The newly appointed Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Eric Opoku, has begun a familiarization tour of the Ministry’s various directorates as part of his efforts to gain firsthand insights into their operations and challenges. This marks his first official engagement since assuming office on January 23, 2025.
The tour kicked off on Monday January 27,2025 at the Plant Protection and Regulatory Services Directorate (PPRSD), where Minister Opoku was warmly welcomed by the Director, Mr. Eric Benstil Quaye. In his briefing, Mr. Quaye highlighted the directorate’s critical mandate of managing plant pest risks to safeguard international trade under the Plant and Fertilizer Act of 2010. He also underscored the directorate’s role in promoting agricultural sustainability by overseeing the import and export of plants and plant products across 53 designated border checkpoints.
Accompanying the minister, Acting Chief Director of MOFA, Mr. Paul Siameh, explained that the purpose of the tour was to enable the minister to better understand the work environments and engage directly with staff. He emphasized that this initial visit was the first of many engagements aimed at addressing the ministry’s challenges and supporting its strategic initiatives.
During his interactions, Mr. Quaye presented the PPRSD’s vision of delivering efficient, environmentally sustainable, and economically sound plant protection services. However, he also highlighted pressing challenges facing the directorate, including land loss due to encroachments and official purchases, poor road infrastructure that impedes operational efficiency, and a retention rate of internally generated funds that is limited to just 13 percent.
Responding to these concerns, Hon. Opoku pledged to support the team in addressing these issues and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to agriculture as a key driver of economic transformation. He emphasized that agriculture offers immense potential for creating jobs and tackling critical economic challenges, such as currency exchange rate pressures. “Our focus is to increase production, particularly among the youth, to achieve national self-sufficiency and economic stability,” he stated.
The minister’s tour also included visits to the Statistics Research and Information Directorate, the Human Resource Development and Management Directorate, the Directorate for Agricultural Extension Services, and the Crops Services Directorate. At each stop, he engaged with staff, reviewed operational frameworks, and encouraged collaboration to strengthen MOFA’s overall impact.
Hon. Opoku’s familiarization tour is viewed as a strategic step toward fostering internal collaboration, addressing operational challenges, and laying a strong foundation for the ministry’s vision of advancing Ghana’s agricultural sector. The initiative aligns with the government’s broader goals of achieving food security and leveraging agriculture as a tool for sustainable economic growth.
Source : Ministry of Food and Agriculture
