The Interior Minister, Ambrose Derry has assured Ghanaian farmers that government is not going to import food for the Free SHS programme.
He said government will depend on food produced locally by farmers to feed students, instead of spending more money importing food for the programme which covers all public senior high schools in the country,Â
According to him, government has engaged the Ghana National Food Buffer Stock Company to buy food produced locally for supplies to various senior high schools in the country.
This, Mr. Derry believes will increase the productivity of local farmers by ensuring there is a ready market for their products as well as a guaranteed price, reliable storage facilities and a consistent supply of food items.
Concerns from some food suppliers of the various schools that they will be out of business with the implementation of the free SHS policy were raised quite recently.
The minister, however, gave his word at the Upper West Regional launch of the free SHS policy at Nandom saying, “The President has decided that the school feeding must be done by the food produced locally by farmers and not imported food so that farmers here would be supported to growâ€.
“Suppliers will be registered with the buffer stock company and purchase the food from farmers to be stored at the company, then the buffer stock company will pay the farmers immediately and then supply the foodstuffs to the various schoolsâ€, he added.
Read also:Â WAEC to face legal action for withholding BECE results
 Video : We also deserve free SHS - form 2 and 3 students
www.primenewsghana.com/Â Ghana News