The Minister of Finance and Economic Development Momodu Kargbo has recently disclosed that the country spends 25% on the importation of food, out of $350 million annual importation of agricultural products for the past five years.
He added that out of the $350m some $120 million is spent on importation of onions and the same amount for Irish potatoes. On the other hand agricultural export account for about 3% of total exports annually “this trend has to change as we need to increase the trend by exporting agricultural products.”
Momodu Kargbo maintained that the major contributing factor to the high inflation of the economy in the county is the increase in cost of basic food items, most of which are imported, mainly because domestic production of these items is either inadequate or in most cases lacking.
He said the agricultural sector is critical for the pursuit of sustainable and inclusive economic growth and employment creation “this reflects the fact that the agriculture sector accounts for the largest proportion of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contributing an average of 48% during the past ten years.”
He said because of the significant potential of agriculture in the economy and linkages with other sectors of the economy “the agricultural sector is the most significant and therefore the primary sector to lead the diversification process of the economy.”
Adding that it is because of this factor that the 2017 Government Budget placed “emphasis on supporting the agriculture sector to improve productivity and value chain development.”
Minister Kargbo maintained that farmers in the country are among the poorest groups as they are mainly engaged in subsistence farming for the longest time “we should change this situation, agriculture must be commercialized in order to improve the livelihood of people especially in the rural areas.”
The Minister of Finance stated that the government has been receiving a lot of support from donor partners and sometimes the Ministry “is often inundated with payment requests for ineligible expenditures due mainly to the reluctance of project managers to follow due processes and lay down procedures in public procurement and financial management. Sometimes it is bribery and corruption, some lack of documentation.”
The Minister issued warning to all Project Managers, Project Coordinators and implementing partners to “exercise prudence in managing the finance of the project.”
By Betty Milton
Wednesday January 25, 2017
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