Editorial (Friday, 2nd September 2022)
Ghana’s economic challenges leading to hikes in prices of farm inputs and services have adversely affected agriculture productivity, posing serious threat to food security, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has said.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukraine war and the soaring cost of petroleum products have led to drastic spikes in prices of improved seeds, fertiliser and other production inputs.
The situation has been compounded by the erratic rainfall experienced this year likely to result in food insecurity.
Mr Isaac Pabia, the National Secretary, PFAG, said the situation had compelled many farmers to reduce their farm sizes while many others had been thrown out of business, which must be addressed immediately to prevent food shortage.
“The cost of food production has gone up this year considerably as compared to last year, about triple the cost of last season,” he said.
The cost of 50 kilogrammes of NPK fertiliser in 2021, which was GH₵160.00 increased to GH₵400.00 in 2022, representing about 150 per cent and Urea increased from GH₵150.00 to GH₵450.00 during the same period.
The Daily Searchlight believes that institutions like the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) have a duty and responsibility to explore and exploit alternatives that make them less dependent on foreign imported chemical fertilizers and other agricultural inputs, which are notoriously and inherently dangerous.
The history is replete with the harm that such chemiocal and petroleum-based fertilizers and other inputs to agriculture have caused to the environment in Ghana.
This is happening at a time that Ghana is blessed with many alternatives to industrial fertilizer.
We believe that many of these alternatives are far less costly, easy to produce, and environmentally sound.
We call on PFAG and institutions of that nature to collaborate with local scientoific community to develop alternatives that are organic, cheaper and more environmentally friendly.
(This article was first published in the column EDITORIAL of the Daily Searchlight of Friday, 2nd September, 2022The Daily Searchlight appears on the newsstands of Ghana every working day and PDF versions are available for sale online twenty-four hours a day all day throughout the world on www.ghananewsstand.com).
