Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are to examine a draft document detailing a strategic operational framework for government’s flagship planting for food and jobs programme.
This follows government’s notice that it has formulated the blueprint after demands from SEND Ghana for a clear strategic framework to guide the planting for foods and jobs program.
The CSO argued that the absence of the operational strategy in the first year of its implementation is creating avoidable gaps in gathering information to gauge the gains of the program.
SEND Ghana is expected to lead other CSO’s in the review of the draft document that will cure challenges on land rights and support for smallholder farmers among others.
Speaking at a National Multi-Stakeholder Conference on Planting for Food and Jobs Tuesday February 20 in Accra, the Programs Officer for SEND Ghana, Rachel Gyabaah said: “Now that there is a draft strategic plan, that’s the implementing document, we believe that as CSOs we can sit together to discuss with the Ministry what their challenges are and what the plan for 2018 is.”
She added: “We will also come together to review that document, based on our monitoring experiences when we think that government should make some modification, we can make an input and present to them for the successful implementation of the project.”
She said the meeting to review the strategic plan will be held on March 1 and that latest by March 15 “we will be able to present our inputs to the Ministry.”
The Conference forms part of an Oxfam GB funded programme titled “Promoting Food Security and Agricultural Governance in Ghana” which aims at contributing to a food secured Ghana by influencing the government of Ghana to invest in supporting smallholder farmers and securing their land rights.
Over 700.000 jobs created
According to the Government the Planting for Food and Jobs programme created in its first year alone created some 745,000 jobs.
The Agriculture Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto said in a recent interview that the jobs were created in the areas of input supply and distribution of surplus food resulting from the programme.
The Planting for Food and Jobs programme is a flagship policy of the governing New Patriotic Party.
Launched by the president Akufo-Addo last year the programme is to help address the declining growth of the agricultural sector of the country.
As part of the programme, Ghanaians have been admonished to take up agriculture as a full-time business to enable the country produce enough to feed itself and for export.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM
