PFJ should have been piloted — 2022 National Best Farmer

THE Planting for Food and Jobs programme should have begun as a pilot project in certain designated areas to properly measure its efficacy, Nana Yaw Siriboe, who is also the Akyempemhene of Juaben Traditional Area in the Ashanti Region, has noted.

Mr Yaw Siriboe, who also was the national best farmer in 2022, stated that the PFJ was the best ever theoretical approach to agriculture in the country’s history based on its encompassing of the entire agric value chain including machinery, markets, employment, feeding and the citizenry.

However, its shortfalls which have resulted in the recent increment of prices of food and agriculture produce has made many doubt the reliability of the project and its efficiency.

“The Planting for Food and Jobs is a perfect idea; it is a well-thought-out plan and strategy as well as policy, and it encompasses everything in agriculture but it should have been piloted,” he noted at the recently held Graphic Business Stanbic Bank Break Fast Meeting at the Labadi Beach Hotel in Accra last Tuesday.

PFJ

The government’s primary agricultural campaign – Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) – which was launched in April 2017, has five implementation elements. 

The first PFJ module (Crops) aims to support food security, the immediate marketability of chosen food crops, and the creation of jobs. 

The policy focuses on increasing food production and ensuring food security in the country, as well as reducing food import costs to the bare minimum

Failure of Phase I

According to an independent public policy research organisation and think tank, Yafo Institute, the Phase I of the PFJ encountered problems due to inadequate stakeholder consultations and failure to lower agricultural taxes.

The institute recommended a delay in Phase II to avoid causing financial loss to the state and advocated more consultations.

Private sector 

Nana Yaw Siriboe called for a private sector-led agricultural revolution in the country to change Ghana’s poor agricultural trajectory.

“Government has no business doing business, the private sector must come in and obtain a strong enabling platform, enabling an environment with government financial cushioning to make agriculture an attractive business and a source of income generating venture and provide food for all,” he stated.

He asserted that when the government supported the private sector, it becomes more affordable to access equipment and market to practice the business of agriculture in the country.

“For example we need a strong plant pool facilitated by the government through the private sector to make it easier for us to have access to land and equipment to till the land and grow crops in large commercial quantities," he stated.

Holistic approach

He called for a holistic approach to tackle the problem of agriculture in the country, adding that agriculture is an expensive business that needs patience, a strong mindset and community to ensure its growth and success. 

Nana Yaw Siriboe called for more stakeholder engagements and investments in the sector to be able to fully realise its potential.