FARMERS NETWORK PREPARES MEMBERS FOR FARMING SEASON (PAGE 34, JUNE 7, 2011)

THE Farmer Organisations Network of Ghana (FONG) is preparing farmers in the Northern Region to exploit various agricultural support packages that would assist them achieve higher yield during this year’s farming season.
As part of efforts to achieve this objective, the organisation brought farmers from the nook and cranny of the region to a symposium to sensitise them to ways of accessing agricultural support packages, either from government or the private sector.
The forum, which took place in Tamale, witnessed presentations by officials from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP), Rice Sector Support Project (RSSP), Masara N’Arziki and others.
Officials from MOFA indicated that the credit in kind scheme being offered to farmers who had opted to benefit from the Block Farming concept and the livestock project was still operational.
The farmers were therefore encouraged to link up with the extension officers in their respective communities to enable them tap these opportunities.
A caution was however issued to the farmers to desist from the practice of failing to repay credits offered them by either government or financial institutions.
According to officials of MoFA, many farmers who had acquired agric machinery under the credit scheme had failed to repay these loans and this was hindering the progress of the programme.
Personnel from the NRGP also entreated the farmers to tap the various opportunities being offered by the programme, which include subsidy on agric machinery and the linkage to financial institutions and input dealers.
The NRGP is a $104 million agric support project aimed at transforming agric in the three northern regions and parts of the Brong Ahafo region and it is co-funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), African Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Ghana.
In the estimation of Mr Mohammed Alhassan Adam, the Executive Director of GRAMEEN Ghana, a food security and micro-finance non-governmental organisation, “knowledge is the tool for people to access their rights.”
He explained that such forums enabled farmers to know what is meant for them and to build their capacities to benefit from these opportunities.
Meanwhile, one of the key issues that emerged at the forum was the need for the various farmer organisations nationwide to unite under one umbrella to champion the cause of farmers.
According to the Tamale Metropolitan Director of Agric, Mr Kwamena Arkorful, uniting under one body would give farmers a stronger voice.
He noted that the situation where farmers spoke through various channels weakened their advocacy and created some discrepancies.
Mr Arkoful further explained that farmers had a greater chance of being listened to by governments if they had a much stronger body, adding that their power to negotiate for fairer prices would also be enhanced.
“Our farmers would also have the opportunity to benefit from the information flow on best practices and new opportunities when we all operate under one umbrella,” Mr Arkoful further mentioned.