Dr. Charles Nyaaba, a former Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana, has accused the Ministry of Food and Agriculture of exaggerating the severity of the dry spell in the northern regions of the country. Speaking on “The Big Issue” on Channel One TV, Dr. Nyaaba claimed that the ministry is using the dry spell as a pretext to misuse funds allocated for the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) 2.0 program.
“The situation is not as dire as they are making it out to be. I’m currently on a farm, and I can show you the crops via video call if needed. The truth is, they are looking for excuses for the failure of PFJ 2.0 and a way to ‘chop’ money,” he asserted.
Dr. Nyaaba expressed skepticism about the ministry’s plan to spend GH₵8 billion to prevent a potential food crisis, citing concerns over past instances of alleged misappropriation of funds.
“Why wouldn’t any farmer be happy about the government spending GH₵8 billion on them? But the truth is, in the past, they’ve used our names to access funds that were never spent on us, and that’s exactly what they’re doing now,” he said.
He further alleged that the grant components of the funds intended for farmers are being diverted, stating, “The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong, is not ensuring that the money reaches the farmers. Instead, it’s being distributed to MPs and DCEs, who are hoarding it in their warehouses. But at the end of the day, they’ll claim that farmers received these inputs. This is what’s happening, and we are going to resist it. We won’t allow them to continue using these tactics to enrich themselves.”