Do not sign away our future - Farmers

Ahead of the Global Day against Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) to be marked in Accra on Monday, Ghanaian Farmers have appealed to government not to sign away their future by agreeing on an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) deal with the European Union.
“We humbly ask government to take a second look at the EPAs. We believe the deal is not in the interest of the country and pose a threat to the livelihoods of small scale farmers,” Mr Jacob Kpodo, a tomato farmer from Ada, said at a forum organised by Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC), a nation-wide advocacy organisation striving for agriculture and trade justice.
According to the farmers, global food crisis should serve as a wake-up call to government to pursue good policies to enhance agricultural production and not to be coerced into signing a deal that could threaten the country's food security and livelihoods.
The EU is seeking under the EPAs, a reciprocal trade regime with the African Caribbean and Pacific countries. This means EU exporting its goods to the markets of ACP countries would be quota and duty free and in return grants ACP countries similar access to EU market.

Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire in December last year, initialled an interim EPA, pending conclusions of negotiations on the full deal.

But the farmers maintained that they had suffered long enough under government's unbridled trade liberalisation programmes and what was needed now were implementation of good government policies to boost production and stop reliance on imports.

“Already, we are being displaced in our own markets due to government trade liberalisation policies, which have resulted in increasing volumes of imports of rice and tomato paste. I believe granting further market access under the guise of EPA would deepen our woes,” Mr Gideon Martey, President of Osudoku Cooperative Farmers Association told journalists at Asutuare.

According to him, government's intervention in the marketing of local rice in the last two years had shown that provided with the right policies, farmers could produce enough to feed the country.

Mr Elvis Donkor, Administrative Secretary of Osudoku Cooperative Farmers Association, said government must review the EPA deal before committing the country to it.

“We must not think of what we stand to gain immediately. But it is important to look at the long-term implications of EPA on the economy and the livelihoods of peasant farmers,” Mr Emmanuel Amoak, Vice-President of Okyereko Farmers Cooperative told Ghana News Agency.

Mr Amoak said while the EU heavily subsidised its farmers, the same cannot be said of farmers in developing countries such as Ghana.

He explained that about $450 was required to produce a ton of rice in developing countries but $275 in the EU to produce the same quantity.

“How can we compete in the same market place? We are simply going to be swallowed by the EU and you can imagine the implications for our livelihoods and those of our families,” Mr Amoak said.

Mr Ibrahim Akalbila, Coordinator of Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC), said with support from government the farmers could carry the nation on their shoulders.

He said through such tools as government procurement to secure local resources or restricting importation of certain products, government would be helping to boost local agriculture production.

However, Mr Akalbila said the ability of government to use such policy interventions to influence local production would no longer be available once the EPAs were signed.

“That is where the greater danger is. If government loses its ability to use policy to drive development then we are doomed,” he added.