The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana has bemoaned the unavailability of subsidised fertiliser to farmers due to outstanding debts owed to suppliers by the government.
Speaking to JoyNews, the Head of Programmes and Advocacy for the Association, Dr. Charles Nyaaba said the suppliers are no longer willing to supply fertilisers at a subsidised cost.
He revealed that the government owes the suppliers an outstanding debt of about ¢346 million since 2020.
“The fertiliser companies are not willing to supply the standard fertiliser at the moment because according to them what they supplied in 2020, the government still owes them ¢86 million. What they supplied in 2021 the government owns then ¢260 million and all this money hasn’t been paid to them,” he lamented.
According to him, the suppliers have also complained about the situation, adding that “they also have to go to banks and get loans to bring these fertilisers.”
“Interest rate on those loans that they have taken continuously goes up and they are business people.
“We have approached them and they said they are business people and we can’t collapse their business because we want to provide fertilisers to you,” he explained.
He, therefore, pleaded with the government to settle the suppliers’ debt so that fertiliser deliveries to farmers could continue.