When a nation fails to put our money where our mouth is

There is no doubt in the minds of everybody that 2015 has been a challenging agric year. Difficulties brought on by a combination of natural incidents we had little or no control over; mishaps we had all the available capacity to stop, and in some instances clear lack of commitment on the part of those whose job it is to “lead” in the agric sector. Some highlights are as follows:

A cocoa sector that produced 22 percent less output compared to the cocoa year before (896,000 metric tonnes in the 2013/2014 season and just 696,000 tonnes in the 2014/2015 season). A crippling bird flu outbreak that caused the destruction of more 40,000 birds. A poor rainfall pattern which is expected to cause a 30 percent reduction in yield this season according to projections by the Ashanti Regional Directorate of agriculture; and has already caused the doubling of maize prices over the last one year. Rising food inflation from 6.8 percent in December 2014 to 7.8 percent in October 2015, at a time when non-food inflation is on the decline.

A shrink of agriculture’s share of the country’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP) from last year’s figure of 21.5 percent to 19 percent this year; a decline which admittedly has been the case since Ghana started drilling oil in 2010. And last but not the least, a decline in the growth of the agric sector from the 4.6percent figure we saw in 2014 to 0.04 percent this year. Worst of all, for the first time in a long time, the crop production sub sector has recorded a negative growth of (-1.7 percent) in 2015. Something the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana predicted at a 2015 budget review forum in December 2014 in Accra when the association said: “the 2015 budget has no prospects for crop production in the country. The allocation is inadequate to implement the planned programme for 2015. The agric sector is completely being underfunded,” according to a Public Agenda newspaper report.

Not forgetting the bad press for government and tough times for farmers brought on by the decision of some suppliers under the Fertilizer Subsidy Progamme to withdraw from the scheme because the Finance Ministry owed them millions of cedis. Resulting in government supplying only 50 percent of the 180,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer it had projected will be supplied to farmers this year.

And indications are that the situation could get worse next year with government cutting budgetary allocation to the sector by about 10 percent when you compare it to last year’s figure (395.19 million cedis in 2015 budget and 355.14 million cedis in 2016, representing a 40 million cedis slash). This may not mean much because the sector like several others hardly get the total amount allocated to it in the budget each year. For example, only 91.54 million cedis was made available to the Agric Ministry in 2015 out of the 395.19 million budgetary allocation.

But it speaks of how government’s actions on the sector appear to be a stark contradiction of its rhetorics. Like when President John Mahama said at the inauguration of the Dawhenya Irrigation Project in the Tema area that: “For every country, food security and agriculture is one of the most important factors and so this government is determined to make sure that Ghana continues to sustain its agricultural sector and ensure food security in our country.” Sweet talk from an inspiring leader soothes the heart of every person who has the interest of Ghana at heart. But facts are stubborn things. And life is not a telenovela. You reap only when you sow and sow well. You can’t have your cake and eat it, or better still, you can’t eat your cake and have it.

If you slash funding to the sector (by giving the Agric Ministry only less than one third of its allocated budget for the year), refuse to finance fertilizer subsidy, refuse to give cocoa farmers their due for their sweat, and do not invest in agric modernization and mechanization, you can’t expect the sector to record glowing figures. That defies social, political and economic logic. Growth will slow, GDP will shrink, and food prices will soar. That is exactly what we are experiencing now. When a nation fails to put its money where its mouth is, it only ends up chewing its tongue. And as the old Akan saying goes; “if you chew your tongue, you have not chewed any meat.”

We don’t need to set up a committee to investigate and make recommendations on how to properly develop the agricultural sector, attract more youth there, and make farming profitable for the benefit of our farmers. We all know what the problems facing the sector are, and have a fair idea of what the solutions should be. The sector needs a lot of capital injection. That’s all. Cheap credits, good subsidies, modernized technology, better infrastructure to link farmers and buyers. That’s all. Is that too much to ask? Looking at the repeated rhetoric about agric being the backbone of the economy and how we love our farmers and how we cannot live without them?

Not every choice we make is blessed with moral and judgment clarity. And not every decision we make will yield positive returns. But what I know for a fact is that investment in agriculture is a good thing. It lifts masses out of poverty, saves millions from starvation and creates fairly distributed wealth for many.
The agric sector has failed to live up to expectation this year, just like many years before. But the singing, dancing, drumming and sweet talk continued when we celebrated Farmers’ Day on Friday 4th December, 2015 under the theme “Transform Ghana: Invest in Agriculture.” And once again, we were reminded of government’s strong commitment to developing the agric sector. As if good intentions are enough. I however continue to hope we are able to walk the talk in the year ahead.

The last time I wrote about the agric sector, I said the following words which I would repeat: “Farmers are not asking for much. They are determined to make lives better for themselves and their families. But those in whose hands the state has placed their destiny must surely do more, to help them fulfill their aspirations.” The farmers put their energies to the service of this country, but clearly, this country has not placed enough of its resources at the service of our farmers. Something which is very heart breaking. And must change.
May God bless our farmers, and may God bless our homeland Ghana.

By Joseph Opoku Gakpo / www.josephopokugakpo.wordpress.com