One of the government’s flagship programs, the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme (PFJ), is being reviewed in order for the government to commence phase two, which will engage the private sector.
As a result, the government’s subsidies for fertilizer and other farm inputs have been suspended until the assessment process is completed, according to Upper West Regional Minister Dr Hafiz Bin Salih.
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Regardless, tons of fertilizer and other agriculture supplies have been imported into the region and are freely available in the open market for farmers to acquire this year.
Dr. Bin Salih stated that the government’s involvement in phase two of the PFJ program will be to rely more on the private sector to offer farm supplies.
The Regional Minister stated this during a meeting of the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council in Wa with municipal and district chief executives, district coordinators, presiding members, heads of departments, institutions, and agencies to discuss pertinent issues, particularly government interventions and their impact on people’s well-being.
According to information from the Department of Food and Agriculture’s Regional Directorate, many farmers who cultivated large hectares of farmland were unable to complete their planting due to the erratic nature of the rainfall pattern, which succeeded in shortening the planting window for this year.
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“As a result, the land size cultivated this year had reduced. However, from close observation of the performance of the crops, food security would be assured,” he said.
He stated that many agriculture extension officers had been hired during the last four years to help improve the department’s staffing position, and they had been dispatched to the fields so that every farmer could get advisory services.
According to Article 255 of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, the Regional Coordinating Council mandates the House to convene at least twice a year to share ideas, advise on issues, and make the right and appropriate judgments that will benefit the people.
The various assemblies delivered reports on infrastructure development, security, and the government’s social and economic interventions in the communities’ living situations.
