PFJ is a brilliant policy, let’s not politicize it – Municipal Director

The Techiman Municipal Director of Food and Agriculture in the Bono East Region has urged Ghanaians to stop politicising every government programme merely to score partisan points.

Mr. Stephen Aidoo said the Planting for Food and Jobs strategy, for example, is a wonderful concept that, if implemented successfully, will ensure Ghana’s food security.

He said the policy will also create more jobs for our teaming unemployed Youth as well as wealth through farming or agriculture.

Stephen Aidoo appealed during the Techiman Municipal MoFA Directorate’s Stakeholder Engagement on Planting for Food and Jobs Phase 2 to encourage more farmers to register and become beneficiaries.

“The forum was set up to help farmers and other stakeholders understand the policy. The registration process has been mostly successful. The information we have so far indicates that the number of persons who have registered is encouraging. We’re registering farmers so they can profit from the policy. I’d like to express my gratitude to farmers for their interest. The main goal is to encourage more farmers to register so that we can increase yields, export excess, make more revenue, and provide more opportunities in the agricultural industry.”

Mr. Emmanuel Amoah the Techiman Municipal Coordinating Director and Mr. Martin Fosu, the Municipal Development Officer in Charge of Extension at MoFA, urged farmers to provide necessary data when Agric Officers come to register them.

Farmers, Assembly Members, and other stakeholders pledged to help make Phase 2 of the Planting for Food and Jobs Policy more successful after gaining a better understanding.

Farmers and producers interested in participating in the programme must meet specific requirements, including having access to land or a farm and capturing their profile at the district level.

The farmer would need to provide farm or land coordinates, be a Ghanaian citizen with a valid Ghana card, engage in farming on prioritised commodity crops, and be a legally registered company or institution.

The PFJ 2.0 is anchored on Inputs Credit System, Storage and Distribution Infrastructure, Commodity Trading, Digitized Platform and Line of Sight Management and Coordination.

Interested farmers and producers are to contact their local Agricultural Extension Agents at the District Department of Agriculture to register for the PFJ 2.0 programme.