Making Input Subsidies Work for Smallholder Farmers in
Ghana
A position paper presented by the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG)
to the Honourable Minister of Food and Agriculture, Accra- April 26, 2016
The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) views the government’s fertilizer and seed
subsidy programme as an effective vehicle for delivering increased agricultural productivity,
food security, and wider economic development and structural change needed to reduce poverty
among smallholder farmers in Ghana. The PFAG shares the view that input subsidy is not a short
term ‘quick fix’, and sustained input subsidy is necessary for any major success such as the
Green Revolution in Asia, if Ghana is to achieve the stated objectives of the current fertilizer and
seed subsidy programme. Multiple challenges and threats posed by climate change and
variability, and unstable global markets make it both important and urgent to focus attention on
improving efficiency and effectiveness of such input subsidy programmes while exploring ways
to reduce reliance on inorganic fertilizers through improved soil fertility management. The
PFAG, which advocates for poverty eradication among smallholder farmers through measures
that improve and protect their livelihoods, reaffirms its commitment to work with government
and other stakeholders to ensure that the benefits of the programme to smallholder farmers are
maximized. The PFAG shares the view that the benefits of input subsidies depend on several
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factors and supports evolving and ongoing government’s efforts to improve targeting and
rationing (with criteria), implementation, private sector participation, and use of a delivery
medium with the potential to reduce fraud and rent seeking. The PFAG is committed to engaging
with government and other stakeholders to increase the benefits and consolidate gains made calls
for introduction of input subsidy policy by parliament with clear sources of funding and
sustainability strategy; renewed efforts to improve evidence or data gathering and research to
better track progress; introduction of clear strategies for reaching women and cotton farmers with
subsidized inputs; restriction of allocation or purchases by all farmers to stated ration(s);
improved transparency and communication with farmers on how quantities of inputs being
subsidized and level of subsidy are arrived at; inclusion of PFAG in the negotiations leading to
the decision on the price and quantities of input subsidized; open competitive bidding for
specified quantities of inputs to encourage competition and ensure value for money spent; timely
delivery of subsidized inputs to farmers; elimination of delays in payment to participating
suppliers; and simplifying the permitting requirements and processes for qualifying distributors
and retailers.
Abdul Rahman Mohammed
(National President, PFAG)
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