Ghana’s foreign affairs and regional integration ministry announced early last week that Burkina Faso had placed a ban on exportation of rice, millet, maize, sorghum and white beans (cowpea) from its territory.
A statement released from the ministry also warned that citizens who failed to comply with the directive would face sanctions.
The development raised public fears about a possible food shortage crisis, particularly in Upper East, a Ghanaian northern region bordering Burkina Faso.
No reason has been ascribed to the ban from the French-speaking neighbour so far, except for speculations that it may be part of efforts to boost the country’s food security.
Some development watchers think it is due to a similar severe dry spell that forced Ghana to place a temporary ban on exportation of key grains like corn, rice and soy in August, 2024, to avert any shortages.
The director of agriculture for Ghana’s Upper East Region, Alhaji Zakaria Fuseini, told the author of this report there were strong indications on the 2024 “food balance sheet” that the region would not experience any food scarcity through the ban.
“I want to state here emphatically that there is no cause for alarm,” he said. “When we did our food balance sheet for 2024, all showed positive, meaning that we have excess to depend on.”
But he said a ban on exportation of vegetables— like tomatoes and onions— would have had a devastating impact on not only the region but also the entire Ghana if Burkina Faso had included them on the ban list.
The region lacks a good number of dams needed to support extensive dry-season farming activities and currently depends on Burkina Faso to ease the pressure from an ever-increasing domestic demand on its little fresh vegetable reserve.
“If there had also been a ban on vegetables, then I would have been wondering where we would get our fresh tomatoes from,” the director said.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana
