In the wake smuggling of Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) fertilizer into neighboring Burkina Faso, Upper East Regional Minister, Tangoba Abayage has led a team from Ghana to Burkina Faso for a bilateral discussion on how to curd the menace.
In June and July this year, the police in Navrongo and Bolgatanga intercepted over 10,000 bags of PFJ fertilizer that were been smuggled into Burkina. The situation is becoming a threat to the Planting for Food and Jobs policy introduced by the current government in 2017.
As part of measures by the government to nib this act in the bud, Upper East Regional Minister, Tangoba Abayage on Friday August 2, 2019, led a team to Po in the Center-South Province of Burkina Faso.
Speaking to A1Radioonline.com after the team’s retrun, Ms Abayage said the visit to Burkina Faso was in fulfillment of an agreement reached between the Ministries of Agriculture of the two countries for a need to find a solution to the menace of fertilizer smuggling into that country.
Members of the Ghanaian team included the Director of Crops at the Ministry of Agriculture, Seth Osei-Akoto, Regional Director of Agriculture for Upper West, who represented the Minister for Agriculture, a staff from the regional directorate of agriculture and some staff of the Regional Coordinating Council.
On the Burkinabe side were top security officers and technocrats led by the Governor of the Center-South Province, Josaine Kabre.
According to Ms. Abayage, a USA-based agency undertook a research and estimated that 50,000 tons of fertilizer were smuggled from Ghana into Burkina Faso in 2018.
She said despite efforts by smugglers that were foiled by the security agencies in Ghana this year, there are pictures of smuggled Planting for Food and Jobs fertilizers clearly displayed for sale in some Burkinabe shops in that country.
The minister said from the deliberations it was revealed that the Burkinabe authorities did not know the difference between the normal fertilizer and the PFJ fertilizer, and as such, they could not arrest smugglers. She also said aside fertilizer, people also smuggle pesticides from Ghana into Burkina Faso.
Mr. Abayage said the Burkinabe team requested for the activation of an already existing ECOWAS protocol which spells out the rules and regulations of using fertilizer and pesticides.
She said, “From their point of view, they don’t know the chemical composition of the pesticides and even the fertilizer and the effects it will have on their soil, so it’s of concern to them as well. On their part, they complained about their rice – their paddy rice.”
According to the minister, they complained that their government spends so much money to maximize rice production in the country by supporting rice farmers but unfortunately, the famers sometimes smuggle the rice into Ghana to sell because they want quick money. It is against this background that they have in place, a tripartite committee that ensures the smuggling is minimized.
They, therefore, appealed to the Ghanaian team to support their security agencies to fight the menace.
Mr. Abayage said, “At the end of the general discussion, we agreed that Ghana is bordered in Upper East by Burkina Faso and Togo and we can’t deny that the fertilizer goes to Togo also. So, we should form a tripartite committee that will be working constantly to see how we can stem this unfortunate incidence in the bud.
They [Burkinabe authorities] agreed that they will put in measures to seize any fertilizer they find on their market and destroy them. In fact, we had asked that they should seize and share it to their poor people but they said they don’t know the composition of the fertilizer and the effects of the chemical on their soil. They also use fertilizer but they don’t know if the composition is the same and so to be on a safer side, when they seize it, they will destroy it.”
The Burkinabe team told their Ghanaian counterparts that the country currently needs 900,000 tons of fertilizer to be able to meet the demands of farmers but unfortunately, the government is only able to provide 400,000 tons leaving a gap of 500,000 tons. It’s that gap that the smugglers are trying to fill.
Ms. Abayage admitted that Ghana also has the shortfall hence the introduction of fertilizer subsidy by the government to close the gap. Unfortunately however, some unscrupulous individuals and groups are thwarting the effects of the government.
She said the bilateral discussion was very fruitful but was quick to add that the Burkinabe authorities were reminded that if their nationals are arrested in Ghana for fertilizer smuggling, they would face the full rigors of the law.
The minister said currently, four persons including two Burkinabes are standing trial in the region for their alleged involvement in fertilizer smuggling. Their cases, she indicated, will be expedited to ensure those found culpable are slapped with appropriate sanctions to deter others from the act of smuggling.
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHZ|Ghana
