The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has clarified reports that it has authorized a 13.7 million dollar soyabean export deal a day after it announced a restriction on the exports of maize and soyabean.
According to the Ministry, the information is distorted, as the soyabean export deal preceded the new restriction on the exportation of the said grains.
Recent reports by some media outlets disclose that five Ghanaian soyabean producing companies have been authorised by the government to export a recommended quantity of the commodity worth 13.7 million dollars due to international demands from external markets.
According to the report, the Ministry’s decision to grant export permit to the five companies was due to the excess availability of the commodity in Ghana.
These news reports come exactly a day after the same Ministry announced a restriction on the exportation of maize and soyabean to ensure food security in Ghana.
But the Ministry, in a response to this development, clarified to Citi Business News that soyabean export deal preceded the new restriction on the exportation of the said grains.
Issah Alhassan is the Press Secretary to the Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
“This particular news report predates the ban. Before the ban came into effect in January this year, there was a committee set up last year with membership of all stakeholders including GRA, MoTI and MoFA. The duty of the committee was to monitor production of soyabean and give advice on when to grant export deals. So what the Minister said during that interview was that before the ban came into place, this amount of metric tonnes had been authorized for export and this happened before the ban came into effect.”
“So if you’ll consider yesterday’s story which was an executive order, the President indicated both soyabean and maize which is different from what was already in existence,” he explained.