The Deputy CEO of the National Food Buffer Stock Company has acknowledged that while the supply of non-perishable food items remains stable, persistent challenges with perishables continue to disrupt meals in secondary schools.
Osmond Amuah, speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, said the situation is improving but not fully resolved.
“We are just happy, from a buffer stock perspective, that this matter seems to be finding a solution,” he noted, pointing to recent efforts to stabilise the system.
He explained that the core of the problem lies in how schools procure perishable items such as vegetables.
“At the head of the matter is perishables, which the schools themselves procure,” he said, contrasting this with the structured system for non-perishables, where Buffer Stock and the Ghana Commodity Exchange provide support.
According to him, Buffer Stock supplies 18 categories of non-perishable items, including both pre-packed and raw produce.
The agency, though government-owned, operates as a limited-liability entity and leverages private-sector financing to ensure consistent deliveries.
“We’ve been able to bridge finance for the private sector to do the deliveries on your behalf,” he said, adding that suppliers can hold stock without immediate pressure because the goods are non-perishable.
That reliability, however, does not extend to fresh food.
“However, you cannot cook when you don’t have vegetables,” Mr Amuah stressed, underscoring the practical consequences for schools.
He pointed directly to delayed payments for perishables as a major trigger of the disruptions.
“Whatever problems that persist… due to the lack of payment for perishables that they’ve already consumed, it means the students cannot feed,” he said, warning that students must remain “at the heart of everything that is going on.”
Mr Amuah rejected suggestions of deliberate delays, attributing the problem instead to structural and regulatory constraints.
“I do not think that the delay in perishables is deliberate on anybody’s part,” he said, citing procurement challenges and audit concerns.
He also highlighted rising enrolment as an added strain on the system.
“Student population at the secondary level is growing… the enrollment of SS one alone is in excess of 300,000 students,” he said, noting that funding has not kept pace with demand.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com