Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana holds a day's workshop for Farmers

The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana have held a training workshop for farmers, selected heads of Regional and District Departments of Agriculture and input dealers in the Bono East Region on May 12, 2021.

The workshop, which was in a collaboration with the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) was funded by the International Budget Partnership (IBP) with the aim of enhancing the visibility of the Planting for Food and Job (PFJ) campaign and increasing farmers agriculture support programs. 

The Head Of Programs and Advocacy at PFAG, Dr Charles Kwowe Nyaba, revealed that the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, are the main group of farmers that have been supplying the food basket of the nation but they face a lot of challenges in their line of work.

He said since 2008, the government has been subsidizing fertilizers for small scale farmers but most peasant farmers do not get access to these fertilizers when they really need them due to the delay from the government.

He explained that some uncultured behaviour from some input dealers leads to increasing the prices of the subsidy fertilizers for their personal gains, while some also illegally export government subsidy fertilizers to countries like Burkina Faso and Togo.

According to him, the covid-19 pandemic has had a lot of negative impact on farmers meanwhile peasant farmers are yet to benefit from the covid-19 relief fund, he pleaded to the government to reduce the prices of the fertilizers.

He also urged the government to intensify the monitoring of its subsidy fertilizers, especially at the border towns to prevent the smuggling of fertilizers. 

Dr Charles Kwowe Nyaba advised all peasant farmers to report any input dealers who try to sell subsidy fertilizers at increased prices to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He also encouraged them to report anybody seen trying to smuggle fertilizers to the appropriate bodies.

The National Vice Chairman of the Peasant Farmers Association, Nana Ameyaw Manu, in an interview with the media, said all peasant farmers should help the government to monitor the composts by providing relevant ID cards whenever they are to buy them.

He ensured all peasant farmers that, the mother association, PFAG have their best interest at heart and will continue to engage with the government for more support.

He encouraged peasant farmers not to buy any subsidy fertilizers above the prices indicated by the government.

Reacting to the challenges facing peasant farmers, the Bono East Regional Agric Officer in charge of the extension, Marfo Bernard revealed government procure limited fertilizers which usually run out of stock in the months of September and October. He, therefore, advised farmers not to wait until these months to buy the composts disclosing June to August as the appropriate months.

He further cautioned input dealers to refrain from hiking prices and also smuggling subsidy fertilizers out of the country.

Some peasant farmers who were present at the workshop applaud the government for their interventions but said the prices of the fertilizers are expensive hence their prayer for the government to reduce the prices for their use.

Bono East Region