Agriculture General News

Fertilizer shortage may lead to famine-Former national best farmer cautions 

609
The Pressure mounted on government to settle the debts of Fertilizer Suppliers keep growing as stakeholders are demanding the government as
The recent Major Stakeholder to have added his voice to the call is a Former National Best Farmer in 2014, Mr. George Asamoah -Amankwaa is urging the government to make provision of fertilizers to farmers since the farming season is already close.
In an exclusive Interview with Samson Kwame Nyamekye of Hello Fm, he said if this problem continues without any stringent measures the probability of experiencing famine in the country is high since the populace will be depending on the few crops available.
For him, currently farmers are dire need of the fertilizers and contractors are also not providing due to the debts by the government of which he said has made many contractors gone bankrupt.
DETAILS:
Mr. Asamoah recalled how the previous government from 2014 to 2016 made fertilizers available to the farmers without payments in view of increasing yield however the subsidy by the current government is still making farmers not have access to fertilizer; a situation he said is affecting farming businesses.
The Past National Farmer is hereby pleading with the government to discuss issue with Fertilizer contractors to address the shortage of fertilizers.
GOV’T ADMITS OWING FERTILZER SUPPLIERS FROM 2020, 2021
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has openly admitted owing Fertilizer Suppliers after these contractors distributed fertilizers to farmers under Planting for Food and Jobs Programme.
According to a Deputy Minister for Agric, Hon Yaw Frimpong Addo, he said the government still has arrears to be cleared in 2020 after paying part of the money to these contractors but for 2021 nothing was paid to the suppliers.
In an interview on Hellofm’s Boho Biom hosted by Sampson Kwame Nyamekye, the Member of Parliament for Manso Adubia in the Ashanti Region said currently Ghana Government likewise any other government is facing financial challenges hence the cut off government expenditure at Ministries, agencies and Departments.
“Government is aware and much effort is being done to find fertilizers for our farmers” he told Sampson.
Fertilizers Suppliers who have been contracted by the government to distribute fertilizers to farmers under government’s flagship programme Planting for Food and Jobs over some period now have been complaining bitterly over the delay in government paying their monies.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.