The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has advised farmers in the country to form cooperatives to enable them to benefit from the Feed Ghana Programme (FGP).

“In our continued engagement with stakeholders and farmers, it has become evident that for government interventions to be impactful, farmers must be organised into groups that facilitate coordination, access to support and sustainability.

“Cooperative groups enable farmers, especially smallholder and vulnerable groups, to enjoy the benefits of scale, collective bargaining and structured engagement with both the government and private sector players,” he added.

Mr Opoku, who was addressing journalists on the FGP in Accra, said the programme was a transformative pillar of a national agenda for food self-sufficiency, agribusiness development, and the realisation of the 24-Hour Economy as envisioned by President John Mahama.

Support

The minister further said that the FGP was designed to directly support organised groups of farmers to access farmer service centres (FSCs), banking and financial services, credit and investment, input subsidies, market linkages and price negotiation, among others.

He added that the FSCs would offer mechanisation services, input distribution, extension support, and access to climate-smart technologies, saying organised groups would be given priority in the allocation and access to such centres.

On the banking and financial services, Mr Opoku said through partnerships with rural and commercial banks, the government was facilitating the delivery of tailor-made agricultural financial products, including savings, insurance and mobile money platforms.

“For access to credit and investment under the poultry industry revitalisation project, registered cooperatives would be eligible to secure loans and investment packages from financial institutions and private investors.

“This includes access to high-yield breeds like the Kuroiler birds, feed subsidies and training in good husbandry practices,” he added.

Call to action

The minister, therefore, called on farmers, especially smallholder farmers, women, youth, and persons with disability to take advantage of opportunities in the various initiatives by the government and get involved.

“Organise yourselves into farmer-based organisations and cooperatives in line with your crops, livestock or value chain activities.

“Our district agricultural offices are ready to assist you with the process of registration, governance training and linkage to support services,” he said.

Mr Opoku said the ministry would be rolling out sensitisation campaigns in all regions, engage traditional authorities, and work closely with metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure the smooth formation and formalisation of farmer cooperatives across the country.

“Let us join hands in this national effort to feed ourselves, create jobs and build a resilient agricultural economy that works for all,” Mr Opoku said.