President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday launched the Feed Ghana Programme, a national initiative aimed at boosting local food production, creating jobs, and reducing the country’s reliance on imported food.
Speaking at the event at Techiman in the Bono East Region, Mr Mahama said the initiative, popularly referred to as Yeridua, is centred on practical farming approaches that involve households, schools, communities and institutions.
Mr Mahama urged families to cultivate small backyard gardens. He said growing common vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, garden eggs and okra at home could help cut food costs while improving diets.
Recalling the “Operation Feed Yourself” campaign of the 1970s, he noted that backyard farming was once common and could be again.
Beyond households, Mr Mahama said the programme would also involve Senior High Schools, particularly those with land. These schools, he noted, will be supported to grow food and rear animals to support their kitchens and supplement the school feeding programme.
He added that the National Service Scheme, Ghana Prisons Service and National Youth Employment Agency would all take part in the rollout. Religious groups, he said, had also expressed interest in participating.
He said under this arrangement, 50 anchor farmers will receive support to produce four million birds, equivalent to about 10,000 metric tonnes of chicken. In addition, 55,000 households will each be helped to rear 500 birds annually.
To support these activities, the government plans to deploy 5,000 agricultural and veterinary graduates across the country.
Mr Mahama said they will be assigned to schools, communities and institutions, and will be absorbed into the public sector as job openings become available.
He also mentioned other parts of the programme, including grain, legume, vegetable and livestock farming projects.
Mr Mahama said the broader goal is to help the country return to a culture of self-reliance and build a stronger food system that works for everyone, from farmers in rural areas to families living in cities.
