mr Ablakwa said based on discussions that the two countries had held, Ghana’s agenda was to collaborate with Morocco to establish a fertiliser production factory in Ghana.

He said the donation of the fertilisers was a symbol of renewed friendship and the bond of cordiality and brotherhood that existed between Ghana and Morocco.

Expressing the government’s gratitude for the gesture, he said King Mohammed VI and his government had really been generous and demonstrated that they valued the relations they had with Ghana.

“We want to thank King Mohammed VI and the government and people of Morocco for this very kind gesture and for the many aspects of our bilateral relations, which are advancing and progressing remarkably,” he added.

Expressing the hope to receive more deliverables so far as Ghana-Morocco relations was concerned, Mr Ablakwa also gave an assurance that MoFA would ensure that all farmers who must benefit from the fertilisers would benefit so that ultimately it would lead to increased food yields .

He reiterated President John Dramani Mahama’s agenda that made agriculture a priority, stressing that the President wanted the country to be able to attain food security and also be resilient when it came to food production.

He said the President had  decried the situation where the country spent $3 billion every year importing food, emphasising that the President wanted to see a reversal of that, as well as end it entirely.

Goodwill

Ms Ouaadil said the donation was another demonstration of Morocco’s goodwill to strengthen the longstanding solidarity it had with Ghana and also part and parcel of a longer and more holistic engagement aimed to nurture and reinforce their cooperation based on trust and mutual benefit, in line with the vision of the leaders of the two countries for intra African, South-South cooperation and solidarity.

Describing farmers as the heart and soul of Ghana’s agriculture, she expressed the hope that the fertilisers would contribute to helping farmers improve crop production to meet the country's food security goals. 

Fertilisers

Mr Dumelo said fertiliser was one of the most important inputs needed in the food chain, yet over the years, a lot of farmers had been crying for them.

Beyond the fertilisers, he said the ministry was looking forward to Morocco helping them to be efficient in terms of irrigation because they wanted to do all-round farming to keep prices stable and also be able to manage post-harvest losses.

“We lose about 30 to 40 per cent of whatever we produce to post-harvest losses.

So if we do have all the fertiliser we need, the irrigation we need, but we still cannot manage our post-harvest losses, then I think we will go around in cycles.

Thank you for today.

We assure you that we are going to put the fertiliser to good use.

We are going to take it directly to the farmers who need it,” he said.