- Peasant farmers appeal to government for support
- NBSSI stimulus package requirements not accessible to businesses without TIN
- Smallholder farmers call for inclusion though operate unregistered businesses
- AEAs are front-liners
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called on government to include smallholder farmers in disbursing the stimulus package so as to restore agriculture production and to help improve food security.
In defending the call to government, the Head of Programmes and Advocacy at PFAG, Charles Kwowe Nyaaba indicated that members of the Association do not have the basic requirements such as Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) since most smallholder farmers do not register their businesses.
According to him, though government intends to cater for the needs of businesses during this perilous time,
“the credit facility, as part of government’s intervention to cushion the small-scale businesses, cannot be accessed by the farmers because the criteria required does not qualify them to access it.”
Mr. Nyaaba made this appeal at a stakeholder forum held in Tamale, the Northern Region capital, for Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) drawn from the Tamale Metropolis, Sagnarigu and Savelugu Municipalities.
PFAG organized the training to educate stakeholders on the novel coronavirus; its transmission, symptoms and safety protocols. This on a larger scale, was aimed at transferring knowledge to smallholder farmers about the virus through a strategic approach by not breaching the number of persons per a social gathering as the forum was part of the Association’s extension activities to help curb its spread.
The forum was also used to support the Department of Agriculture with some Veronica buckets, hand sanitisers, tissue paper and liquid soap, as measures to help safeguard the extension officers.
Mr. Nyaaba holds that the lack of support to the activities of smallholder farmers who provide food to the nation affects their productivity. He said, “once their activities are affected, it will have impact on their output; which will lead to a reduction in food production”.
Referring to AEAs as front-liners, he indicated that government ought to include them in front-liners’ package list, since they also serve as doctors who aid farmers adapt to best agronomic practices to enhance food security.
“Front-liners in the health sector have had their share of the national cake, the hospitality industry has also had its share – but as much as all are happy with government’s approach in handling the COVID-19 issue in terms of distributions of items, we are not happy when it comes to the agriculture sector; we are being neglected.”
Charles Kwowe Nyaaba
Reiterating Mr. Nyaaba’s point, a board member of PFAG, Hajia Alima Sagito Saeed also said,
“for us, we see all extension officers as front-liners because they deal with farmers, and farmers are the majority population in this country. They determine our survival, and our fear is that when they are affected the agricultural sector is at risk.”
