By Morkporkpor Anku
Accra, Aug. 15, GNA – The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) says it is alarmed and concerned with the current challenges with the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) 2.0, especially within the planting season.
Mr Bismark Owusu Nortey, the Executive Director of PFAG, said the implementation issues and the dry spells currently being experienced by farmers if not properly addressed by the government, would deepen the current food crises being experienced in the country.
Mr Owusu Nortey was speaking at a press conference on the Emerging issues with the PFJ 2.0 and the Impact of unfavourable weather conditions on farmers in Accra.
He said the PFAG was particularly worried with the loud silence of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, regarding these developments, which had led many farmers to throw their hands in despair.
He said over the past few years, the issue of agriculture, particularly the availability and affordability of food had dominated the landscape and there were genuine concerns and hopes that the situation would be improved to ensure that all Ghanaians were able to afford nutritious food at affordable prices.
He, however, said food availability was the output of a systemic and deliberate approach by leaders, who laid a solid foundation for agricultural development.
“Unfortunately, in Ghana, our leaders pretend to address the challenges while the citizens sit aloof and watch them unconcerned,” he added.
The Executive Director said the announcement and subsequent launch of the PFJ 2.0 brought some form of relief and hope for farmers across the country, as they anticipated comprehensive input and service support across the value chain.
He said during the launch of the programme, the Minister said emphatically, that “all that they needed was land.”
He said it meant that the Ministry was going to facilitate the provision of land preparation services, mechanization, extension, harvesting and marketing services in addition to all input support, including seeds, fertilizers, and agrochemicals.
Mr Owusu Nortey said unfortunately, they were already in the middle of the planting season and none of these support services was comprehensively provided to farmers.
He said to even make matters worse for the PFJ 2.0, there were several emerging issues that contradicted the original intent of the programme, for which “we now believe is more politically motivated than a genuine intervention to provide relief for farmers.”
He said the abysmal registration process, characterized by several challenges, made it difficult and demotivating for farmers to register and there was a lack of adequate extension officers to collect farmers’ data, inadequate logistics (tablets and motorbikes) to facilitate movement and bad timing of the process.
The Executive Director said the Association’s independent assessment, which was also corroborated by figures from the various District Departments of Agriculture, showed that less than 15 per cent of the estimated farmer population had registered under the programme, which was very underwhelming.
He said to make matters worse, the private sector-led concept of the programme was abandoned while there was a lack of focus on the programme and the treatment of the agricultural sector programmes and activities.
“This is frustrating and makes many stakeholders in the value chain, losing hope in the agricultural sector activities,” he said.
He said in addition to the challenge was the current input distribution formula under the grant component of the PFJ 2.0, which had become extremely politicized and served as an avenue for some unscrupulous public officials and politicians to demand payments from farmers.
He said the implementation strategy of the PFJ 2.0 was very clear on the role of the aggregator, who was to facilitate the provision and distribution of inputs and services to farmers.
No part of the strategy spoke about grants and the involvement of politically exposed persons in the selection of beneficiary farmers and distribution of fertilizer and seeds, he said.
He alleged the involvement of NPP Parliamentary Candidates and DCEs in the distribution of fertilizers and seeds.
GNA