The National Seed Council has received a request for reimbursement from seed suppliers who provided seeds to the government in 2021 as part of the Planting for Food and Jobs project.
Kwabena Adu-Gyamfi, the association's president, stated in a petition sent by the Executive Council of the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG) on June 1, 2022, "Six months into the year 2022, companies that supplied seeds for the year 2021 have not received any payments or intentions of payment."
He said that because of the government's debt to seed-producing businesses, those businesses are finding it difficult to get the funds necessary to fulfil their duties to provide seeds to farmers in support of the PFJ Program.
However, we have not heard of any consideration for seeds given in 2021 under the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, he said. "We have been informed that the Ministry of Finance has issued some funds for the payment of fertiliser," he added.
According to Mr. Adu-Gyamfi, who claims that approximately 95% of seed suppliers are locals with extremely limited financial resources, the real value of the seeds we have provided has already significantly decreased, and any further delay will further impair our ability to service our significant outstanding loans.
He expressed worry that the ongoing delay of "our payments threatens to negate the recent improvements in seed," as the cost of production is steadily increasing.
The claim is stated below.
NASTAG AND ITS MEMBERS' PETITION
I gladly share with you our appeal for your assistance on behalf of the Executive Council, the full membership of the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG), all other seed producers/companies in Ghana, and on my own behalf.
Mr. Chairman, we would like to convey our concerns over the excessive delay in payment of the seed provided for the year 2021 under the programme Planting for Food and Jobs to the Honorable Minister through you.
Companies who provided seeds for the year 2021 have not yet received any payments or indications of payment six months into the year 2022. Despite this, and for the sake of our nation, seed producers and businesses continue to Having trouble raising the funds necessary to fulfil their duties to provide seeds to farmers in support of the PFJ Program. According to information provided to us, the Ministry of Finance has made some money available for the purchase of fertiliser. We haven't heard of any plans, though, for the Planting for Food and Jobs program's seed supply in 2021.
As much as we applaud the government for taking care of the payment of inputs into the PFJ programme, we want to remind everyone that excellent seeds should never go to the bottom of the priority list because fertiliser only works on them to affect crop performance. We humbly request that the government promptly release monies to cover the full cost of the given seed.