The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has released implementation guidelines to ensure efficient distribution of subsidized fertilizer and improved seeds to farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs) programme.

According to Mr Francis Ennor, the guidelines would help to reduce smuggling, improve quality control, and ensure that deserving farmers benefited from the program. Mr Francis Ennor is the Upper East Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture. He said the subsidized improved seeds and fertilizer programme is an initiative under the government’s PFJs policy to support smallholder farmers to buy adequate farm inputs.

As part of the implementation guidelines, seeds and fertilizers to be sold in 2021 under PFJs would be packaged in sacks with PFJs logo and inscriptions. He said participating companies will furnish MoFA with purchasing agreements from other companies. He added that these companies must at all times invite MoFA to take stock of the inputs before distribution.

Moreover, Mr Ennor said copies of consignments’ waybills would be endorsed by Regional Ministers. However, where the destination of a consignment is not the regional capital, the waybill would be endorsed by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs). He mentioned that distributors and retailers would liaise with officials of National Builders Corps (NABCO) under the supervision of MMDCEs to distribute the seeds and fertilizers to retail points.

“NABCO officials through the use of daily records sheets would also supervise and record quantities of seeds and fertilizer being sold to farmers.”

Mr Francis Ennor revealed these at a sensitization forum organized by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG). The association organized the forum with funding support from the International Budget Partnership.

The need for improved programme implementation

The MOFA has been implementing the national fertilizer subsidy program to support its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program. The aim is to boost agricultural productivity and improve the living conditions of smallholder farmers across the country. Increased and improved use of agricultural inputs is an essential feature of agricultural transformation and economic development. Thus, the government has been seeking to make the program smart to benefit, particularly, vulnerable rural populations.

Dr Charles Kwowe Nyaaba, the Head of Programmes and Advocacy, PFAG, commended the government for improving the implementation of the fertilizer subsidy programme. Although, the programme supported many farmers last year, he said government needs to increase the subsidy rate to allow farmers to increase production. He indicated that smuggling remained an impediment to the successful implementation of the programme. He therefore called on the government to put in measures to combat it.

According to a research by Partnership for Economic Policy , the PFJ fertilizer subsidy program is effective in achieving its goals to improve Ghana’s economy. It indicated that average annual crop productivity increased between 2017 and 2020, increasing household welfare and household consumption expenditure. The findings indicated that the fertilizer subsidy program is more cost-effective for improving welfare than the Nation Builder’s Corps (NABCO). The researchers therefore called for the extension of the implementation period of the programme to at least 2024.