Dr. Brian Acheampong, the Minister for Foods and Agriculture (MOFA), has announced the commencement of the registration of farmers for the Planting for Foods and Jobs Phase II (PFJ 2.0) across the country.
He disclosed this at a press briefing by the MOFA held in Accra.
Dr. Acheampong said the PFJ 2.0 programme was a carefully thought-through initiative designed to build on the successes of the initial programme while addressing its limitations.
He said farmer registration for PFJ 2.0 would be conducted across all 16 regions and 261 districts in Ghana, adding that to facilitate this process, a mobile and web application platform, the Ghana Agriculture and Agribusiness Platform (GhAAP), had been developed.
Dr. Acheampong said additionally that Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) and other technical officers had been trained on how to use the platform and provided with tablets for data capture.
The Minister said farmers would need to provide farm or land coordinates, be Ghanaian citizen with a valid Ghana card, engage in farming on prioritized commodity crops, and be a legally registered company or institution.
He said MOFA was committed to ensuring the successful implementation of the transformative approach to empower farmers, enhance productivity, and foster sustainable agricultural development in Ghana. He said the PFJ 2.0 programme took a holistic view of the value chain approach by strengthening linkages along selected agricultural commodity value chains and improving service delivery to maximize impact.
Dr. Acheampong said a significant difference between PFJ 2.0 and the initial programme was the substitution of direct input subsidies with a smart agricultural financial support system in the form of a zero-interest input credit system, where payment would be in kind.
The minister urged all interested farmers and producers to contact their local Agricultural Extension Agents at the District Department of Agriculture to register for the PFJ 2.0 programme. Dr Acheampong said MOFA stood ready to support every Secondary School in Ghana willing to engage in school farming, especially those in the southern and middle belts.
