Gov’t targets mid-September to disburse seeds, fertilisers to farmers affected by dry spell

The government is hopeful of completing the disbursement of seeds and fertilisers to farmers affected by the dry spell by the middle of September 2024.

The government is also planning to complete the importation of some food stuff by September 20, 2024.

Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan Acheampong disclosed this on PM Express Business Edition with host George Wiafe on August 29, 2024.

He assured that the government will make sure the country is not plunged into a food crisis.

“The dry spell that is currently being experienced in the North, should actually impact the country from the end of September. However, the measures that we are implementing should ensure that the situation is minimized and prevent us from getting into a crisis”, he said.

Dr Acheampong said the government has secured the commitment of partners and stakeholders, both internal and external to avert food crises.

Background

Parts of Northern Ghana have been hit by a dry spell this year destroying several farms in the part of the country.

According to the government, the challenge was caused by climate change and not its inability to provide irrigation to aid all-year farming.

Government plan

Dr Acheampong said the dry spell situation had been compounded by the fact that some farmers did not heed the advice from extension officers.

“The farmers were told to delay planting because of the change in weather patterns”, he said.

“Preliminary reports indicate that about 928,523 farmers and 1.86 million hectares of crops were at risk. Those farmers would lose an estimated investment of GH¢7.4 billion if there was total crop failure”, he added.

He revealed that maize, rice, groundnut, soybean, sorghum, millet and yam were the most widely affected crops across the Northern, Upper East, North East, Savannah, Upper West, Bono, Bono East and Oti regions.

Compensation for affected farmers

The government is proposing GH¢1000 per hectare as initial financial compensation to the affected farmers to cover up for their investment losses.

Dr Acheampong has revealed that the farmers have lost about ¢7.4 billion.

The farmers were expected to have realized about ¢22 billion in revenue if the season had been successful.

Some of the farmers have described GH¢1,000 per hectare compensation as inadequate.

But Dr Acheampong said the amount is part of the total compensation that the government is going to extend to the farmers.

“The financial package, is just a fraction, of the total package, which will include other things as well. The government is committed to assisting the farmers in these times. What we have put forward as compensation was based on an extension on ground investments and the current state of Ghana’s financial position to meet all these obligations”, he clarified.

He stated that the ministry has the support and commitment of the Finance Ministry.

“Everyone is coming on board to support. The donor partners, we believe we can effectively deal with this challenge. The Agric Ministry has also set aside a significant portion of its budget to support this initiative “, he said.

The government has outlined an estimated GH¢8 billion ($500 million) plan for various interventions, mainly to support farmers affected by dry weather to ensure food security in the country.

The funds will be sourced from a combination of the Contingency Fund, budget realignment and development partners.