ACCRA, GHANA — The National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) has sounded an urgent national security alarm, revealing that Ghana currently operates with zero food stocks in its nationwide reserves. Speaking live on the June 19, 2026, edition of Business Live on Joy News, the chief Executive Officer of NAFCO, George Abradu-Otoo, disclosed that the country requires an immediate capital injection of GH¢1.5 billion to establish a fully functional, resilient strategic reserve system capable of protecting the population against unforeseen national disasters or market shocks.
The revelation, prominently captured in the digital broadcast snippet from, exposes critical vulnerabilities in the nation’s agricultural and economic defence architecture.
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In an urgent appeal broadcast live from Accra on June 19, 2026, during the nationwide current affairs program Business Live on Joy News, National Food Buffer Stock Company (NAFCO) Chief Executive Officer George Abradu-Otoo revealed a critical national security crisis: the country’s emergency food reserves currently sit entirely empty, requiring an immediate capital injection of GH¢1.5 billion to establish an effective strategic reserve system. This structural deficit persists because NAFCO has historically been denied dedicated budgetary allocations to purchase, store, and cycle surplus agricultural produce from local farmers, a failure that triggers massive post-harvest losses and leaves the population entirely unprotected against regional climate shocks or supply chain disruptions. To fix this vulnerability before a major disaster hits, the company is moving aggressively to secure state funding while partnering with international organizations like the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to finance mass crop buybacks, rehabilitate leaking grain warehouses, and deploy modern, climate-controlled storage infrastructure.
“The Stock is Zero” — A National Security Variability
During his media appearance, Abradu-Otoo pulled no punches regarding the state of the country’s warehouses, describing the systemic failure to budget for emergency stockpiles as a critical risk factor.
“Our mandate is to stock food on behalf of the nation, in order to be able to intervene if there is any shortage, any calamity, or any unforeseen circumstances,” Abradu-Otoo stated firmly during the broadcast. “But we don’t have anything in our warehouses because the right resources have not been given over the years to the company… The stock is zero.”
The NAFCO boss emphasized that historical funding models have only patched minor operational cracks rather than treating food security as a core pillar of national economic survival. He added that any tal of a sustainable national economic “reset” is fundamentally flawed if the state remains unequipped to feed its citizens during a crisis.
“As we sit here, if there’s any unforeseen calamity or disaster, we cannot carry out our mandate because there’s no food stock in our warehouses,” he cautioned.
Rotting Infrastructures and the GH¢1.5 billion Roadmap
The requested GH¢1.5 billion capital is not solely earmarked for buying grains; a substantial portion will be systematically deployed toward upgrading Ghana’s heavily deteriorated warehouse ecosystem. Internal NAFCO reports indicate that most state storage facilities fail to meet the basic sanitary and atmospheric criteria set by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
Leaking roofs and poor climate controls have previously caused entire silos of stored grains to rot from flash flooding and pest infestations. The new roadmap intends to secure, insulate, and fully ensure these facilities to avoid devastating post-harvest capital losses.
To bridge the enormous funding gap, Abradu-Otoo indicated he is moving quickly to engage the Minister for Finance, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, alongside major international partners.
“I am determined to pool all resources, pool all the energies at my disposal to ensure that we are resourced, we are funded to do that,” Abradu-Otoo concluded.
Beyond stabilizing the nation during an outright emergency, NAFCO’s proposed structural overhaul is being watched closely by economists as a vital tool to curb skyrocketing food inflation across local markets. When a state lacks a strategic reserve, it loses the power to inject grain supplies into the market during lean seasons, leaving consumers completely vulnerable to aggressive price gouging by middlemen and market speculators. By establishing a robust, well-funded buffer, Ghana can effectively cap artificial price spikes, ensuring that staple foods remain affordable for the average household year-round.
The success of this ambitious GH¢1.5 billion roadmap now hinges on swift legislative backing and aggressive fiscal commitment from the treasury. As climate patterns grow increasingly unpredictable across the West African sub-region, agriculture experts warn that the window to act is rapidly closing. For Ghana, investing in its national food reserves is no longer just a line item in an economic recovery plan—it is the foundational baseline for national sovereignty and economic survival.
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Reporters (Precious Baah, Frederick Ajuik, Margaret Mireku -Appiah , Florence Eshun, Mary Essoun, Mariam HammondNaadei, Justina Damoah Paddy, Rita Ayorkor)
Editor-in-chief: Nabila Priscilla
Assistant Editor: Margaret Mireku-Appiah
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