Several farmers in the Mion district of the Northern Region have voiced their disappointment with the government’s “Planting for Food and Jobs” (P4J) initiative.
Speaking to Citinews on the condition of anonymity, these farmers have expressed their skepticism, claiming that many of the promises made under the program have turned out to be nothing more than empty rhetoric.
They argue that only a select few seem to benefit from the initiative, leaving the majority of farmers to fend for themselves when it comes to acquiring fertilizer and other essential farming products.
These concerns were raised during the Agrisolve Annual Harvest Trade Forum, which focused on the theme “Creating An Equitable Market For Smallholder Farmers In The Agricultural Value Chain,” also known as “Market for All” (M4A).
Sang Zagyuri Naa and Kasim Yakubu, representing the frustrated farmers, lamented that the P4J program had taken an unexpected political turn, leaving many farmers feeling disadvantaged.
They emphasized that this outcome was contrary to the expectations they had before the program’s implementation.
The Harvest Trade Forum, which gathered thousands of farmers from the Mion district and its vicinity, aimed to establish a platform for competitive and accessible market trading, share knowledge, introduce new technologies, and tools with the goal of reducing yield and productivity losses at both harvest and post-harvest stages.
Raymond Anyae, a project specialist for Agrisolve, highlighted their mission to help smallholder farmers receive fair value for the quality of their produce.
In an effort to alleviate the challenges faced by these farmers, Agrisolve has set up a market outlet center to provide farmers with access to high-quality inputs for their farming activities and a ready market for their produce.
Source: CitiNews – Shawana Yussif
