A project to reduce farmer’s dependence on agrochemicals and promote a resilient farming system through Farmer Input Subsidy Programmes (FISP) was launched in Accra yesterday.
The project dubbed ‘Promoting Agroecology in West Africa’ seeks to organise and support a farmer-led campaign to reform FISP and allocate available public investment and agricultural resources to small scale farmers including women in farming for increased productivity.
It is being implemented by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organisational Development (CIKOD) and the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) with support from Groundswell International (GSI).
FISP is an initiative targeted at reducing the production cost of small scale or subsistence farmers and allows for the provision of improved varieties of farm inputs such as seed, fertilisers and pesticides at a fee subsidised by government.
Mr Bernard Guri, Executive Director of CIKOD who launched the programme said research has indicated that in Ghana FISPs contribute to increased production and best yields.
“The available evidence has shown that FISPs help small-scale farmers in a long term, improve food security and helps build sustainable food systems that are necessary in a world facing diverse ecological, economic and social challenge,” he said.
He stressed the need to strengthen and expand the regenerative local economic development model.
Madam Victoria Adongo, Executive Director of the PFAG observed that FISPs have failed to meet its objectives of ensuring food security and improving livelihoods over the years due to the farmer’s dependency on subsidised farm inputs.
She stated that FISPs are also confronted with the misuse of public funds as packages funded by government in the form of vouchers and fertilisers were sometimes stolen and sent to commercial outlets.
“There is very little transparency regarding seed and fertiliser deals making it difficult to calculate how much public funds fertiliser and seed companies are receiving due to weak monitoring and evaluation systems,” she said.
