In the run-up to the December 7 polls, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) through its Agriculture Manifesto Forum, gave the country’s two dominant political parties the opportunity to discuss the plans they have for the agricultural sector.
The forum held on Tuesday, November 24, 2020, saw the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) discuss their respective policies for the sector in the next 4 years.
Representing the NPP was Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Dr Sagre Bambangi, who mostly dwelling on the successes chalked in the sector on the back of the implementation of policies such as the Planting for Food and Jobs, subsidised prices of fertilizers for planting, construction of several warehouses in various districts for post harvests storage, securing $400 Living Income Differential for cocoa farmers among others, noted, the NPP is further aiming to irrigate over 24,000 hectares of irrigable land through the construction of the multi-purpose Pwalugu Dam.
“Currently, only 12,000 hectares or 12 per cent of Ghana’s arable land are irrigable, but we are planning to double that to 24,000 hectares through the construction of the Pwalugu Dam,” he stated.
The construction of the Pwalugu Dam, he also noted will tackle the issue of drought in three northern regions.
Speaking on behalf of the NDC was Harry Yamson.
He posited that the NDC’s major policy for the agricultural sector if given the mandate, is to achieve 40 per cent value addition on agricultural produce.
He also posited that the NDC government will make available half a billion cedis to banks to reduce perceived risks associated with farmers and enable them have easy access to finance.
He also added that, the NDC will champion Public Private Partnerships (PPP) investments in the agricultural sector.
Giving an assessment of the discussed policies of the two political parties at the forum, Patrick Stevenson, a representative from public budget analysing firm, International Budget Partnership (IBP), noted that the two parties although acknowledging the constraints faced by farmers particularly peasant farmers, their policies do not directly solve the constraints in the manner they should.
Speaking further, Mr Stevenson commending the NDC for its promise to commit to financing farmers and the sector at large, also noted that the NPP out to fine-tune it’s PFJ to properly suit farmers.
The fine-tuning of the PFJ policy he said, should involve the invitation of peasant farmers by government to contribute to its effective operationalization.
