Making Input Subsidies Work for Smallholder Farmers in Ghana

Making Input Subsidies Work for Smallholder Farmers in

A position paper presented by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG)

to the Honourable Minister of Food and Agriculture, Accra- April 26, 2016

The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) views the government’s fertilizer and seed subsidy programme as an effective vehicle for delivering increased agricultural productivity, food security, and wider economic development and structural change needed to reduce poverty among smallholder farmers in Ghana. The PFAG shares the view that input subsidy is not a short term ‘quick fix’, and sustained input subsidy is necessary for any major success such as the

Green Revolution in Asia, if Ghana is to achieve the stated objectives of the current fertilizer and seed subsidy programme. Multiple challenges and threats posed by climate change and variability, and unstable global markets make it both important and urgent to focus attention on improving efficiency and effectiveness of such input subsidy programmes while exploring ways to reduce reliance on inorganic fertilizers through improved soil fertility management. The

PFAG, which advocates for poverty eradication among smallholder farmers through measures that improve and protect their livelihoods, reaffirms its commitment to work with government and other stakeholders to ensure that the benefits of the programme to smallholder farmers are maximized. The PFAG shares the view that the benefits of input subsidies depend on several factors and supports evolving and ongoing government’s efforts to improve targeting and rationing (with criteria), implementation, private sector participation, and use of a delivery medium with the potential to reduce fraud and rent seeking. The PFAG is committed to engaging

1 with government and other stakeholders to increase the benefits and consolidate gains made calls for introduction of input subsidy policy by parliament with clear sources of funding and sustainability strategy; renewed efforts to improve evidence or data gathering and research to better track progress; introduction of clear strategies for reaching women and cotton farmers with subsidized inputs; restriction of allocation or purchases by all farmers to stated ration(s); improved transparency and communication with farmers on how quantities of inputs being subsidized and level of subsidy are arrived at; inclusion of PFAG in the negotiations leading to the decision on the price and quantities of input subsidized; open competitive bidding for specified quantities of inputs to encourage competition and ensure value for money spent; timely delivery of subsidized inputs to farmers; elimination of delays in payment to participating suppliers; and simplifying the permitting requirements and processes for qualifying distributors and retailers.

Abdul Rahman Mohammed

(National President, PFAG)