The
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has placed a temporal ban on the
distribution of fertilizers under government’s ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’
Programme in four municipal and district assemblies in the Upper East Region.
The
affected areas are; Bawku municipality, Garu, Pusiga and Tempane districts.
Upper
East Regional Minister, Paulina Patience Abayage said the proximity of these
districts to neighboring countries has made it possible for some individuals to
smuggle fertilizers out of Ghana.
“The
reports we are getting is that, sometimes we don’t even know where the fertilizers
are offloaded and they carry them in smaller portions across the country
through to Burkina Faso and Togo. We have intelligence to that effect”, she
revealed.
The
minister who spoke exclusively to A1 News said the temporal ban will not affect
the policy in the affected areas.
“If
farmers in these districts need fertilizer to buy, they can go to Binduri or
Zebilla districts to buy. The ban is not permanent. I am sure that, in the next
couple of days we will be able to review if not all, some of the places”, Madam
Abayage indicated.
This
temporal ban comes after two trucks were impounded in the region trying to
smuggled fertilizers to neighboring Burkina Faso.
The
minister said the impounded fertilizers are safely stored for distribution to
vulnerable farmers.
Source:A1radioonline.com|Joshua Asaah
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