Agric Ministry steps up inputs distribution under PFJ2.0
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan Acheampong, has reaffirmed the government’s commitment to prioritising and improving the agric sector.
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He said the distribution of farm inputs under the Planting for Food and Jobs Phase Two (PFJ 2.0) programme was ongoing, stressing that the ministry was stepping up efforts to ensure that the inputs got to the farmers in good time.
Dr Acheampong stressed the government’s commitment to use the PFJ2.0 as a purpose vehicle to ensure food security in the country. The PFJ2.0 introduces input credit as its core value.
It aims to build on the successes of the initial PFJ campaign while addressing its limitations. The PFJ 2.0 focuses on a value chain approach, including an inputs credit system, storage and distribution infrastructure, off-take arrangements or commodity trading, a digitised platform, and line of site management and coordination.
Additionally, the programme provides input grants to vulnerable farmers to enhance their productivity and livelihoods and ultimately build their capacity to become successful commercial farmers.
The ministry has since begun a nationwide sensitisation of the public and farmers of the various input packages available under the PFJ 2.0 and the modalities for accessing these inputs.
Input Grant- Vulnerable Farmers
Giving details of the various input packages, Dr Acheampong indicated that vulnerable groups such as female-headed households, elderly farmers, farmers with disabilities, and smallholder farmers with limited access to input resources would be supported with inputs as grants.
Each vulnerable farmer would receive three 50 kg bags of NPK, one 50kg bag of Urea, and one 10 kg bag of maize seeds.
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The distribution will be done by the District Departments of Agriculture under the supervision of the MMDCEs. All those who fall under this category will be contacted.
Input Grant
He said another significant intervention worth mentioning was the input grant, adding that the PFJ 2.0 was providing grants for the first 200,000 farmers who had fully registered on the Ghana Agricultural Agribusiness Platform (GhAAP).
The minister said the grant items included two 50kg bags of NPK, One 50kg bag of Urea, and One 10kg bag of maize seeds.
Input Grant- for Flood victims
To give expression to a statement the sector minister made at a presidential youth and agribusiness forum held at the University of Ghana last year, a $40 million Food Systems Resilience Programme had been restructured to aid farmers impacted by the Akosombo and Kpong dams spillages.
The spillages, he said, had a significant impact on farming communities, and as such, the ministry under his leadership was supporting those farmers to ensure that they recovered and continued to produce food for the country, thereby contributing to the country's efforts to achieve food security and reduce poverty in rural areas.
Dr Acheampong explained that the farmers in the affected catchment areas would benefit from six bags (50kg) NPK, two bags of Urea, two litres of nicoking and one litre of atrazine.
On seeds, for two-acre cereal production (maize & rice), two bags of 10 kg maize seed or two bags of 40 kg rice seed, and for one-acre vegetable production (pepper and onion) - 50 grammes of pepper seed, 100 grammes of onion seeds.
This initiative is funded with a loan facility under the World Bank, the intervention will specifically target farmers along the Volta and Eastern stretches of the Akosombo Dam's path, whose lands were destroyed due to necessary actions taken by the Volta River Authority (VRA) to safeguard the nation.
Input Credit under the PFJ 2.0
Farmers who have applied for the input credit will start receiving their inputs this week. To benefit from the programme, farmers or companies must meet specific requirements, such as having ensured they are fully registered on the GhAAP.
All input requests should be done on the GhAAP individually or with the assistance of an aggregator or AEA.
The PFJ 2.0 is built upon five strategic elements, including Inputs Credit System. Distribution of inputs will be done through Aggregators. Farmers who have challenges requesting inputs on the platform are advised to contact their district agriculture departments.