The Ghanaian government has lost $12 million worth of fertilizer

A report from Ghana’s Parliamentary Select Committee of Agriculture said $12 million worth of fertilizer is missing.
The report suspected that the fertilizer has been smuggled to Burkina Faso and Togo.
The fertilizer was meant for the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative by the government.

Ghana’s Parliamentary Select Committee of Agriculture has disclosed that about 50,000 metric tonnes of subsidized fertilizer worth $12 million meant for the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs program is missing.

In a report on the financial estimates for 2019 by the committee, they suspected that the fertilizer has been smuggled to neighbouring countries Burkina Faso and Togo.

The report further stated that the allocation for 2019 to the Food and Agriculture Ministry for the purchase of fertilizer was not enough.

“Out of a total budget of GHȼ140, 930, 250.00 earmarked for the purchase of fertilizer for the year 2019, only GHȼ47, 726,216.80 has been provided for in the budget,” the report said.

According to the committee the Ministry had informed them that it would consider alternative funding sources to support the programme.

The Committee has, therefore, urged the Ministry “to ensure that the needed funding is sought to augment the shortfall and the needed efforts are made to curb the smuggling of fertilizer out of the country.”

The report also captured the inadequate storage facility in its report. However, the Ministry informed the Committee about the construction of 80 new warehouses to ensure adequate storage of crops in 2019.

The officials indicated that out of the number under construction, 30 will be supported from the budget of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the remaining 50 would be funded by the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives.