Farmers Sensitization on Planting for Foods and Jobs(PFJ) on March to April.

/ News blog / By
9th APRAIL 2024

The Department of Agriculture; Asante Akim North Municipal-Agogo received funds from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to intensify farmer education and community/public sensitization on the second phase of the Planting for Food and Jobs program.

Farmers and members of the general public were sensitized on the:

  • Successes and challenges of the first phase of the program.
  • Key objectives of the second phase.
  • Selected crops and value chains.
  • PFJ 2.0 model.
  • Registration requirements and procedures.

METHODOLOGY

The sensitization exercise took the forms of:

  • Community meetings.
  • Zonal campaigns.
  • District Level Durbar.
  • Radio education.
  • Church engagements.
  • Social media announcements (for farmers on our WhatsApp platforms)
  • PowerPoint illustrations


  • FACILITATION: Facilitation was done by all 23 technical and management staff of the Department of Agriculture as well as a few selected National Service Personnel.

KEY OUTPUTS OF THE SENSITIZATION

Through the sensitization; farmers, members of the general public, and other agricultural value chain actors have:

  • Understood the registration requirements and procedures of the PFJ 2.0.
  • Become knowledgeable on the model of the PFJ 2.0.

Understood the objectives of the second phase of PFJ

The participating farmers had the opportunity to share problems with which they were confronted and sought answers to issues that boggled them.  Through the selected modes of engagement, the campaign reached a large audience. It can be stated that more than 85% of the adult population within the jurisdiction of the municipality has been sensitized.

CONCERNS RAISED BY FARMERS

Through the phone-in and open forum sessions of the radio programs and community engagements respectively, farmers expressed appreciation for this government intervention but raised a lot of concerns. Prominent among them included:

  • Land acquisition and usage problems.
  • Lack of water (irrigation) for dry-season vegetable farming.
  • Inadequate inputs (e.g., fertilizer) for minor season farming.
  • Irregular rainfall pattern.
  • Poor road network.

The team from the Department of Agriculture took time to address the concerns of the farmers and pledged to seek redress from higher authorities on issues that were beyond them.

The table below gives a summary of attendance of the two zonal sensitization exercises as well as the durbar held at the district level.

The sensitization exercise was very fruitful and farmers are eager to register to participate in this second phase of the PFJ program.

 

RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend that the government through the Ministry of food and Agriculture:

 

  • Speeds up the input procurement processes so farmers can fully benefit from the program at least during the minor season.
  • Addresses all the concerns raised by the registration officials for smooth farmer registration and farm mapping.
  • Quickens the payment of allowances and other incentives to the registration officials to encourage them to deliver.
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