Ahead of 2020, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) says it will achieve the ambitious target of reaching one million farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Programme.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, the sector minister who stated this, said more than 600,000 farmers have already been registered under the programme against a target of 500,000 for the year.
He, however, said more could have been achieved under the PFJ if all the budgetary allocation to the ministry had been released.
Last year, MoFA was allocated GH¢760 million in the budget but only GH¢368 million was released.
This year, only GH¢272 million out of the GH¢598 million budgetary allocation to the ministry had been released as of October, the minister said.
Speaking at a review workshop held in Accra last Tuesday to assess the impact of the PFJ, Dr Akoto said although the slow release of funds to MoFA has been a setback to the effective implementation of activities, the PFJ policy has been largely successful.
“I wish I had three times the budgetary allocations that have so far been released to MoFA so that more can be done to achieve results, but I had a limited purse to carry out the activities that we planned because of the weak economy that we inherited."
“This notwithstanding, many farmers were supplied with fertilizers, improved seeds, and supported with extension services under the PFJ, resulting in higher productivity."
"Our target was to register up to 500,000 farmers this year, but as I speak, we have exceeded 600,000 and so, we have reviewed our target to hit the one million mark in 2019, instead of 2020,†he said.
The review workshop brought together officials from agencies and departments under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), the Ministry of Finance, the PFJ Secretariat, the World Bank, research institutions and other stakeholders.
The workshop provided a platform for the minister to discuss other initiatives that will be rolled out to boost the agriculture sector with stakeholders.
Dr. Akoto said the small number of agricultural extension officers is a major challenge in providing quality extension services to farmers.
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For instance, he said, out of about 4,500 extension officers that are required across the country, there are only 1,600, 80 percent of whom would soon retire.
However, the minister said clearance has been given to employ 2,700 extension officers next year to bridge the gap.
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