Government spends GH¢2.9 Billion on PFJ while Agric sector growth stagnates at 0.7% – Minority

Government spending on its flagship agricultural program, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), introduced in 2017, has reached an estimated GH¢2.9 billion, according to statements made by the minority in Parliament.

A breakdown of the expenditure reveals that the government allocated GH¢400 million in 2018, GH¢380 million in 2019, and GH¢400 million in 2020. Additionally, GH¢439 million was disbursed for the program in 2021, GH¢614 million in 2022, and GH¢660 million in 2023.

Despite the substantial investments in the PFJ program, the agricultural sector’s growth rate has remained dismally low, hovering around 0.7 percent. This is in stark contrast to the 2.7 percent growth rate inherited by the government in 2016.

The deputy Ranking Member of the Committee on Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs, Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, expressed these concerns, stating, “Having inherited an agricultural sector with a growth rate of 2.7 percent in 2016, and after expending millions of cedis on PFJ for six years, agriculture growth currently stands at a disastrous 0.7 percent.”

Launched in 2017, the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative set out with the noble objectives of modernizing agriculture, boosting production, and guaranteeing food security and profitability for the nation’s farmers.

The inaugural phase of this pioneering program was primarily centered on advancing food security, facilitating the widespread availability of specific food crops within the market, and fostering job creation.

Dr. Jasaw raised alarms over the allocation of GH¢660 million to the PFJ program in 2023, despite the government’s announcement that the first phase of PFJ concluded in December 2022. The minority thus called for transparency regarding the purpose of this allocation, urging the government to clarify its intended use.

President Nana Akufo-Addo recently launched the second phase of PFJ, which marks a shift from an input subsidy to an input credit guarantee system.

Dr. Jasaw questioned the necessity of this shift, asking, “Why has the government failed to support food-crop farmers in Ghana since January 2023? Private agro-dealers and aggregators have been implementing various forms of input credit support schemes to farmers for many years now; what exactly will this new PFJ input credit do differently?”

The minority lawmakers also pointed out that PFJ was renamed from its original initiative, the ‘Modernisation of Agricultural Productivity to the Local Economy’ (MAPLE), initiated during the previous President Mahama/NDC administration. This program they said was set to receive funding of C$125 million from the Canadian government, equivalent to US$120 million.

Dr. Jasaw emphasized that a review of the PFJ Phase 2 program revealed nothing substantially new, raising doubts about its ability to significantly contribute to the country’s food security. He suggested that the primary objective of this new scheme might be to rectify the shortcomings of the failed first phase.

Questions were also raised about how the government plans to protect smallholder farmers from profit motives and market risks associated with input dealers. Additionally, concerns were raised about achieving import substitution for key commodities like rice, maize, and poultry, given the absence of measures to reduce input and production costs.

Dr. Jasaw noted that the economy’s current condition, particularly under the IMF program, may not support an input subsidy program effectively.