The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), as part of efforts to ensure that farmers’ concerns are considered in government programs, organized a stakeholder consultation workshop on the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ 2.0). The event which took place in Tamale, with funding from OXFAM, brought together farmers, input dealers, regional and district officers from the department of agriculture across the Northern, North East, Upper West and Upper East regions.
The focus of the program was to sensitize farmers and other stakeholders on the modalities of the PFJ 2.0 while providing a platform for stakeholders to share their experiences regarding the current stage of the PFJ 2.0 implementation, while soliciting feedback to enhance the implementation of the program for the benefit of farmers.
Mr. Bismark Owusu Nortey, the Acting Executive Director of PFAG, highlighted the role and evidence submitted by PFAG and other stakeholders that led to the review of the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme, which has replaced by the PFJ 2.0. He added that while PFAG was consulted in the developmental stages of the PFJ 2.0, there were emerging issues faced by farmers that needed redress. He therefore informed participants that the consultation was to bring out emerging issues associated with the roll-out of the PFJ 2.0 and submit the report to the ministry for consideration.
The Northern regional director of the department of agriculture, Madam Hawa Musah, in her remarks acknowledged some successes of the PFJ program in the midst of pertinent challenges making the program lose it value for money. She appreciated the efforts of the ministry to review the program to the enhanced version – Planting for Food and Jobs Phase two (PFJ 2.0). That notwithstanding, she indicated that the roll-out of the PFJ 2.0 had been met with some emerging challenges affecting the full participation by farmers and other stakeholders. Challenges including delays in the registration of farmers, limited logistics for registration of farmers and lack of information on service providers on the program were experienced in the region. At this end, it was indicated that less than ten percent (10%) of farmers were enrolled onto the digital platform. She then made a call to the ministry to critically address the identified challenges to ensure the successful implementation of the program.
There was a presentation on the modality of the PFJ 2.0, which was essentially a shift from input subsidy to a smart input credit system through a value chain approach and private sector centered. Furthermore, the roles and responsibilities of various actors including master aggregator, sub-aggregators, financial institutions, among others were explained. In addition, indicated that a farmer can benefit from the program only when registered onto the Ghana Agriculture and Agribusiness Platform (GHAAP), which provides details of farmers and service providers.
Stakeholders provided their feedback on the current implementation of the program which included bad timing and poor communication flow from the ministry to various stakeholders. In addition, was the logistical challenges associated with registration on the GHAAP platform, which included limited number of extension officers and poor network affecting farmers’ registration. It was recommended that the government should provide inputs on time to enable farmers commence the cropping season while supporting aggregators particularly women to purchase inputs for farmers. In addition, there was a call to the ministry to intensify education and sensitization of farmers on the PFJ 2.0 to promote full participation while calling for piloting the program in 2024 due to the late implementation.