The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has addressed the urgent need for the Government to review the subsidised fertilizer programme to ease the burden on women in accessing fertilizer subsides for crop production.
According to the Association, the policy which is very laudable and meant to increase and support the production of crops, is poorly implemented making it difficult for smallholder women farmers to benefit from the policy.
This clarion call was made by the Head of Programmes and Advocacy at PFAG, Dr. Charles Kwowe Nyaaba at a Gender Sensitization Workshop on the implementation of the subsidised fertilizer programme at Bolgatanga.
He mentioned that smallholder women farmers and the vulnerable were being discriminated against at the distribution points, thus a need for an urgent review of how the policy is being implemented.
In his speech, he said, “Experience over the years has shown that women are usually neglected when it comes to access to subsidised fertilizer because as part of the implementation plan of the policy, provision of 30 percent allocation is supposed to go to the women, but that has not been the case.”
He disclosed that the policy is benefiting farmers engaged in large scale farming at the expense of smallholder farmers, especially women.
Also speaking at the event, Ms. Gilbert Akuka, Chairperson of PFAG and a peasant farmer from Sapeliga, in the Bawku West District, disclosed that the discrimination against women on the policy implementation is mostly influence on the grounds of political interference.
“The men think that we are not strong and when we come to buy at the sales point, they push us away and this is affecting us because we always travel several miles to the district capitals to access it and yet go back with empty hands,” she said.
The workshop witnessed the attendance of the Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD) from PFAG operational districts in the northern region of Ghana.
The event was funded by the International Budget Partnership.
“Experience over the years has shown that women are usually neglected when it comes to access to subsidised fertilizer”
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