Ghana’s PFJ program receives 30% of Agric Ministry’s total budget allocation for 2023
The Ghanaian government has announced plans to increase spending on its flagship Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program for the 2023 implementation year, allocating GH¢660 million, a 7.5% increase from the GH¢614 million spent in the 2022 planting season.
The majority of the funds, 90.3%, will be allocated to goods and services, including subsidies for seeds and fertilizers, while 8.07% will be earmarked for capital expenditure.
The PFJ allocation has seen a consistent increase since 2020, following a 45.71% decline in 2019. The increase of allocation by 7.5% in 2023 is expected to have a corresponding increase in the number of target beneficiaries and help clear outstanding debts to input suppliers.
The allocation of GH¢660 million constitutes about 30% of the Food and Agriculture Ministry’s (MoFA) total budget allocation of GH¢2.1 billion for 2023, which has increased by 95.19% from the GH¢1.1 billion of last year.
The government’s intervention for the PFJ in 2023 is mainly two-pronged; promoting the local production and use of organic fertilizers and facilitating the establishment and expansion of local organic fertilizers production plants.
However, the Peasant Farmers Association (PFAG) has raised concerns over the quality of fertilizers and seeds being supplied to farmers and called for the quick release of funds to service providers such as fertilizers importers and seed suppliers to avoid the shortages experienced in 2021 and 2022.
Furthermore, the PFAG has also highlighted that credible input companies have declined participating in the program, which has led to farmers being short-changed with poor quality inputs.
