President Akufo-Addo has provided assurance that the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative will generate an annual average of two hundred and ten thousand (210,000) new jobs related to farming.
The President emphasized that this projection specifically pertains to employment within the agricultural sector, excluding other roles along the broader agricultural value chains.
Speaking at the launch of the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs program in Tamale, President Akufo-Addo highlighted that this new phase is geared towards bolstering food security and job creation.
“The second phase, by design, takes a holistic view and places greater emphasis on value chain approaches by focusing on strengthening linkages between actors along eleven selected agricultural commodity value chains broadly categorised into grains, roots and tuber, vegetables and poultry.
President Akufo-Addo outlined that the second phase of the PFJ initiative is characterized by a comprehensive perspective, placing strong emphasis on the value chain approach.
This involves enhancing the connections and interactions among participants within eleven chosen agricultural commodity value chains, which are categorized broadly as grains, roots and tubers, vegetables, and poultry.
The President underscored that this new phase is also designed to improve service delivery, ultimately maximizing its overall impact.
Furthermore, the phase entails a shift from direct input subsidies to intelligent agricultural financial support, achieved through a comprehensive input credit mechanism that even includes provisions for in-kind payment.
President Akufo-Addo’s previous launch of the inaugural “Planting for Food and Jobs” program on April 19, 2017, in the Ahafo region, signified a pivotal step towards modernizing agriculture, enhancing production efficiency, ensuring food security, and promoting the prosperity of farmers. The program aimed to significantly elevate agricultural productivity and adopt a value-addition strategy, focused on expediting agro-processing and fostering new, stable markets.