The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) have trained stakeholders in agriculture in the Upper West Region on the implementation guidelines for the 2022 Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme.
The training, with funding from the International Budget Partnership (IBP), brought together heads of farmer groups, representative of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and selected heads of Regional and District Departments of Agriculture.
The Gender Desk Project Officer at the PFAG, Ms Adedolapo Alabi, said the training was expected to increase the awareness of farmers and other stakeholders on the implementation modalities for the 2022 season which focused more on organic fertiliser.
She stated that the training was necessary to bridge the knowledge gap that existed in previous years’ implementation efforts in order to provide farmers with more knowledge on the PFJ.
“Farmers would receive in-depth knowledge on the PFJ programme and also have access to monitoring reports from previous years to serve as reference that would guide their activities this year”, she said.
Miss Alabi said the PFAG played important role in addressing problems through policy dialogue with the government and advocacy on fertilisers subsidy as well as monitoring the implementation of the subsidy programme.
She said it was important for farmers to know when and how to apply fertiliser, the type and quantity to apply, and advised participants to share the knowledge acquired with their colleagues.
She commended the farmers for their hard work and dedication to the vocation despite the numerous challenges with agriculture in the country, and called on government to consider sourcing from fertiliser companies in Africa in order to build resilience against supply-chain disruption outside the continent.
Speaking on behalf of participants, the Jirapa Municipal Vocal person for the PFAG, Mr Yakubu Karim, expressed profound gratitude to the PFAG and its donor partners for organising the training for them.
“This training has helped me a lot, I have acquired more knowledge and information to share with others in similar vocation who are not present today”, he said.
He encouraged the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) to frequently organise such programmes in the region to help improve yield.
FROM RAFIA ABDUL RAZAK, WA
