Stakeholders in the agriculture value chain in the Bono East Region held a two-day Regional Joint Sector Review conference in the Kintampo North Municipality.

The conference which was held under the theme: “Consolidating the Gains of Planting for Food and Jobs in the wake of the Covid-19” saw stakeholders comprising of the Heads of Department of Agriculture in the 11 Districts, value chain actors, farmers amongst others share ideas on how to consolidate gains made under the government's flagship sector policies.

The move is also to enable industry players to put together solid suggestions for policy direction and investment in the agriculture centre for food security and resilience.

Bono East Regional Director of Agriculture, Madam Cecilia Kegya told participants that the review was to obtain the Regional perspective of stakeholders at the decentralized level, to inform planning and effective implementation in the sector.

"This initiative is designed based on an identified myriad of challenges facing the sector and the zeal to exploit the untapped potential. These challenges include lack of access and low utilization of certified seeds, low fertilizer usage, weak extension service, poor post-harvest management and linkages to market and low application of ICT to support agriculture," she said.

She further noted that the introduction of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme "which was designed to focus on some five pillars namely, provision of improved seeds, fertilizers, extension services, marketing and e-agriculture were innovatively implemented to support value chain development".

Madam Cecilia Kegya, however, noted that the impact of Covid-19 poses a threat to sustaining the gains made by the programme as its effects have contributed to the relatively high cost of inputs, reduction in extension services delivery, low agro-processing and agribusiness activities among others.

The 2021 Joint Sector Review "will therefore be used as a platform to engage value chain actors such as farmers, input dealers, Agro-processors, FBOs and stakeholders to share experiences and lessons as well as make recommendations on how to consolidate gains made under the Planting for Food and Jobs program, " she further added.

The Joint Sector Review program was instituted by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in 2008 to allow annual engagement on issues affecting the agriculture space, measures to be adopted to make it more attractive to the youth, financing mechanisms, subsidies and general improvement of the sector.