A research conducted by the Global Hand on Natural Environmental Care (GHANECare), an NGO on sustainability of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has revealed that the absence of a policy document to serve as a blue print for the implementation of the programme threatens its sustainability.
According to the research, although the programme is widely accepted and received huge interest from a large section of Ghanaians and development partners, the absence of a policy document for its implementation puts the programme under serious threat.
GHANECare with funding support from BUSAC Fund, DANIDA, USAID and EU is currently implementing the project title: “Advocacy for the Review of FASDEP II Policy Document for Economic Robustness in Ghanaâ€.
The Executive Director of GHANECare, Richard Kuunaah, at a press conference in Sunyani, called for integration of the Planting for Food and Jobs into the ongoing review of the Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy II (FASDEP II) to ensure its sustainability.
According to Mr Kuunaah, agriculture continues to play a major role in the Ghanaian economy and despite the dwindling fortunes in recent times it still remains the major source of employment especially in the rural areas of Ghana.
Successive governments, he noted, have implemented various policies and programme to boost the sector but its full potential is yet to be realized. This has led to the country importing a lot of food and meat from other countries depriving the country of huge foreign exchange.
In 2017, as part of government plans to boost the agric sector and to increase the production of key crops to ensure food security and to create jobs, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture rolled out the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative
The programme seeks to increase technical support to farmers and hence has deployed Agric Extension Agents, provided improved seedlings and fertilizers at subsidized prices and on credit basis to beneficiaries of the programme.
Even though the programme is very laudable to ensure food security in selected crops and cereals, it has not been mainstreamed into the Agriculture Sector policy of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
The research findings further revealed that the Government of Ghana is making the Planting for Food and Jobs programme more vulnerable due to political manipulations which is undermining its sustainability beyond different political regimes.
On the implementation of the Food and Agricultural Policy II (FASDEP II) the research revealed that most of the policy objectives were not achieved and recommended for a review of the policy to take on board on-going programs and initiatives in the Food and Agricultural sector including the Planting for Food and Jobs program.
The research also recommended and called for a wider public consultation involving the various actors along the agricultural value chain to solicit views on how to ensure the sustainability of the PFJ.
, December 12, 2019