Accra, Oct 10, GNA – Dr. Solomon Gyan-Ansah, the Acting Director of Crop Services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has stated that Fertilizer Platform Ghana (FPG) is key to freeing the masses from poverty and ensuring food and nutrition security.
He said the FPG in collaboration with MOFA would make fertilizer available, accessible, and affordable to all and encouraged fertilizer stakeholders to register their membership with FPG to achieve those goals.
This they could through information sharing, identification of distribution challenges and proffering of immediate solutions in the industry.
Dr Gyan-Ansah who launched the FPG on behalf Dr. Afriyie Owusu Akoto. Minister for Food agriculture said the Key stakeholders had pledged their allegiance to FPG to ensure its success in getting fertilizer across all farming communities.
The FPG, which was launched as a public-private, multi-stakeholder, physico-virtual membership-based dialogue platform for addressing fertilizer sector issues in Ghana also aims to identify and resolve policy issues and constraints that face the sector through collaboration and partnerships among stakeholders.
“It has long been recognized that mobilizing public and private sector stakeholders for regular interaction is crucial in ensuring the sustainable development of Ghana’s fertilizer sector.”
OCP-Africa launched the Fertilizer Expansion and Responsible Implementation Project (FERARI) that identified the need for a platform for stakeholder engagements for sustained productivity in the Fertilizer Industry, hence, the birth of Fertilizer Platform Ghana (FPG).
Stakeholders included the Plant Protection and Regulation Services Directorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (PPRSD-MoFA), The Directorate of Crop Services, Soil Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (SRI-CSIR), and its affiliates, National Fertilizer Council, IFDC, AGRA, Ghana National Association of Farmers and Fishermen, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, OCP Ghana Limited-OCP Africa, OMNIFERT, GLOFERT, and all fertilizer-industry players.
The theme for the launch was, “Ensuring a Competitive, Vibrant and Inclusive Fertilizer Sector through Regular Dialogue”.
Ms Nana Serwah Amoako, the Chairperson for the National Fertilizer Council (NFC), in an address commended the efforts of key stakeholders in ensuring the launch of the Fertilizer Platform Ghana.
In her role as the Lead for the Ghana Fertilizer Expansion Program (GFEP) in 2018, she stressed on inclusive facilitation that had helped to equip the Accra Soil Laboratory with the help of OCP, how the sector had identified customized site and crop-specific fertilizers for sustainable production- a prime focus of OCP-Africa and how OCP-Africa had engaged the sector in the development of soil fertility maps for the country.
On the importance of FPG, she noted that FPG was a giant stride for the National Fertilizer Council and in helping to mobilize fertilizer stakeholders for a sustainable fertilizer outlook in the country.
“We shall work together to escalate stakeholder dialogue”, she pledged.
GNA