Wa, June 6, GNA - Authorities of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in the Upper West Region have denied a recent report by an Accra based Radio Station that the Ministry had failed to provide tractors to farmers from whom it had collected monies.
Addressing a press conference at Wa on Thursday, Mr Charles Adams, Regional Director of Agriculture, said it was not true that the Ministry was hoarding monies belonging to farmers and not refunding them as alleged. He explained that in 2009 and 2010, 26 farmers including those from Lawra and Sissala East Districts deposited monies with the Agricultural Development Bank towards the acquisition of the tractors.
He said considering the number who had deposited monies, the Assista nt Engineer was dispatched to Accra in March this year to secure 36 tracto rs for the region for distribution to the farmers. However, the Engineer returned from Accra without the tractors with the explanation that there was not a single tractor at the yard but that the Ministry would soon take delivery of the next consignment. Mr Adams said as a result of the shortage of tractors the Ministry h ad directed all Regional Directors not to accept deposits anymore until the next batch of tractors arrived.
Mr Adams said farmers who could not wait longer were asked to apply for refund, adding that nine farmers had so far had their monies refunded. Interested farmers were required to pay deposits of 8,000 Ghana cedi s and 9,000 Ghana cedis for the tractors which cost GH¢18,000 and GH¢19 ,000 depending on the type with remaining amount to be paid within three years .. Mr. Adams said the idea of assisting farmers in the north to acquire
the farm machineries was to make them resourceful and competitive. He noted that it was also in line with governments' policy of accelerating agricultural modernization for food security and economic transformation, saying the Ministry would therefore not engage in acts th at would thwart that effort.
Nana Baah Appiah-Nkansah, Regional Engineer who spoke on the durabil ity of the tractors, said most of the operators lacked the technical capacity to handle them efficiently. He said he was putting a programme in place to have all those operat ing the tractors in the region trained to enable them to handle them to ensur e a longer life span.
