More than half of government appointees don't understand PFJ policy - Governance lecturer

Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah a governance lecturer at the Central University has slammed the current administration over the announcement of a second phase of its "Planting for Food and Jobs" policy by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta before Parliament.

The Finance Minister presented the mid-year fiscal policy review at Parliament on Monday, highlighting the economic challenges, targets for economic restoration and achievements by the government.

The Minister, touched on the "Planting for Food and Jobs", saying "Mr. Speaker, Planting for Food and Jobs has brought substantial improvements in Ghana’s agriculture sector. This has resulted in increased food security, employment along agricultural value chains, and accessibility of raw materials for developing industries. The programme has directly contributed to increased crop yields for major food staples such as maize, rice, and soya by 135 percent, 67 percent and 18 percent respectively within the period".

He added; "After a comprehensive review, Government is finalising PFJ Phase II to ensure a more efficient and targeted support for the agricultural sector. The key elements of Phase II are Inputs Credit System, Storage and Distribution Infrastructure, Commodity Trading and Digitised Platform."

Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah wondered how the government wants to implement a second phase of the policy when the first phase hasn't been successful.

To him, the government has failed to make the policy beneficial to farmers.

Urging the government to streamline the policy if it anticipates the second phase to be effective, he said; "I bet you that more than half of even government appointees don't understand the Planting for Food and Jobs. What is the policy about? What does it entail? Who understands it? How many farmers even understand Planting for Foods and Jobs? How many farmers in Ghana? What is the meaning of it?"

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