Over GHC130 million to be spent on fertilizer subsidies this year

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Government is expected to spend over GHC130 million on 176,000 metric tons of subsidized fertilizers, according to the Director of Crop Services at the Ministry of Agriculture.
Mr Emmanuel Asante-Krobea who disclosed this onAwake, Tuesday morning said in 2011, GHC78 million was spent on the same amount of subsidized fertilizers.
He said, the increase in expenditure was due to the increase in market prices and cost associated with fertilizer distributions.
He said, “The same quantity of fertilizer is costing government about 50 per cent more which is a real task on government. We started from a yeoman’s level to this level. And it’s government’s intention to continue.”
Subsidizing of fertilizers began in 2008 with the distribution of 20,000 metric tons of subsidized fertilizers at GHC20, 654 million.
Government contributes GHC37 for every bag of compound fertilizer which is sold at GHC39.
Recently, it was reported that some distributors in the Upper East Region were smuggling the commodity across the borders of Togo and Burkina Faso to sell.
Mr Asante-Krobea admitted to the report noting that, ‘there are challenges to every programme and it is very important to look at the challenge and see how it can be minimized or eliminated.”
He said, “People smuggling doesn’t mean that government has to stop the programme because it is benefiting a lot of farmers. We are gradually put in measures to minimize smuggling and that is the headache that we are going through on annual basis.”
Mr Asante-Krobea also noted that it was feasible for Ghana to produce fertilizers locally once mass production of gas begins.
He said government was in talks with investors to go into the production of fertilizers especially the nitrogenous component.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has given the Ministry of Food and Agriculture $57.7 million to support fertilizer subsidy. The loan will also cover other agricultural programmes in the Ministry.

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