Acting Country Manager of African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), Nana Aisha- Mohammed has express worry over the increasing number of fake agro inputs on the the market.
SHE appealed to all agrochemical dealers in the country to avoid the sale of fake agro-inputs as this will have a negative impact on smallholder farmers and the reputation of their business.
According to her, fake agro inputs affect crop yields, our environment and also associated with health implications, adding that the health effect associated with pesticides is not limited to only fake agro-inputs and called for a concerted effort to control the canker.
She said this in an interview with Gardja.org in Sunyani, during a three-day residential training for Agro Chemical dealers in the Bono Region.
The African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), through the funding of Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA), under Africa’s Smallholder Inclusive Productivity and Market Access (SIPMA) project undertook a 3-day training program for agro-input dealers in the Bono region of Ghana.
The Acting Country Manager appealed to the leadership of the Ghana Agri- Input Dealers Association(GAIDA) to revive the association at the national level and position it to play its advocacy and coordinate its members, going forward.
To end this fake agro-inputs in supply, the AFAP is initiating advocacy campaign for agro-dealers in the country for them to offer advisory services to smallholder farmers.
However, AFAP is advocating for preventive measures and restrictive laws to curtail the situation and advise both agrochemical dealers and farmers to stay away from using fake agrochemicals on their crops.
She believes the three – day training will help sanitize the system and in the end, farmers stand the chance of getting a good yield from their produce.
Nana Aisha, says the training for the agro-dealers has become necessary, due to the farmer – extension officer ratio in the country, such that, the agro-dealers may offer advisory services to the farmers, for them to use the requisite quantity of pesticides on their crops.
It is been reported that farmers are using an excessive amount of pesticides on their crops, with the idea of getting more yields, which is not the case, where scholars have argued that excessive use of agrochemicals is a major source of water contamination where environmental laws frown upon.
The beneficiaries were taking through environmental regulations governing the sale of agro-inputs in the country and were tasked to comply with Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
