We don’t want free govt farm inputs – Cocoa farmer asserts

Cocoa farmer in the Prestea-Huni Valley in the Western Region, Maame Betty says it is better for government to make available farm inputs on the market at reduced prices, rather than offer them to farmers for free.

According to her, the farm inputs supplied by the government through the ministry are not enough, as farmers still end up making extra purchases for their farms.

“We don’t want government to keep giving us free farm inputs. The government should rather reduce the prices of these farm inputs and make them readily available in the market,” she stated.

She noted on most occasions, farmers in her union do not even receive any fertilisers under government’s subsidised or free fertiliser distribution scheme. “The fertilisers we receive are not enough for us. I belong to an all-female cocoa farmers union and we didn’t get any of the fertilisers last year. They told us the fertilisers will eventually come but we never received them.”

Maame Betty added that after submitting a request for a specific number of fertilisers for 55 individual farmers at one time, she only received 2 cartons which were enough for only 29 individual farms. “It was impossible for us to divide it amongst ourselves and when I complained to the agric officer, he told me we should manage it and we had to buy the rest of the fertilisers so our farms were not destroyed.”

Speaking to Don Kwabena Prah on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show, the farmer who is fed up with the inconsistent supply of fertilisers called on any interested farm inputs company to partner with her union. “We need a reliable company which produces farm inputs to supply our union with fertilisers and any other things we may need”.

Happy98.9FM’s Epa Hoa Daben political show as part of a series dubbed, “Ghana’s Cocoa Sector, ‘The Inside Story’ has given the platform of cocoa farmers in rural Ghana share their challenges with the Ghanaian populace for immediate attention.

This was prompted by the revelation of China actively participating in the growing of cocoa.