The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana is the latest group to express doubt about the number of jobs created under the Planting for Food and Jobs program.
This follows the General Agricultural Workers’ Union’s (GAWU) call on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, to provide evidence to support the claim that the Planting for Food and Jobs program has created 745,000 jobs under its first phase.
In an interview with Citi Business News, the Program Officer of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Mr. Charles Nyaba, stated that the figures given by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto is not accurate.
“Though I admit that the Planting for Food and Jobs program helped farmers in multiple ways, the impact of the program on job creation has been overestimated by the Minister,” he observed.
Mr. Nyaba stated even though the association has not yet conducted a scientific verification to check the number, it is however convinced the figure announced by the minister is inaccurate.
“ I haven’t done a survey on the jobs created by the program, but my discussions with farmers in my association as well as what I’ve gathered from travelling across the country shows that we have not yet created 745000 jobs.”
Minister defends figures
Dr. Afriyie Akoto in a press conference to last week told journalists the jobs were created in rural areas of the country.
The minister explained that the figures were based on the number of additional inputs as well as improved seeds and fertilizers supplied to participating farmers in 2017.
The Planting for Food and Jobs program was rolled out in all 216 districts across the country and involves the supply of farm resources such seedlings to participating farmers.
The program was envisioned to absorb unemployed youth in rural areas, with the government initially targeting the creation of 750,000 jobs in its first phase.
He stated that the figures were based on the number of additional inputs, as well as improved seeds and fertilizers supplied to participating farmers in 2017.
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By: Bobbie Osei/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana