The government of Ghana has disclosed that it will complete the remaining 15 warehouses under the One District One Warehouse intervention in the second half of the year.
According to information presented in the mid-year budget review, 65 out of 80 planned warehouses were completed as of June 2022 under the One District One Warehouse intervention.
“These warehouses will add 80,000mt to the national grain storage capacity and enhance operations of the National Food Buffer Stock Company Limited (NAFCO) and the Warehouse Receipt System being implemented by the Ghana Commodity Exchange”.
Ken Ofori-Atta
Planting for Food and Jobs
The One District One Warehouse intervention is under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program which the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, said has achieved significant gains in productivity of selected crops through the provision of subsidized seeds and fertilizer to beneficiary farmers.
“The yields of maize increased from 1.8mt/ha in 2016 to 3.8mt/ha in 2021, rice from 2.7mt/ha to 4.3mt/ha, and Soya 1.7mt/ha to 2.2mt/ha. Emboldened with this success, Government scaled up interventions in the provision of affordable agricultural machinery as well as irrigation and storage infrastructure”.
Ken Ofori-Atta
Under the Food Crops Development Module of the PFJ programme, which aims to increase productivity and incomes of small holder farmers, Government targeted to distribute 39,000mt and 310,500mt of subsidized improved seeds and fertilizers, respectively, to 1.7 million farmers for the 2022 cropping season.
The Finance Minister disclosed that as of June 2022, a total of 5,500mt of improved seeds were distributed to PFJ beneficiary farmers, mainly in the southern regions of the country.
These included: 1,390mt of Maize (OPV), 1,540mt of Maize (Hybrid), 1,860mt of Rice, 50mt of Groundnut, 51mt of Cowpea, 540mt of Soya bean, 64mt of Sorghum, 5mt of Vegetables. The government also distributed 6,000mt of fertilizers which comprised 400mt organic and 5,600mt inorganic.
The input subsidy intervention has stimulated increased willingness of farmers to use improved seeds and fertilizers, Ken Ofori-Atta said, adding that “In the second half of the year, the Ministry will distribute 33,500mt of improved seeds and 304,500mt of organic and inorganic fertilizers to beneficiary farmers in the northern sector”.
Planting for Export and Rural Development
Under the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) program, government raised and distributed 100,000 improved cashew seedlings to farmers across the country.
Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta hinted that Government will facilitate the production of 200,000 improved cashew planting materials for distribution to tree crop farmers in the second half of 2022.
Another important module Under the PFJs program is the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ), which has the objective of increasing animal protein, creating employment, and increasing income for actors along the livestock value chain.
In the first half of the year, Government procured and installed 1,200-capacity poultry battery cages to support 1,000 women and youth. A total of 313 beneficiaries in nine MMDAs (Savelugu, Sagnarigu, Wa Municipal, Nandom, Sissala East, Krachi East, Nkwanta South, Techiman North, and Nkoranza) were supported with 35,123 layer-pullets as start-ups.
The purpose of the intervention is to empower rural women and youth with sustainable alternative livelihoods and promote improved household nutrition.
In the second half of the year, Government disclosed that it will distribute 84,877 layer-pullets to the remaining 687 women and youth beneficiaries of battery cages. In addition, Government pledged to complete procurement processes for one million broiler day-old chicks and 500mt of feed and vaccines for supply to small holder farmers at subsidized rates to increase meat production.
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