Dr. Hafiz Bin Salih, the Upper West Regional Minister, has indicated that the current shortage of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) subsidised fertilizer has revealed the level of impact the programme has on smallholder farmers.
He said the programme was designed to reduce the challenges smallholder farmers go through in accessing farm inputs such the fertilizer, improved seeds and which it had achieved over the years.
He explained that for this year, the region had so far received 2161.4mt worth of the PFJ fertilizer while more were expected in the region.
Dr. Salih, who said this on Info Radio’s Morning show, Zienyaaye Upper West with Gabriel Mwini, added that though the subsidised fertilizer might not be enough for the farmers, there were enough non-subsidized fertilizers on the open market for farmers who can afford to buy.
He explained that the current shortage of the PFJ fertilizer in the country was as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war but expressed hope that the situation would improve in next year's farming season.
“The input dealers are now selling the fertilizers that they couldn’t sell at the time there were enough PFJ fertilizers for the farmers.
“We know the shortage of the PFJ fertilizers will affect the farmers’ capacity to produce but we are hopeful that the situation will get better”, Dr. Salih said.
The Regional Minister, therefore, advised farmers to resort to the use of organic manure from animals to reduce their overreliance on chemical fertilizer for farming this year.
He said the government had created the enabling environment for organic fertilizers to be produced in Ghana by next year.