Agric Development Fund out soon

By: Justice Lee Adoboe

Government is said to be working on the modalities for the creation of a fund towards the development of agriculture in the country.

This is said to be in line with government’s vision of making Ghana self-sufficient in food production as well as making agriculture a major source of employment for the youth.

The fund to be called the Export Development and Agricultural Fund (EDAF) is to be built upon the current Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF).

The current government, in opposition promised the establishment of an Agricultural Development Fund (ADF) to address the issue of funding for large scale agriculture in the country.

However, when it came into government, it presented in its 2009 budget the decision to review the EDIF law to include the use of the Fund for agricultural investment and infrastructure.

“Additional resources would be directed into EDIF to support commercial agriculture”, the 2009 budget stated.

Vice President John Dramani Mahama explained at a public forum that the government had been advised not to create any more funds since there were already too many funds in the system, some of which were being underutilised.

He then explained that at the time, EDIF was said to be the most underutilised fund in the system and as government was also implementing a Treasury Single Account (TSA), it was mindful of moneys that were sitting in such accounts unused while other areas were in dire need of funds to survive.

In the 2010 budget government stated that it will accelerate its agriculture modernization policy through the Youth in Modern Agriculture Development Programme.

“Government will take measures to encourage participating youth to adopt appropriate, accessible, affordable and economically beneficial modern and yield increasing technologies,” the budget statement promised.

A source at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning confirmed to this paper that the legal department of the ministry was still drafting the amendment to the EDIF law which will both expand it and change its name to EDAF.

According to him details of the draft amendment were still not clear yet, since some of the facts and figures would have to be approved of first by authorities before the law goes to parliament.

A significant percentage of the rebranded fund is expected to be channeled into agriculture development

When contacted on his opinion about the new Fund as against the proposed fully fledged Agricultural Development Fund (ADF), Deputy Secretary General of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) Edward Kareweh said whatever comes out of the latest initiative must address the vision the nation has for the agricultural sector.

“How do we want agriculture to be in the next five years? Do we want it to remain largely small holder as it is or we want to increase its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?” are the questions that should be answered before the amendment is carried through.

Mr. Kareweh believes that government also needs to establish whether there will be sufficient funding from EDAF when established.

He said, on the other hand, it is not just a matter of introducing policies, but implementation, and commitment to seeing to its implementation.

“If agric is the cornerstone of this government’s economic development policy the volume of the fund and proportion going into agriculture is what matters,” he argued.

According to him merging the EDIF and Agric Fund might not be a problem in itself, but seeing to it that government uses it to develop the area is what matters.

The Trade Unionist urged that beyond the creation of funding avenues for agriculture there must be ways of making agriculture attractive enough for people to get into it.

“Funds alone are not the answer,” he stated, wondering, “Is agric attractive and competitive enough?”

He believes that if the returns of agriculture are competitive enough, people would naturally be drawn there. He therefore called for complementary policies such as creating Market access and making it easier for farmers to benefit from all necessary social amenities such as telecommunication, access to news and information, potable drinking water, sanitation facilities, health care and quality education for their children.

GAWU and ActionAid have over the years been calling for the establishment of an Agriculture Development fund which will provide funding for large scale agriculture production and make Ghana self sufficient in food production.