More farmers in Northern region benefit from PFJ than those in other regions – Report

Data released by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, shows that farmers in the Northern region have so far benefited from the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative more than their colleagues in the other regions.

The data showed that 278,137 farmers in that part of the country have so far benefited from the programme followed by 218,833 farmers in the Ashanti region.

Dr Afriyie Akoto released the data at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, March 10, 2020.

“Ashanti 218,833, Upper West 118,328, Upper East 105,704, Northern 278137,Brong Ahafo 161,054, Western 94,339, Central 31,899, Volta 89675,, Greater Accra 17,2015, Eastern 68,119,” he announced.

The PFJ programme is a Government of Ghana (GoG) designed and implemented programme aiming to promote growth in food production and create jobs across the country.

The programme, launched in 2017 is structured around 5 Pillars. These include: ¬ Seed; ¬ Fertilizer; ¬ Extension Services; ¬ Marketing; and ¬ e-Fertilizer & Monitoring.

It seeks to create food security and produce the raw material to feed the agro-processing industries while creating jobs in the process.

Dr Afriyie Akoto further stated that 1.4million farmers are expected to benefit from the PFJ programme this year.

Last year, he said at a press conference in Accra Tuesday, March 10, 1,183,000 farmers benefited from the programme.

“The target for this years is 1,4million farmers,” he said.