A total of 81, 805 farmers benefit from PfFJs Programme in Bono East

The Bono East Region in the 2019 farming season had 81, 805 farmers as beneficiaries of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PfFJs) Programme geared towards improving food security in the country and for export.

The figure comprised 79,802 males and 2003 females spread across four municipalities and seven districts in the region.

They received support which included subsidy on farm inputs - fertilizer, improved seeds of open-pollinated variety (OPV) and hybrid maize, local rice, soya bean and free extension services from the respective municipal and district directorates of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).

Mrs Cecilia Kagya-Agyemang, the Regional Director of MoFA said in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Tuesday at Techiman, said more members of the women-farmer-based organisations (WFBOs) had become major beneficiaries of the programme.

The situation and the resultant progress, according to her had been a key tool in fighting food insecurity and reducing poverty in the region.

Mrs Kagya-Agyemang urged the farmers, especially the members of the WFBOs to be agents promoting the PfFJs programme by projecting their efforts to maintain the region’s position as one of the nation’s highest food production areas.

She said agriculture, the mainstay of the nation’s economy remained the bedrock of the national development agenda, saying the beneficiary farmers must therefore take advantage to cooperate effectively with agricultural extension agents to receive and apply the requisite best farming practices techniques for the achievement of the general objectives of the PfFJs programme.