The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has clarified that not all of the 800,000 farmers impacted by the recent dry spell will be eligible for cash transfers.
Tanko Gbagbara, the Ministry’s Public Relations Officer, emphasized that the support measures involve various stakeholders, including international organizations that have played a significant role in validating the data used to identify affected farmers.
“Not only the Ministry of Food and Agriculture that was involved in it, but we had international organizations that took interest in actually validating this data that we have,” he stated.
Despite the ongoing validation process, the ministry has initiated several interventions aimed at assisting farmers who have faced significant hardships.
These include cash transfers specifically designed for vulnerable smallholder farmers. Gbagbara detailed that each smallholder farmer is set to receive GHS8000 as part of this financial support each.
However, he underscored that commercial farmers would not be receiving cash transfers, as the ministry plans to assist them differently. “We are not giving cash transfer to all 800,000 farmers,” he reiterated, while explaining the provision of fertilizers as an alternative support.
To address the needs of commercial farmers who have suffered crop losses, the Ministry is providing a package that includes 50 bags of NPK fertilizer and 25 bags of UREA fertilizer.
Additionally, Gbagbara announced that the ministry is collaborating with the Agriculture Development Bank and Gesal to facilitate access to interest-free loans for these farmers.
“For the smallholder farmers, they will also benefit from 3 bags of NPK and 1 bag of UREA to support them reestablish their farms,” he added.
The announcement follows a press briefing by Hon. Dr. Bryan Acheampong, the Minister of Food and Agriculture, who outlined plans for food grants targeting the 800,000 farmers affected in the northern regions and the transitional belt.
Each farmer in these areas is set to receive a 25kg bag of rice and a 100kg bag of maize. Gbagbara also urged farmers to register their farms on the GHAAP Farmers App to access benefits such as food and fertilizers and to assist the ministry in accounting for its investments effectively.
“Go and register your farms, so you can benefit from government’s policies. There is no politics in this,” he concluded.
