Sustaining the Planting for Food and Jobs policy -Mion District in perspective
The sky was pregnant with moody clouds. Domestic animals such as cattle, goats and fowls could be seen heading in various directions, perhaps, to seek shelter. Some residents who had pitched camp at vantage points along the road to trade their game were also briskly folding up before the moody clouds begin to weep.
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This was the scene that greeted me when I got to Sang, the capital of the Mion District in the Northern Region last Friday. I had arrived there on a mission to find out how the farmers were taking advantage of the government's Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) agriculture policy.
About Mion District
Carved out of the Yendi Municipality in 2012, the Mion District is a predominantly farming area with a population of about 91,000. The district capital, Sang, is bordered to the West by the capital of the Northern Region, Tamale, and barely an hour drive from the latter. To the eastern side of Sang lies the Yendi Municipality while Karaga and Savelegu borders it to the north, with Salaga bordering it to the south.
Visit to the farms
Located about one and a half kilometre away from Sang is a 14.4-hectare maize farm belonging to 52-year-old Abubakari Sayibu. He is one of the 800 farmers in the district and more than 20,000 others in the region who are beneficiaries of the PFJ initiative. About a kilometre off the Sang-Yendi road were a 13.2 hectare rice and a four-acre soya beans farms belonging to Mohammed Shahadu and Mutaka Salifu respectively.
Until the PFJ project was rolled out this planting season, the farmers produced on subsistence basis with very little or nothing meet their economic needs.
Mr Sayibu for instance, could only manage a maximum of 12 acres of maize farm which only provided a yield just enough to meet feed the family. Applying fertiliser to crops was not an option for him since he could not afford it, hence the poor yield he had recorded over the years.
Success stories
The story this year, however, is a different one for Mr Sayibu as he has increased his production capacity by more than 300 per cent, thanks to the support from the PFJ policy.
"This year I have been able to get 90 bags of fertiliser from the district agriculture office at a very low cost while Agriculture Extension Officers (AEO) visit me regularly to offer technical support on best practices. In fact any time I come to my farm and see my plants, I do not feel like going home because I can foresee a bumper harvest smiling at me," the excited farmer said.
Figures at the Mion District Directorate of Agriculture showed that a total of 2750.3 hectares of crops had been planted as part of the PFJ programme. Out of the figure, maize accounted for 1494 hectares with rice and soya beans going for 1242 and 23.9 hectares respectively. Also, a total of 19686 bags of fertiliser had so far been distributed to the farmers to boost their production.
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) figures show that while the traditional method of maize farming produced a yield of 750 kg/hectare, the hybrid or improved seeds under the PFJ had a yield capacity of about 6 tonnes per hectare.
The District Director of Agriculture at Mion, Mr Abednego Abosore, indicated that farmers in the area were expecting a yield of 20 bags per hectare. If this projection is anything to go by, it means that Mr Sayibu, for instance, will be harvesting 288 bags of maize.
Fall Army Worms
One key observation that was made during the visit to the farms at the Mion District, however, was the traces of the devastating attack on the crops by fall army worms. The pests could be seen lodging in the nodes and tussles of the maize plants, devouring soft parts of the maize cobs.
The Desk Officer for the PFJ at the Mion District Directorate of Agriculture, Mr Abubakari Neindow, who was part of the team that toured some of the farms, conceded that the Fall Army Worms posed a major threat to the success of the policy.
"As you can see for yourself, the pests attack on the plants was massive but the farmers who reported to us timely were given pesticides and other technical support to weather the storm," he added.
Nationally, MOFA statistics show that 112,812 hectares of crops were attacked by the fall army worms, out of which 14,411 were destroyed. The figures showed that a total of 74,000 litres of various chemicals were supplied to farmers across the country to fight the pests.
At the Mion district, Mr Abosore indicated that the Army Worms had attacked 804 hectares of crops, adding that “ 752 farmers reported the worms attack to us at the district out of which 499 were supported with chemicals to fight the worms.; so,a significant proportion of the crops were salvaged.”
It was obvious however, that the supply of fertiliser, pesticides and technical support given by Agriculture Extension Officers had brought back smiles on the faces of the farmers.
The PFJ project has the potential to increase the production capacity of farmers, increase agriculture productivity, and, in the long run, alleviate poverty and enhance socio-economic development.
Sustainability
The pillar of the PFJ that focuses on creating marketing opportunities for produce after harvest is key to the sustainability of the programme/
Per the arrangements made by MOFA, farmers ought to pay GH¢57, being 50 per cent of the total cost of fertiliser. In reality farmers are required to pay Gh28.5 per bag of fertiliser before delivery and the remaining half after harvesting their crops.
To ensure efficient recovery of the remaining amount that ought to be paid after harvesting the crops, Mr Abosore indicated that arrangements are far advanced to help farmers sell their produce and be able to pay their outstanding amounts.
"What is being done is that there will be a fixed price for specific quantities of the produce. Per our local initiatives, we are making things flexible such that farmers who wish to repay in cash or in kind can do so.
"We have started contacting assembly members and opinion leaders as part of awareness creation and education of the farmers ahead of the harvest. It will be possible for a farmer to determine the quantity of maize to bring to the district agriculture office to offset the outstanding cost of the fertiliser if they so wish.
"The idea is to ensure that funds are ready to expand the project and bring more farmers on board so that poverty can be reduced in the long run," he said.
Conclusion
The PFJ policy is a laudable initiative that has the potential to boost productivity in the agricultural sector, create job opportunities and also eradicate poverty among farmers. It is impoirtant to address the challenges in the first phase of the policy to ensure that the subsequent phases are effectively implemented. There is the need to suppot the PFJ to ensure food securiy. For, it is said that a hungry man is an angry man.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
