Make access to farmer service centres non-partisan — PFAG to gov’t
According to him, the centres, if properly managed, could significantly transform agricultural productivity by addressing one of the sector’s biggest challenges, mechanisation.
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called on the government to ensure that the planned Farmer Service Centres (FSCs) are implemented in a transparent and non-partisan manner to benefit all farmers across the country.
Speaking on the Big Mike Breakfast Show on Wednesday, November 19, the National Secretary and Upper East Regional Focal Person for PFAG, Isaac Pabia, stressed that the success of the initiative will depend heavily on equal and fair access.
According to him, the centres, if properly managed, could significantly transform agricultural productivity by addressing one of the sector’s biggest challenges, mechanisation.
“Mechanisation is one of the key challenges in agricultural development. We have encouraged farmers to move from hoe-and-cutlass farming to commercial farming, and you cannot do that with outdated methods,” he said.
“The idea of setting up Farmer Service Centres is good, but we must know how the implementation will be done. We must move away from the ‘who you know’, party-based and partisan approach. We urge government to go purely commercial so that access is not determined by political affiliation.”
Pabia emphasised that when the initiative is implemented effectively and without political interference, it will ease the burden on farmers who struggle to access essential services required for their operations.
He further commended the government for the various agriculture-related programmes that received allocations in the 2026 budget. However, he cautioned that budgetary allocations alone are not enough without timely release of funds and proper execution.
“All the areas government is allocating funds to in next year’s budget are good, but attention must be paid to implementation. A budget shows commitment, but actual releases are another matter. Having deemed these programmes worthy of budget allocations, government must also follow through with implementation.”
Pabia also urged the government to invest more in agro-processing to curb the high levels of post-harvest losses that continue to erode farmers’ income.
Citing the example of Navrongo, he noted that despite the large quantities of rice produced under ICOUR, the municipality still lacks a commercial rice mill.
“We are here in Navrongo, ICOUR is just next door, and we produce a lot of rice, yet we don’t have a commercial rice mill. Could we not process our rice here to make transportation easier and create jobs in the local economy?”
“The entire agricultural value chain must be considered. For years, policies have focused on production but neglected value addition.”
Pabia reiterated PFAG’s commitment to advocating for policies that support farmers and strengthen Ghana’s agricultural ecosystem.
Mike 105.3FM | Navrongo | David Adapuna
