The President of FESF Foundation, Professor Richard Jinks Bani, has revealed that 3.6 million Ghanaians are food insecure, thereby describing the situation as unacceptable.
“The Ghana 2020 food security, vulnerability analysis report published in December 2021 says that 3.6 million people are food insecure,” he disclosed.
According to Prof Bani, food insecurity has a tendency of influencing a hungry child to become violent.
He added that it could lead to poor physical and oral health, and also compromise cognitive, academic and psychological development early in life.
Prof Bani made the above disclosure at the FESF Foundation Food Security Lecture 2022 held at the Biochemistry department of the University of Ghana, Legon.
Delivering his presentation on the topic: “Food Security: Food on the Table and Food for All”, Prof. Bani said even when the food is available, the ability for households to access it depends on them having the means or income to buy the food as well as social and family relations that guarantee access to food.
He noted that the accessible food must be of good quality, safe and culturally acceptable for it to be utilized by consumers.
“To be food secure, a population, household or individual must have access to adequate food at all times,” he pointed out.
To reduce post-harvest losses, Prof Bani said there is a need to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and alternative livelihood schemes to take advantage of business opportunities in the agribusiness space and this would generate incomes and make households able to access food.
About FESF Foundation
The FESF Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides education, training, policy initiatives, advocacy and programmes to support stakeholders in the agribusiness space to contribute to increasing food production, reduction in postharvest losses, increase in household incomes and poverty reduction.
Vision: To make food available, accessible, affordable and in the required quantities and combinations to satisfy the nutritional requirements of all.
Mission: To organize programmes to create awareness of the significance of postharvest losses and their contribution to food security, income generation and poverty alleviation.
The FESF team is led by Professor Richard Jinks Bani who has over 35 years of experience in teaching, research and consulting in the areas of postharvest technology, food loss reduction, food security and income generation.
Source: Samuel Kwesi Appah-Peniel
