GAWU demands comprehensive policy document for Planting Food and Jobs
The General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) says the government is implementing ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ without a proper policy document to guide it.
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The union explained that the programme was likely to suffer setbacks in the absence of a comprehensive document designed to ensure smooth implementation of the programme.
“The ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ initiative started as a slogan and then turned into a policy initiative of the government and this we believe will suffer setbacks in the future, if this is not addressed immediately,” the General Secretary of GAWU, Mr Edward Kareweh, said in an interview at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting.
“There is a difference between a programme and a policy. So, if you confuse the two, then you are wrong.
Therefore, what we are saying is that the government must give us detailed documentation on its ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme,” he said.
The government in April, this year launched its flagship agricultural programme, ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’, to encourage all citizens to take up farming as a full or part-time activity.
Modelled on the highly successful ‘Operation Feed Yourself (OFY)’ programme of the 1970s, the initiative is to be driven by 200,000 farmers selected nationwide and individuals willing to cultivate vegetables and other crops.
The programme is aimed at increasing agricultural productivity and ensure sustainable supply of food at a cheaper cost while creating jobs for the youth.
Gov’t tasked
But six months into the programme, Mr Kareweh said players in the agriculture industry were yet to see any proper policy document on the initiative to deal with challenges likely to rise as a result of the programme.
“Although we are into the sixth month of the implementation of the programme, players within the industry are yet to see any documentation on the initiative.”
He, therefore, asked the government to develop a comprehensive policy document that would help guide the implementation of its flagship agriculture programme, ‘Planting for Food and Jobs.’
Such a document, he said, must clearly detail how the government intended to produce food or create the 750,000 jobs within the stipulated period.
He observed that the government must integrate all policies designed on agriculture together as one comprehensive document to help facilitate the growth of the sector in a long-term.
“Presently we are confusing a number of things, there is a programme and there is a policy.
There can be many programmes in a policy so when you confuse a programme with a policy then you will get it wrong.
So with the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ we do not know the scope of it, though it is presently being implemented.
But we need a document to guide us, as to how the programme is being implemented,” he said.
Touching on the theme: ‘Securing the Economy with Agriculture,’ Mr Kareweh said the economy could attract high-value investments if it was able to empower both manufacturing sector and agricultural sector to grow.
He said there was a direct correlation between the two sectors such that the country could only see a significant growth in the economy if manufacturing and agricultural sectors are given the needed support to grow.
Planting for Food and Jobs on course
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, assured that the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme, meant to boost food production and create jobs, was on course.
He observed that the distribution of inputs to all districts in the southern sector for the major crop season was completed, while that of the northern sector was near completion.
“For the 2017 cropping season, the programme had targeted to register about 200,000 farmers nationwide. So far, over 188,338 farmers had registered, and 34,000 of them had been captured electronically.”
Dr Akoto said the ministry had spent GH¢157,023,174 on the campaign for the major season in the southern sector and the three regions in the north.
He said distribution of inputs for the minor cropping season in the southern sector was ongoing.