National Farmers and Fishermen Award Winners Association of Ghana (NFFAWAG), and Commercial Farmers in the Country have appealed to President Akufo-Addo to find innovative ways to rope Commercial Farmers into his administration’s flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFFJ).
Chairman of NFFAWAG, Davies Narh Korboe, made the appeal when he led the Association to pay a courtesy call on the President at the Jubilee House on the 26th of November 2018.
Mr. Korboe, in his address said, the “Planting For Food and Jobs” programme is largely targeted at the youth and small scale farmers. He argued that for food security purposes, the programme ought to give attention to small scale farmers. However, for the industrialization drive of Ghana, government must promote the commercial farmers through the “Planting For Food and Jobs” initiative if government wants to achieve the Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda.
President Akufo Addo in a response to the request said the methods of assisting small scale farmers through the “Planting For Food and Jobs” Programme is relatively straight forward as compared to that of commercial farmers. However, the President indicated that the time has come for government to find a ways to support both small scale farmers and commercial farmers side by side through the “Planting For Food and Jobs” programme.
“The initial impulse of the government was to find a formula for dealing with the ones in the lowest bottom, those most in need so that we can target them. I think that now we are in the position to broaden our scope and go down the road of diversification to promote commercial farming on a big scale in Ghana” the President said.
Agriculture as the Game Changer
In his submissions, Chairman of NFFAWAG, Davies Narh Korboe, observed that the most viable way to make the “Ghana Beyond Aid” agenda of government a reality is through improved Agriculture. President Akufo Addo commenting on his submission said he associates himself with that comment and agrees to it fully.
“We have seen for instance not far from us, next door to us, Cote d’I voire, a well organized agriculture system despite all the challenges it has gone through, the country stood very strongly and today we earn 2 billion dollars from our Agriculture, Cote d’I voire earns 16 billion dollars a years. Those statistics tell the full story of why it is important that we take very seriously the statement that you made, that Agric can be the game changer” President said.
Tax Incentives
On the issues of tax incentives for farmers, the Association asked government to review taxes on fertilizers in order to reduce the cost of buying fertilizers on the open market to allow farmers to buy same at reduced prices. President Akufo Addo assured the Association that he and his government will debate the proposal for tax wavers on fertilizers and come up with a policy that will make sense to all stakeholders in the agriculture sector. The President was full of praise for the Association’s ability to unite despite the diversity in the sector and to come under one roof to pursue the national agenda for the development of Agricultural sector.
NFFAWAG
The NFFAWAG was formed in 1998 and currently has more than 24,000 members. The association consists of farmers and fishermen, who have distinguished themselves in their respective agricultural fields, and have won recognition in national, district and specialised areas, since the establishment of the Farmer’s day celebration in Ghana over twenty years ago.
Source:Starrfmonline.com