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13.10.2015 Regional News

No Funds For Agric Extension Services - MoFA

By Alima Bawah - Tamale
No Funds For Agric Extension Services - MoFA
13.10.2015 LISTEN

Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District Agric officer in-charge of extension services, Mr Gammeh Stanilous has revealed that, the District Agric department has not received any money from central government since the beginning of year. According to him, they are forced to use their salaries to render extension services to farmers.

This he said, puts pressure on their merger salaries. The disappointed officer said he can’t sit in the office doing nothing and knowing that farmers need his services, but the lack of resources is dwindling his efforts.

In an interview with Mr Gammeh on the sideline of a stakeholder sensitization forum on Part 3 of the Plant and fertilizer Act, Act 803 in Sawla, the district capital, he said the inadequate extension services had a negative tow on farmers since they are not able to go to each community to meet farmers and give them extension services. According to him, they only travel to farmers who have special cases and have invited them.

The Project manager of Ghana Agricultural Associations and Business Information Centre (GAABIC), Mr Isaac Kombat advised the farmers at the forum whom mostly were women, to do due diligence to ensure that the fertilizers they buy are the right type of fertilizers their crops needed. He asked them to report to the agric officers near them in case of purchasing an adulterated fertilizer. The Part 3 of the Plant and fertilizer Act seeks to regulate and control the distribution of fertilizers in Ghana and also safeguard and protect the interest of farmers.

The workshop which is intended to give awareness to the public to prevent ignorance of the law is being funded by Feed The Future, a USAID initiative and Agriculture Policy Support Project (APSP). The sensitization forum has so far been organized in the Tamale Metropolis, Yendi Municipality, West Mamprusi District, Nanumba North District and the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District.

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