The Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), Dr Charles Kwowe Nyaaba says the cost of food production in Ghana has quadrupled this year compared to 2021, driving up food prices and putting many farmers out of business.
Many business-minded persons who registered in the government’s flagship initiative, Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs), were also pulling out, according to Dr Charles Kwowe Nyaaba, who attributed the reason to the constant increase in fertiliser prices, agrochemicals, and tractor services.
“The 50 kilogramme bag of government-subsidized fertiliser that we used to buy for ¢53 now costs ¢320.” Agrochemical prices have risen from ¢25 to ¢60, while tractor service for ploughing one acre of land has risen from ¢120 to ¢300,” he said.
He claimed that the government’s failure to pay fertiliser importers’ bills was one of the key causes of the country’s fertiliser scarcity, since many importers had refused to sell fertilisers to farmers following multiple agreements.
“You would not believe that the government still owes the fertiliser importers 86 million for what they supplied in 2020, and this excludes what has been processed to be paid,” he said, adding that “¢260 million is owed them for what they supplied in 2021.”
According to the Executive Director, if the government does not interfere to address the problem, low food production will occur, escalating the country’s growing food prices, forcing consumers to pay more in order to survive.
“Farmers are business people, so if you invest in it and your cost of production goes up, you will move the cost to the customers, so consumers should be prepared to pay more for food in 2023 because people are complaining about high food costs right now.” he added.