The government aims to finish distributing seeds and fertilizers to farmers impacted by the dry spell by mid-September 2024.
Additionally, the government plans to complete the importation of certain food items by September 20, 2024.
Dr. Bryan Acheampong, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, shared this information on PM Express Business Edition with host George Wiafe on August 29, 2024.
He guaranteed that the government will take steps to prevent a food crisis in the country.
“The dry spell that is currently being experienced in the North, should actually impact the country from the end of September. However, the measures that we are implementing should ensure that the situation is minimized and prevent us from getting into a crisis”, he said.
Dr. Acheampong stated that the government has gained assurances from both domestic and international partners and stakeholders to prevent food crises.
Background
This year parts of the Northern Ghana has been dealing with dry spell destroying several farms in the part of the country.
The governemnt associate the cause with climate change and not its inability to provide irrigation to aid all-year farming.
Government plan
Dr. Acheampong stated that the dry spell was worsened by some farmers’ failure to follow the advice of extension officers.
“The farmers were told to delay planting because of the change in weather patterns”, he said.
“Preliminary reports indicate that about 928,523 farmers and 1.86 million hectares of crops were at risk. Those farmers would lose an estimated investment of GH¢7.4 billion if there was total crop failure”, he added.
He disclosed that maize, rice, groundnut, soybean, sorghum, millet, and yam were the crops most severely impacted in the Northern, Upper East, North East, Savannah, Upper West, Bono, Bono East, and Oti regions.
Compensation for affected farmers
The government is suggesting an initial compensation of GH¢1,000 per hectare for farmers affected by the crisis to offset their investment losses.
Dr. Acheampong has reported that farmers have incurred approximately ¢7.4 billion in losses.
Had the season been successful, the farmers would have earned around ¢22 billion in revenue.
Some farmers have criticized the GH¢1,000 per hectare compensation as insufficient.
However, Dr. Acheampong clarified that this amount is just part of the total compensation package the government plans to provide to the farmers.
“The financial package, is just a fraction, of the total package, which will include other things as well. The government is committed to assisting the farmers in these times. What we have put forward as compensation was based on an extension on ground investments and the current state of Ghana’s financial position to meet all these obligations”, he clarified.
He stated that the ministry has the support and commitment of the Finance Ministry.
“Everyone is coming on board to support. The donor partners, we believe we can effectively deal with this challenge. The Agric Ministry has also set aside a significant portion of its budget to support this initiative “, he said.
The government has proposed a GH¢8 billion ($500 million) plan to implement several measures, primarily aimed at assisting farmers impacted by drought and safeguarding the nation’s food security.
The funding will come from a mix of the Contingency Fund, budget adjustments, and contributions from development partners.