NAFCO expands Northern Region warehouses to boost food reserves

The National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) has expanded its warehouse capacity in the Northern Region to bolster food reserves as part of the National Food Security Reserve Programme (NFSRP). Three rehabilitated warehouses located at Yendi, Kumbungu, and Wovogu are set to enhance the company's ability to store rice, maize, and gari in northern Ghana.

At Wovogu, the newly renovated 1,000-metric-tonne warehouse has been fitted with flight-proof windows, a 24-hour automated water supply system, and refurbished administrative offices, changing rooms, and a laboratory. The facility now boasts improved security measures and has a total storage capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes.

Kumbungu's warehouse currently houses around 15,000 bags of rice under the NFSRP. The rehabilitation work at this site included fixing roof leakages, rewiring, replacing damaged doors, and constructing a drying platform. Additionally, the Yendi warehouse, which holds approximately 40,000 bags of national food reserve grains, has received two Mobile Storage Units (MSUs) from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to bolster government food security initiatives.

NAFCO's Chief Executive Officer, George Abradu-Otoo, inspected the facilities and expressed satisfaction with the completed projects. He emphasized that the expanded capacity in Yendi will significantly boost NAFCO's ability to purchase, aggregate, and store grains across Ghana. "We desperately need the space to step up our ability to buy, aggregate, and store grains in various parts of the country.

Once we buy, the local farmer is incentivized to continue farming to feed all of us," Abradu-Otoo remarked. He also praised the contractors and consultants responsible for the timely execution of the rehabilitation projects, noting that the work was funded by NAFCO under the NFSRP.