Months after the president’s pledge to offer free fertilizer to all farmers, producers in 5 areas are reducing again on or abandoning a few of their fields.
President John Dramani Mahama introduced on March 21 that the federal government would distribute fertilizer free of charge below the Ghana Feed Programme, changing the earlier subsidy mannequin. He mentioned shares have been secured and the Ministry of Agriculture has been directed to behave. Three months later, producers in Ejura, Nkoranza, Techiman, Goaso and Sefi Wiauso say reasonably priced uncooked supplies will not be rising.
Discipline analysis by coverage analysis institute SEND Ghana discovered that the supply hole is deeper than the farm gate. Most district councils chargeable for transferring supplies to producers within the Northern, Oti, Volta and Bono East areas additionally obtained nothing. Which means that failures exist at each degree of the distribution chain.
This failure was partly predictable. The Ghana Fertilizer Platform warned in late March that fertilizer suppliers and different key stakeholders had not been briefed on how the free distribution would work, saying the dearth of clear pointers was a big danger to implementation. These considerations weren’t publicly resolved.
With out authorities assist, farmers had to purchase from personal suppliers at market costs that many couldn’t maintain. Some folks have decreased their acreage. Some folks have already moved away from components of their land which have been ready for the season.
Goaso grower Opanin Kwaku Ntiamoah, who has been within the area for 30 years, mentioned this season ranked because the worst he has recognized. “I am fearful this season shall be a disappointment,” he mentioned.
Corn, rice and cocoa are the crops most in danger. Ghana’s common annual fertilizer requirement is about 426,000 tons, however below the previous system during which the federal government supported farmers, it could solely have been round 200,000 tons as of 2025. This 12 months, farmers in a number of areas say they have not obtained something.
World circumstances have made fulfilling this dedication tough, but additionally made it extra pressing. The World Financial institution has predicted that international fertilizer costs will rise by 31% in 2026, primarily on account of disruptions to maritime commerce by the Strait of Hormuz. Urea costs rose about 37% within the first week of the Center East battle alone. Ghana imports all of its fertilizers, so worth modifications instantly impression native consumers.
The announcement of free distribution was partially a response to what farmers have been already experiencing. In 2025, a bumper harvest will push farmgate costs under life like ranges, making it unattainable to promote corn and rice profitably, and plenty of firms will file losses. Even earlier than enter delays started, there was rising reluctance to develop cultivation this 12 months.
Analysts have warned that this season’s decrease harvests might push up meals costs and set again efforts to cut back import dependence. This menace most severely impacts households that depend on maize and rice as staple meals.
This failure dangers accelerating younger folks’s abandonment of agriculture. Participation amongst rural youth is already low on account of excessive prices and unsure advantages, and it’ll deepen additional if the sample of service supply failures continues at a time when the sector is in want of recent entrants.
Farmers within the affected areas are calling on the federal government to resolve distribution bottlenecks, launch inputs directly, and publicly clarify the place the shares they declare to have at the moment are positioned.
