Bono farmers bemoan high cost of inputs, poor pricing of products
Farmers at a two-day Bono Regional AbinBev inputs fair held last Thursday and Friday at Wenchi have bemoaned the high cost of farm inputs and poor pricing of their products in the region.
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They also lamented the lack of good roads and access to inputs, particularly seeds, which remain their huge challenges in the agriculture industry.
Sharing her frustrations on the high cost and lack of access to inputs, a farmer, Ursula Napaala told the Daily Graphic that they continued to confront the challenges every planting season.
She said the challenges had prevented some farmers, especially smallholder farmers, who are the major contributors to the country's food production, to venture into commercial farming.
Mrs Napaala said the situation had contributed to the recent high cost of food on the market and had huge implications or threatened the country's food security and nutrition.
She appealed to the government and other stakeholders to immediately resolve the challenges to enable them to venture into large-scale farming to boost production and their income.
The fair, which provided a single platform for the agricultural sector, brought some Agro input dealers, who exhibited their products.
It exposed the farmers to quality and affordable farm inputs such as variety of seeds, fertiliser and agrochemicals. It also provided the opportunity for agribusinesses to identify and network with potential clients and promote technologies to increase farm updated information to industry players.
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The fair was organised by the Bono Regional Department of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), in partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP) Ghana under the AbinBev project, an initiative to enhance the productivity of smallholder maize farmers.
The fair was targeted at helping the farmers to gain access to the products to enhance their activities.
Challenges
The Regional Director of Agriculture, Dennis Abugri Amenga, said smallholder farmers in recent times had often faced significant challenges in accessing quality inputs and timely information for their farming activities.
He said the situation had often created a gap that impeded their productivity and hindered the improvement of their incomes and livelihoods.
He said the AbinBev input fair was organised to bring together agro input companies to connect with aggregators, Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs) and smallholder farmers in the Wenchi, Tain and Banda areas.
Mr Amenga said the platform was to provide farmers access to input and services of agro input dealers to eliminate the frustrations they go through to access them.
He said the department of agriculture had taken the farmers through best agriculture practices to help improve their yields. Mr Amenga said the fair, which was part of the several activities under the AbinBev project was to also help the input dealers to have access to markets for their inputs and services.
He urged the participants to identify mutually beneficial partners, build viable networks, enhance and update their skills, attitude, knowledge and aspirations.
Significant
The Wenchi Municipal Director of Agriculture, Emmanuel Kwabena Afful, said the event was significant because it would enhance productivity and sustainability in the region.
He said since agriculture was the backbone of the country, it was important to introduce farmers to modern technologies, inputs and innovations that could transform the country's agriculture.
Mr Afful urged agriculture industry players to work together to build a vibrant and resilient agriculture sector that could sustain communities and contribute to the development of the country.
Writer's email: biiya.ali@graphic.com.gh