Aflao (VR), March 23, GNA- The Ketu South Municipal office, Department of Agriculture has urged farmers in the municipality to register under the second phase of government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ 2.0) programme.
Mr Kafui Agbe, the Municipal Director of Agriculture in an interview with Ghana News Agency said registration onto the recently initiated PFJ 2.0 was the only way farmers could take advantage of the countless opportunities the programme presented.
He said the underpinning model for the new design – Input Credit System (getting people to supply inputs to farmers for production at zero-interest) as well as addressing the challenge of post-harvest losses were some of the benefits farmers would enjoy when enrolled onto the programme.
He said: “The PFJ Phase II offers a lot of benefits. First, it introduces aggregators who supply the inputs to registered farmers and after production, the farmers pay for the input in kind (using their produce).
“This input credit system is an improvement on the initial PFJ programme where government subsidised inputs for farmers for production.
“With the new design, the market issue of farmers will be solved. Also, financing for land development and preparation as well as seeds and fertilisers will no longer be issues to the farmer. This is because during registration, Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) and other technical officers will take biodata of farmers and coordinates of their farms to enable aggregators link up with them.”
Mr Agbe said a mobile and web application platform called Ghana Agriculture and Agribusiness Platform (GHAAP) had been developed and being used for the ongoing registration and it was important for all farmers in Ketu South to get enrolled.
“I urge every farmer to register in the ongoing process through the technical officers to enjoy the benefits of the programme which include market for their produce.
They should contact the officers, the AEAs or visit us in the office. The registration is free. All they need is to have their Ghana card.”
The Planting for Food and Jobs Phase II is a bold, innovative, and comprehensive five-year plan to tackle head-on the challenges of players in the agriculture sector to attain food and raw material self-sufficiency in some 10 crops and poultry.
Through its underpinning model – Input Credit System, the programme aims to address critical challenges including access to credit, quality of agro inputs, unstructured markets of agricultural produce and low mechanisation.
It is building on the initial PFJ, government’s designed and implemented programme structured around five pillars including seed, fertiliser, extension services, marketing and, fertiliser and monitoring with the aim to promote growth in food production and create jobs across the country.
Ewoenam Kpodo
