The accusation follows a baseline study the organisation says it conducted in Sissala West and Lambussie districts during last year’s farming season, which uncovered pervasive anomalies and ‘underhand dealings’ regarding implementation of the fertiliser policy.

“Greedy people are stealing it [subsidized fertilizer] from left and right and it’s in the government own interest the policy is audited,’ Mr Salifu Issifu Kanton, the Executive Director of CDA-Ghana, told journalists during a breakfast meeting in Wa.

 “There is no proper record keeping by input dealers,” he added: “The way we are implementing it now is unsustainable, the DCEs (District Chief Executives), the MCEs (Municipal Chief Executives) and the MoFA [Ministry of Food and Agriculture] staff should be held accountable”.

The fertiliser subsidy programme introduced in 2017, targeted smallholder farmers cultivating maize, rice, sorghum and millet, with priority on food crop, and farmers registered under recognized companies as well as cotton farmers operating under recognized nucleus farmers.

The policy was part of efforts to boost agricultural activities to increase food production and enhance incomes of farmers, in a move to help Ghana achieve the Sustainable Development Goal Two, which focuses on hunger eradication.

But local farmers have repeatedly complained about inaccessibility to the manure during farming seasons while local media and civil society organisations report of a “syndicate of smugglers” who smuggle it through unapproved routes into neighbouring countries.

“It is a fact that smuggling is happening and the destination is Burkina Faso, where the price is higher, even if we [Ghana] remove the subsidy our price will still be lower,” Mr Kanton said.  He called for review of the current structure, where the Regional Minister, the MCEs and the DCEs chair the committees overseeing the implementation of the policy in their various jurisdictions.

Mr Kanton suggested surveillance along the Burkina Faso border, where the smuggling activities are reportedly being carried out by women and children using donkeys, bicycles and motorbikes.  He said until government conducted thorough audit into the programme it would be like “pouring water into a basket” since millions of Ghana Cedis being pumped into the national programme would go waste.

The CDA-Ghana says tons of fertilisers are being stolen and want prompt audit into the policy and stringent actions taken, including mounting surveillance on MoFA staff and some state officials, who have been accused by the farmers for perpetuating the smuggling.