Politicians informed on farmers’ needs

A programme to inform political parties, on the needs of Small Holder Farmers has been held in Accra.

The programme themed “Smallholder Agriculture Sensitive Manifestos and Party Pledges to Reduce Poverty,” and sponsored by Action Aid in collaboration with Green Earth Organization,  brought together smallholder farmers in the Ga East and West Districts of the country, as well as the country’s political parties.

The programme was a follow-up to an earlier one, which was held between political parties and smallholder farmers in July, 2012, during which the parties asked for time to complete pledge cards.

Each pledge of a political party, indicated five core areas the party would work on to address the needs of the farmers.

Ms Queronica Quartey, Right to Food and Climate Change Policy Advisor to Action Aid, co-sponsors of the programme, told the Ghana News Agency, that politicians often made promises, which they were never held to account.

“We have decided to make our parliamentarians and politicians know what small holder farmers’ needs are, and based on these needs, they would sign pledge cards, that would spell out what they would do, when they come to power.”

She said by the pledge cards, “we would be able to hold them to account for what they have promised”.

The farmers made a number of complaints which they hoped would be addressed by the government in due course.

The lack of modern day farming tools such as tractors, Knowledge on modern soil tilling techniques, inadequate fertilizer, supply as well as assistance from government in marketing their goods, were some of the concerns raised by the farmers.

Mr George Ahiadzie, Executive Director of Green Earth-Ghana, co-sponsors of the program, said it was unfortunate, that out of all the political parties that were supposed to deliver their pledge cards “at the program today, only the People’s Popular Party delivered theirs”.

He said a card that outlined the aims of a politician with his signature appended to it, was one of the best means of ensuring accountability in governance.

In July 2012, a dialogue on the concerns of smallholder farmers for the consideration of the manifestos of political parties was held between farmers and political parties in Accra.

The parties present were the Convention People’s Party(CPP), New Patriotic Party(NPP), and People’s National Convention(PNC).

The concerns of the farmers mainly centered on the provision and timely delivery of farm inputs, processing and storage, guarantee prices for agricultural produce among other things.

According to an Action Aid Policy Brief, to achieve annual agricultural growth of six percent, “a recent study suggests that Ghana needs to devote approximately 14 percent of the government budget to agriculture”.

It said the government’s allocation to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture “is especially low at 2.8 percent of the total budget in 2011.”

Source: GNA