The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is lobbying for financial compensation for farmers impacted by the dengue fever outbreak.
On July 17, the Ghana Health Service reported 36 dengue cases in the Eastern and Central regions, impacting farmers in the Birim Central, Birim North, Akyemansa, Birim South, and Achiase districts of the Eastern Region.
According to the MoFA, distributing certain farming inputs and grants to these farmers afflicted by the health issue will go a long way toward helping them recover while also contributing to regional and national food security.
Hajia Habiba Yussufu, MoFA’s Eastern Regional Director, made the appeal on the occasion of the start of the Eastern Commodity Satellite Market Fair’s fourth edition in Koforidua in 2024.
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“The issue of dengue fever affects all of us and not just the farmers who are there [in the affected districts]. Certainly, the farmer has bought inputs or if even it is a grant, you start your production and at the end of the day you fall sick and all that you have done now is left in the bush.
“So at the end of the day, how would you even take care of yourself? So when there is a health issue, certainly it affects food security.
“The government is doing well, even for those who suffered during the [Akosombo Dam] spillover. They have been given inputs free of charge as compensation. “So for such people who had issues, even during COVID, inputs were given to our farmers free of charge so for those who have suffered the dengue fever, I think they must be compensated and be given inputs.”
