The government owes fertilizer suppliers an estimated GH¢436 million for supplies for the 2020 and 2021 farming seasons.
Suppliers have currently refused to deliver the much-needed fertilizer to farmers for the 2022 farming season because of the government’s failure to settle its debt.
The situation is reportedly jeopardizing the entire Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme across the country and prompting protests from peasant farmers whose farming activities are shrieking to a halt.
A number of the major supplying companies including Agricultural Manufacturing Group, Chemico, Iddisal Co. Ltd, Yara, Luise Drefus, Glofert and Omnifert have revealed the government only effected part payment for the 2020 supplies leaving an outstanding amount of GH¢86 million.
According to reports, in 2021, after supplying farmers with fertilizers for the farming season, the government failed to pay an amount of GH¢350 million, being the cost of the supplies thereby accumulating the debts for these two years.
Sources indicate that some fertilizer suppliers who have some of the commodity in stock are now planning to sell to neighbouring countries to defray their costs since the implementing Ministry of the PJF has not demonstrated willingness to settle the outstanding debts on time.
Farmers under the government’s PFJ have expressed worry over how their farming businesses are gradually dying off following a lack of fertilizers for their farming activities.
According to the farmers, their suppliers are unwilling to supply them because the government is reluctant to pay the debts for the previous years’ supplies.
The uncertainty on the party of the Ministry of Finance to settle the debts owed by the government is affecting smallholder farmers who are losing interest in the programme.
Some are even beginning to question the sustainability of the programme following this recent development.
Currently, the 37 companies contracted to supply farmers with fertilizer under the Planting for Food and Job are badly affected.
Source: Mypublisher24.com