The Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr Bryan Acheampong has disclosed that farmer registration under the Planting for Food and Jobs phase II (PFJ 2.0) will start today, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. He made the announcement at a news conference in Accra yesterday.
Dr. Bryan Acheampong said to be eligible for the PFJ 2.0 farmers must meet certain requirements, such as “having access to land or a farm, capturing their profile at the district level, providing farm or land coordinates, being a Ghanaian citizen with a valid Ghana card, engaging in farming for prioritised commodity crops and being a legally registered company or institution.”
The registration process will be conducted across all sixteen regions and 261 districts in Ghana, utilising the Ghana Agriculture and Agribusiness Platform (GhAAP) and trained Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs).
The Minister explained that registration for the PFJ 2.0 could be done by contacting the nearest District Department of Agriculture.
Also, the registration process consists of two phases: first, the farmer or company profile is captured, and then the farm or land is measured by capturing its polygons.
According to the Minister, his outfit was committed to the successful implementation of this transformative approach, aiming to empower our farmers, enhance productivity, and foster sustainable agricultural development in Ghana.
Dr Bryan Acheampong said PFJ 2.0 initiative seeks to bolster agricultural development, food security, productivity and job creation, while addressing implementation challenges encountered in the initial phase.
“This involves strengthening linkages among actors along selected agricultural commodity value chains and improving service delivery to maximise impact”, he added.
Key changes from the first phase include the introduction of a smart agricultural financial support system, replacing the direct input subsidy with a zero-interest input credit system.
The PFJ 2.0 program, he said, is anchored on five main strategic elements;
- Inputs Credit System: This system ensures quality fertilizer, improved seed and support services for farmers through a zero-interest input credit system.
- Storage and Distribution Infrastructure: A network of warehouses and logistics will be established for the storage and distribution of produce, including takeover centers.
- Off-take Arrangements or Commodity Trading: Guaranteed market access and price stabilization will be provided through improved market access and assured raw materials for processing.
- Digitized Platform: A smart farmer, smart farm, and digitized agriculture approach will be implemented using the Ghana Agriculture and Agribusiness Platform (GhAAP).
- Line of Sight Management and Coordination: A central digital platform will be used for real-time data capturing, monitoring and evaluation, with the development of a user-friendly platform to track the program’s progress.
Background
It would be recalled that the President Akufo-Addo, on Monday, 28th August 2023, launched Phase Two of Government’s flagship programme on agriculture, “Planting for Food and Jobs” at the University for Development Studies, in Tamale.
Targeted at building on the successes of the initial programme, the second phase of the programme is a five-year master plan for the transformation of agriculture in Ghana with focus on modernisation through the development of a selected commodity value chain and active private sector participation.
The President disclosed further that key elements of the new phase also include an input credit system that provides farmers with access to inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides and other support services for improving productivity and yield.
Others are storage infrastructure and logistic hub to improve storage and distribution of produce to reduce post-harvest losses.
He added that Phase Two of the Programme also seeks to improve service delivery to maximise impact, and substitutes direct input subsidy with smart agricultural financial support in the form of comprehensive input credit, with provision for in-kind payment.
