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The Ministry of Food and Agriculture immediately suspended at nine bademblies of municipalities and districts of four northern regions the transport and retail distribution of government subsidized fertilizer under the program Plant for to feed and create jobs.
The affected districts are the municipal districts of Bawku, West Bawku, Garu, Pusiga and Tempane in the Upper East Region, Chereponi in the Northern Region and the Saboba District in the Northeast Region.
The others are the districts of East Sissala and West of the Upper West region.
The Ministry therefore asked all contracted companies to provide inputs to beneficiary farmers in affected districts, to immediately stop dealing with the various retail outlets and to deal directly with the municipal agriculture directorates. and the districts concerned.
The decision was made last week after a full meeting between the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and his colleagues ministers from the North, Upper East and l & # 39; West.
This ban has been made necessary by ongoing reports of offenses, embezzlement and alleged contraband of subsidized fertilizer in neighboring countries.
The guidelines were then communicated to all fertilizer distributors and suppliers working with the ministry under the PFJ program at a stakeholder meeting in Accra on Monday.
In announcing the decision last week, the Minister of Food and Agriculture said "from now on, all subsidized fertilizers destined for the aforementioned district and municipalities will be deposited at various district offices and handed directly to farmers without intermediaries ".
"We have therefore invited all our suppliers to contact respected bademblies to implement the guidelines without delay," said Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
The minister stressed that the move has become necessary as a stopgap measure to stop fertilizer smuggling activities and ensure equitable distribution of inputs to farmers.
Therefore, all beneficiary farmers must choose their inputs directly from the district management of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and not from the retailers designated by the supplying companies.
He added that the guidelines do not apply to fertilizers already in stock, adding that suppliers already having stocks in the various retail warehouses would be allowed to distribute them to farmers.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto added that all those arrested in connection with the alleged illicit trafficking and misappropriation of inputs under the program are under investigation and will be brought before the court. court once the investigation is completed.
In the meantime, the ministry wishes to clarify the information provided by the media about the indefinite suspension of one of the suppliers, namely Demeter, as a result of violations of the terms of supply and distribution of inputs.
The report sought to give the wrong impression that the company had smuggled the amount of inputs.
We wish to point out that the company's action was only a violation of the rules and regulations governing the implementation of the program.
Under the terms and conditions, bills of lading covering all fertilizers moved from one location to another must be verified and approved by the Regional Minister and the MMDCE.
However, in the case of these shipments, the management of Demeter Ghana Limited did not respect this modality although there is no evidence of attempted contraband.
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