Under the previous government’s flagship ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ policy, over 2.7 million bags of fertiliser were distributed by Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
This was disclosed by former President Nana Akufo-Addo at his last address on the ‘State of the Nation’ in parliament on January 3 this year.
“Through the distribution of over 2.7 million bags of fertiliser and improved seedlings, the sector increased crop yields and enhanced Ghana’s food security potential.”
He said maize production increased by 110 percent, rice production by 48 percent and soybean by 150 percent between 2017 and 2023.
Additionally, the establishment of 140 agricultural mechanisation centres and rehabilitation of irrigation schemes modernised farming practices and reduced dependence on rain-fed agriculture.
However, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has since 2019 been advocating a performance audit of the PFJ policy. Some agriculture stakeholders in 2022, described the PFJ as a waste of government money when the price difference between subsidised fertiliser and the open market price was just about GH¢10.
With this slim difference in price, farmers complained they were guaranteed more quality inputs on the open market compared to the mostly substandard inputs supplied under PFJ.
According to a former Executive Director of PFAG, Dr. Charles Nyaaba, the over 2.7 million bags of fertilisers distributed did not end up with farmers but were rather hoarded for political gain.
“In the first phase of the policy, hoarding, smuggling and corruption dented the PFJ programme, wherein contracts were offered to distributors who supplied substandard inputs without any monitoring and quality control systems,” he stated
With regard to modernising farming practices and reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture, the World Bank has asserted that only three percent of the country’s farming land is appreciably irrigated.
According to the World Bank, Ghana has 104 central pivot irrigation systems with each covering a minimum of 40 acres; yet about 98 percent of these systems and facilities are non-functional.
Meanwhile, countries in more arid regions like Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria are performing better than Ghana in their percentage of irrigation. “The performance of peers in the region calls for drastic prioritisation of irrigation by governments and other stakeholders, if indeed the country’s agriculture is to reach the next level,” the Bank says.
