“PFJ in its current form is a top down policy, and deviates from the real needs and challenges confronting farmers,” GTLC Policy Officer for Upper West, Mr Emmanuel Wullingdool, said in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Wa.

The statement applauded farmers for contributing significantly to the growth of the economy as the country’s food growers celebrated the 2018 National Farmers Day countrywide.

It also commended Government and its partners for recognising the work of local farmers whose activities the Coalition described as valuable to Ghana’s economic growth and sustainability.

Over the years, Agriculture have been the backbone of the economy, contributing over 20 per cent to Ghana’s GDP and employing over 40 per cent of the labour force.

The sector also supports other parts of the national economy including the industry and services sector and contributes greatly to the foreign exchange earnings of Ghana.

Mr Wullingdool lauded Government for its renewed interest in agriculture shown in the Planting for food and Jobs, One Village One Dam, One District One Warehouse, One District One Factory and provision of mechanised centres among other policy initiatives.

“Commendable as these programmes and policies are to the Ghanaian farmers,” he said, though “there are still substantial challenges facing farmers”.

He cited access to water for irrigation purposes as one of the leading challenges confronting smallholder farmers.

The percentage of irrigable land in Ghana is low compared to other parts of the world, which he said: “The issue is very critical to farmers and most of the success chalked in agriculture has been attributed to good rainfall”.

Mr Wullingdool also mentioned access to credit for many farmers as a major challenge, saying: “In instances where they got these credits, the interest rates on it is so high”.

Due to inadequate access to credit, he said: “farmers are not able to acquire the necessary inputs that are needed for their farm work”.

Also, the issue of inadequate machinery for provision of land preparatory services as tractors, power tillers, cultivators, and harrowing machines, among others remain a challenge.

“In instances where these services are provided, they come in very late,” he said.

Inadequate access to inputs, issues of post-harvest losses and inability of farmers to market their produce due to poor road infrastructure from farm gates were equally identified as hurdles farmers faced.

Mr Wullingdool expressed worry that Famer Based Organisations (FBOs) remained poorly organised in the country, and quoted its 2018 survey that that showed “over 60 per cent of smallholder farmers are not lettered”.

According to him organisation of FBOs allowed the farmer groups to be conduits for knowledge transfer, however, the groups are too weak to function for that purpose.

The government I therefore being urged to make credit facilities available to farmers at reasonable interest rates to enable them access inputs and other support services.

It should also give consideration to gender in all its policy interventions in the agriculture sector, particularly support to women.

“Women are noted to be very efficient at turning around inputs into high outputs,” Mr Wullingdool said: “Therefore if given the needed support, they could double their contribution to Farming”.

It was pointed out that government should make conscious efforts to get the youth into farming while ensuring adequate support for persons with disabilities as that would ensure no one was left behind.

The Coalition applauded the farmers and the award winners, saying despite the challenges, “you are still able to put food on the tables of Ghanaians and contribute greatly to the growth of the Economy”.