Pay us for seeds supplied for ‘planting for food and jobs’ - Farmers to government

Farmers, who supplied quality maize seeds for the government’s flagship agricultural programme - ‘planting for food and jobs’, are crying for payment of the money owed them.

The Food and Agriculture Ministry had bought the seeds through National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG) and they say the delay in the final installment payment is making it difficult to continue with their business.

At a meeting of the Seed Producers Association of Ghana (SEEDPAG) held at Fumesua in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipality, they claimed that the outstanding payment should have been cleared at the end of November.

Mr. Patrick Apullah, SEEDPAG National President, appealed to the government to move quickly to get the farmers paid to sustain their operation.

He said they needed the money to fund the harvesting and processing of their dried seed maize on the field.

He indicated that if this did not happen soon, things could go wrong – looming danger of seed farms being ruined by bushfires.

He added that there could be ramifications for the ‘planting for food and jobs’.

Mr. Thomas Havoh, the General Secretary, appealed for calm as the association took up the matter with the government to get things sorted.

He acknowledged that the programme held a lot of promise for the nation and asked that any challenges with the implementation was handled in the best interest of all.

It was important that the key actors worked together to make it a huge success to achieve national food security and transform the lives of many.