The Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, Dr. Charles Nyaaba, has cast doubt on the implementation of government’s objective to compile a database of farmers.

According to him, although the initiative is commendable, government has not shown any commitment to roll it out despite pledging to do so some years ago.

“Digitalisation in general is not bad, because you cannot do any projections or take any major government policy decision without taking the database of farmers.

“But my concern is, this is not the first time we are hearing this, In 2017, money was allocated to Ministry of Food and Agriculture to do this digitalisation, but where has it ended?” he quizzed on Joy Prime’s Prime Morning on Monday.

While stating the benefits the country could reap from the agenda, Dr Nyaaba further noted that he will manage his expectation from government to walk the talk.

The Executive Director said that should the plan be well executed by government, there must still be money allocated to subsidise the cost of fertilizer and other inputs for production due to their high cost.

“If not, the sector could have the database of farmers yet the necessary resources would still not be available [for farmers] to provide their services,” he explained.

Compiling a database of farmers is part of initiatives to capture them through biometric registration to be able to support them adequately in the provision of farming inputs such as fertilizer and other farming tools.

As part of the 2023 budget, the initiative is also to help the sector to be able to support farmers financially to boost productivity.