The dialogue, organized by the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition (GTLC), assessed the performance and budget implications of the interventions and gender inclusiveness of all categories of farmers in the subsidy model under the PFJs.

It was meant to advocate for innovative and balanced agricultural services that will cater for specific gender needs and a positive environment for small holder farmers. The discussion was premised on “Gender Responsive Budgeting in Agriculture; Ensuring no one is left behind” and stakeholders mentioned some challenges they faced, including difficulties in accessing some farm inputs such as tractor services, delays in receipt of fertilizer coupons, right seeds and extension services, inclusiveness of women and people with disabilities, which they said had not fully been met under the programme.

Mr Ibrahim  Akalbila, the Coordinator of the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition in an interview after the event, said it had become critical to have policies right and well- targeted at all categories of people that were supposed to benefit from them.

He said past surveys, had shown that the needs of farmers and largely women were under served and therefore whatever policy that was to be put in place had to deal with the various needs of the people in the agricultural sector.

Mr Emmanuel Wullingdool, the Policy Officer of GTLC, earlier shared an evidence based findings of a field survey carried out on 700 rice, tomato and maize farmers in four districts and six communities in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions.

Mr Wullingdool said the study also covered other adjoining policies such as the One Village One Dam, One District One Factory, among others to ensure farmers had a good environment for crop production.

The findings of the survey identified that accessing fertilizer, which is one of the component of the PFJs was faced with challenges of delays in farmers receiving coupons, with majority of them buying from the open market because they were not able to get the subsidized ones.

Mr Wullindool, said other critical indicators that had not been captured under the PFJs but were equally useful, included the number of men and women being supported under the programme.

According to the Policy Officer, ploughing services, access to certified seeds, extension services and training on organic practices were not provided for the farmers and that had a negative impact on productivity.