The Director of Crop Services at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Seth Osei-Akoto has revealed how high rate of fertilizer smuggling to Burkina Faso and Togo is threatening the progress and success of the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative.
Mr. Osei Akoto who was speaking at a policy dialogue and sensitization workshop on the 2021 Planting for Food and Job (PFJ) implementation strategy, said: “The number of PFJ fertilizer retailers and distributors in these zones will be reduced to curtail the menace, while the various regional security councils have also been called upon to help fight the threat”.
He said the perpetrators are a cartel that has formed a complex system and are using various means to transport the fertilizer through unapproved entry points into Burkina Faso and Togo.
The Ministry of Foods and Agriculture according to Mr. Osei-Akoto, has identified 21 high-risk districts and municipalities in five regions across the country as hotspots where fertilizer smuggling is prevalent.
Out of the number, six districts are found in the Upper East Region – Bawku Municipal, Bawku West, Garu, Tempane, Kasena Nankan and Pusiga – are part of the list. In the Upper West Region, Sissala East and Sissala West municipals, Nandom, Lambusie, Nadowli Kaleo and Lawra districts are part of the exit points; while two districts in the Northern Region, Saboba and Tatale districts. In North East Region, two districts, Chereponi and Bunkpurugu Nakpanduri have been identified as well as five in the Volta Region, namely; Ketu North, Ketu South, Akatsi North, Agotime-Ziope and Ho West districts, are found to be culpable.
“In the North, some of these smugglers load fertilizer on donkeys. These animals are able to enter Burkina Faso unaided, to deliver the fertilizers. I was there; I saw some of these things, but I can’t question the donkeys,” he disclosed.
The challenge, Mr Osei Akoto noted, is causing millions in financial loss and threatening Ghana’s food security.
The Head of Programmes and Advocacy of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Dr Charles Nyaaba, contended that the challenge has undeniably lingered for long. He added that middlemen are hoarding the fertilizer and colluding with others, a situation he said is threatening the initiative.
The PFAG has therefore made a call for increased collaboration with traditional leaders, police officers, farmer groups, assembly members and citizens to further improve monitoring at the community level.
