Agri National

Audio: Involve NFFAWAG in Government Policies

By Prince Paul Amuzu:

The National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG) has pressed for the inclusion of members of the group in some of the key intended policies of the government. The group led by its president, Mr. Davies Narh Korboe specifically called on the Ministry of Food and Agric to consider involving the association in its ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ and the ‘One District, One Factory’ programmes as there abound enough technocrats within the association who can help realize these intentions.

The president made the call during a courtesy call paid by NFFAWAG to the minister of Food and Agriculture at his office at the ministries.

‘Being national award winners with much experience in farming, it would be perfectly in place for the government to involve the association in the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ and the ‘One District, One Factory’ policies as technocrats as far as farming is concerned, abound in the association,’ the group’s president required.

The National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG) paid a courtesy call to the Minister of Agric, Honorable Owusu Afriyie Akoto at the ministries in Accra. The call which was to offer the group the opportunity to commend the new minister on his appointment to the position of the minister responsible for agriculture, was also to officially introduce the association (NFFAWAG) to him.

The team led by its president, Mr. Davies Narh Korboe took the opportunity to introduce its members to the minster as well as present its challenges onto his table which they are very optimistic the ministry can play a major role in addressing.

Mr. Kroboe who articulated the challenges experienced by farmers, especially in fertilizer acquisition, said farmers who are supposed to be beneficiaries of fertilizer subsidy did not enjoy this advantage.

‘Farmers, who are supposed to be the direct beneficiaries of the subsidized fertilizer, have been neglected as a result of the lack of transparency in the distribution process on the part of some agric directors. These farmers are not getting their entitlements due to corruption among some of the Agric officers across all levels and the problem with some of the fertilizers is that they are not captured under the subsidy,’ Mr. Korboe bemoaned.

The NFFAWAG president further revealed that about seventy percent of so-called Farmer-Based Organizations are not in existence but just phantom groups put together in order to illegally access state funds.

‘About 70% of the FBOs are not real, but just some pretentious groups put together to manipulate and defraud the system under the pretext of being Farmer- Based Associations,’ Mr. Korboe asserted.

The president further added that the frustration experienced by farmers as a result of the menace of galamsey on farmlands cannot be overemphasized.

‘The frustration of farmers due to the menace of galamsey on farmlands is grave and now the ordinary farmer cannot even access a piece of land for cultivation since all natural, agricultural friendly land have been sold to either estates developers or ‘galamsey’ operators and this needs urgent attention to be addressed by the government and other stakeholders to rescue the situation,’ Mr. Narh Korboe complained bitterly.

Responding to calls for the direct involvement of the award winners in implementing key government policies, Minister for food and agriculture, Dr. Owusu Akoto Afriyie on his part assured the group of government’s commitment to fulfill and implementing its key agricultural policies. Dr. Afriyie revealed that an amount of Gh c 560 million has been earmark for the ‘planting for food and job programme’ while a whopping 2000000 farmers are being enrolled for the pilot project.

‘About Gh c 560 million has been earmarked for the planting for food and job programme and we are directly involving two hundred thousand (200,000) farmers to start the piloting this year which is expected to add about Gh c 1.3 billion to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the close of this year. Also, 1200 extension officers would be employed this year and 2000 motorbikes would be provided to them to assist them in their operations,’ the agric minister revealed.

He also expressed his appreciation to the group for acknowledging his position as the sector minister and the official introduction of the association to him and his ministry. He also pledged the determination of the ministry in solving the dire challenges confronting the sector.

‘Government is very committed to the revival of the agricultural sector and fertilizer subsidy is one the immediate issues penned down for consideration. In fact am going to organize a press conference after the meeting with you and announce to the whole world the reduction of the subsidized fertilizer from Gh c 82 to Gh c 52,’ the minister revealed.

Dr. Afriyie who confirmed the revelation that the majority of Farmer- Based Organizations in the country could be a sham and are thus operating in the system under the pretext of farming, stressed that measures were under way to flush such phony organizations out of the system.

‘Just after taking over the ministry about two months, they have come in their numbers and as a farmer myself, I have detected some of them to be fake and we are putting in measures to flush them out of the system so that farmers can really enjoy what is due them,’ he guaranteed.

Source: ritefmonline.org

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