Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) is Ghana’s flagship program for agricultural transformation and employment creation in Ghana. The program provides subsidized fertilizer, hybrid and open-pollinated seeds and other planting materials, as well as improved extension services and marketing support to smallholder farmers across the country. Execution of the program is being done with funding from AGRA with partners from government (Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA); Ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation (MoM&E)) and technical partners such as (International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER)) along with district-level and regional staff of MoLGRD. MoFA and MoM&E. Given the scale of PFJ and its rapid expansion, it is imperative to implement a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation system to inform policy design and ensure efficient implementation. The duration of the implementation process is January 2019 to June 2020.
Training of field enumeration team was conducted from 17th to 21st February by ISSER and IFPRI, in collaboration with MoFA. Both quantitative and qualitative enumeration teams, a total of 40 enumerators, received training. The quantitative survey covers: Demography and household information, Participation and Knowledge about the PFJ Programme, Plot Information, Farm input use, Harvest, Crop sales, storage and losses, E-Agriculture and PFJ Fertilizer and Seed Inputs receipt. Beneficiary and non-beneficiary will be interviewed from sampled districts.
The qualitative component includes Key Informant Interviews (KII) and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). KIIs explore the implementation process related to the seed and fertilizer distribution and FGDs explore the benefits of the program and any challenges to participation. Key Informants to be interviewed in district of study include: MoFA Directors, PFJ Desk Officers, PPRSD Officers, NABCO Officers, AEAs, Agric Input dealers in the various districts.
Both quantitative and qualitative teams were dispatched to the field second week in March, but were called back as a result of the safety concerns related to Covid 19. As soon as the situation allows, we will resume these activities.