Search
Close this search box.
GBC
GHANA WEATHER

No support for us under PFJ – Pwalugu women farmers lament

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Pinterest

The Government’s agricultural revolutionary flagship programme dubbed “Planting for Food and Jobs”, PFJ, aimed at increasing productivity among smallholder farmers by providing them with improved seeds and subsidized fertilizer is yielding positive results.

The move forms part of measures put in place by government in making the agriculture sector a lucrative venture.

But unfortunately, the story seems different in the case of Pwalugu women farmers as they complained that all efforts made to have access to the improved seeds and the subsidized fertilizer has not been successful.

Speaking with Radio Ghana, a farmer, Madam Laadi Adaboo, who has been farming for about twenty years now, said he and his colleagues have only received support from a former MP for Bolgatanga Central Constituency, Mr. Abakake Nyalorigiya.

She said apart from the former MP who used to provide them with tomatoes seeds, they normally buy their own seeds from the open market.

She said the former MP saw the need to support them when he himself was farming with them at the same area and saw the challenges they were going through.

Madam Adaboo who can no longer farm due to an injury on the leg, expressed worry over the frustration her colleague farmers are going through.

The women farmers at Pwulugu are into cultivation of tomatoes, maize, rice, vegetables among others.

Madam Adaboo revealed that, all the women farmers at Pwalugu have never received any form of support whatsoever from government, despite the much talked about government subsidized seeds and fertilizer under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

She lamented that their efforts have always been in vain.

She said they purchase seed and fertilizer all by themselves, pay for ploughing, weeding, harvesting, trashing and at the end, they make no profit.

She added that, sometimes their produce gets goes bad especially the tomatoes when there is no ready market.

Madam Adaboo said their major off taker (the tomatoes) has always been the women from Accra, Kumasi and Tamale at a give-away price.

Mr. Avaala Charles who has also been farming along the white Volta Basin at Pwalugu for the past thirty-five (35) years narrated his story that, those of them who farm vegetables along the catchment area normally get their seed input such as tomatoes, pepper, onions okro, cabbage among others from one agro-input dealer in Bolga.

Mr. Avaala stated that in 2017, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture MoFA gave them an onion variety known as kiyol but it was not suitable for the land so they had nothing from it.

Regarding tomato farming, Mr. Charles recounts as far back February 27, 1967 when he was a young farmer at the time, the Pwalugu Tomato Factory was opened, there were three types of varietie including Chiko One, Chiko Two and Cambell 28 under cultivation, with high yielding potentials.

Those varieties were brought in from Yugoslavia by one Agronomist Dr. Yapmic. He said with these varieties, the factory was always full to capacity because there was enough produce.

Then came the 24th Coup (year) the factory collapsed.

He said when former President Ignatius Kutu Achampong came in 1972, the factory was revamped and farmers were given the seeds and fertilizers to produce.

He said the government at the time then was responsible for buying from the farmers to feed the factory.

At the end of the production year, the input prices were deducted from the proceeds and the remaining moneys paid to farmers to better their living conditions.

He described the move by the government at the time as a good one.

He added the move reduced the high level of migration from the north to the southern sector in search for non-existent jobs.

He indicated that, since the days of former President Achampong’s time till date they have never felt any support from the government until 2017 when MoFA did not consult them and brought a seed that that was of no use to them.

Mr. Charles therefore called on the government to as a matter of urgency revamp the factory to help curtail the Rural-Urban migration now that the Pawlugu Multi-Purpose Dam is to be constructed.

Story filed by Emmanuel Akayeti

Leave a Reply

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

ADVERTISEMENT