A financing system for agricultural inputs is about to be implemented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, allowing farmers to increase food output and stabilize food prices.
The Cabinet is presently considering whether to approve the Input Credit System program, which is scheduled to start next month.
The present subsidy policy, which supports farmers for just 15% of their production costs, will be replaced by the new credit system.
The Sustain Africa Initiative (SAI) was introduced last Friday in Tema by the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Byran Acheampong.
The SAI is a system for crisis response and resilience designed to increase fertilizer supply, affordability, and efficient and sustainable usage in Africa.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), the International Fertilizer Association (IFA), and Rabobank formed it.
About 85% of a farmer's production costs are attributable to the cost of inputs and equipment.
Only 15% of that manufacturing cost was covered by the previous subsidy plan, according to the minister.
"This year, starting in June, the government will implement an ambitious campaign to guarantee our food security and availability for the following five years.
If the cabinet adopts the scheme, it will replace our existing subsidy program with an input credit system, according to Dr. Acheampong.
Projections and credit
According to Dr. Acheampong, under the credit system, farmers would purchase their inputs on credit and make their payments after planting.
According to him, the plan is estimated to ultimately assist approximately 3.5 million farmers nationwide, and it would also help farmers cut their production costs by roughly 85%.
The ministry had designated 10 crops and poultry for the nation's food security policy, and each had its own strategy, objectives, and plan under the initiative, according to Dr. Acheampong, who is also the Member of Parliament for Abetifi in the Eastern Region.
"Under the new scheme, one of the Sustain Africa Initiative's partners will give farmers seeds and fertilizers, and following the planting season, payment is made.
Payment delays will be a thing of the past since the crops will be exchanged at the Ghana Commodity Exchange, he claimed.
The minister projected that once the plan was running, costs of inputs and fertilisers such ammonia and NPK (23:10:5) would significantly drop by between 30 and 50%, which would help farmers save money and improve productivity.
Lower prices
The country's producers, suppliers, and partners in the food and agriculture industries were urged to lower their fertilizer costs in order to support increased output.
"Let's lower the price of fertilizers so that farmers can afford them since we know the dollar is weakening and the sources of supply are steady.
"Our food security, food resilience, and food availability can benefit, and prices will be low and stable," he stated.
Dr. Acheampong claimed that the government was dedicated to achieving the best outcomes possible in the agricultural sector and that, as a consequence, it was focusing on all farmers, even if the initiative was implemented from large-scale farmers down to mixed-crop farmers.
In the end, the statement said, "We want farmers and farms to be organized so they can have the required relevance in the food security inventory.
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