From the scorching sun that beats them relentlessly, to the unpredictable rains that either come too little or too much, smallholder farmers in northern Ghana battle with diverse challenges every day in their persistent efforts to grow some of the country's essential crops.
To add insult to injury, this ageing population is being left behind in various social protection schemes introduced by the government due to their low level of awareness about these significant safety nets.
This defeats the schemes' purpose of protecting vulnerable groups from poverty and ensuring they have access to basic needs including healthcare, education and other forms of support in times of crisis.
Ghana's social protection policy
Ghana's National Social Protection Policy developed by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in 2015 defines social protection as "a range of actions carried out by the state and other parties in response to vulnerability and poverty, which seek to guarantee relief for those sections of the population who for any reason are not able to provide for themselves".
It provides a framework for delivering social protection in an effective and properly targeted manner with a vision to build an all-inclusive and socially empowered society.
Anchored on the principle that every Ghanaian matters and is capable of contributing to national development, the policy conveys Ghana's aspiration to close the inequality gap and ensure total inclusion for all Ghanaians.
Some of the social protection schemes under the policy are the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW), the School Feeding Programme (SFP), the National Health Insurance (NHIS) Exemptions and the Basic Education Capitation Grants.
Study in Northern Ghana
Yet, a "Research on existing social protection schemes in the Upper West; Upper East, Savannah and Northern Regions of Ghana", conducted by ActionAid Ghana, Tree Aid and URBANET, shows that despite efforts by the government to realise the visions of social protection , there is a yawning gap between the policy and its people.
Conducted in March last year, under the Northern Ghana Integrated Development Project (NGIDP) funded by the European Union, the research revealed that 11 per cent of the 1,482 farmers (respondents) had some disabilities either in sight or motion with many of them having challenges accessing the disability fund.
Awareness and access to existing social protection services was low as only 18 per cent of the farmers were aware of the local government ministry led LIPWs programme, 12 per cent knew of Ghana Agriculture Insurance Programme (GAIP) and 15 per cent had heard of national pension schemes.
Due to the low awareness only two per cent of the farmers were accessing national pension schemes; two per cent the GAIP and nine per cent, LIPWS.
The research also found out that the specific social protection interventions targeted at the vulnerable population were not well publicised.
Only four per cent of the farmers were aware of the Disaster Fund of the District Assembly, 15 per cent of the NEIP and 18 per cent of the Youth Enterprises Fund (YEF).
"The implication of this is that either these funds are not being utilised or misapplied," the research report said.
That is not all. Under the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJs) only three per cent of the farmers were able to access the existing warehouses, 28 per cent the certified seeds and six per cent market opportunities under the programme.
It also became evident from the research that 76 per cent of the farmers did not receive any form of relief following a disaster (drought and bushfires) that affected their farming activities.
The state response to COVID-19, was however, commendable given that 78 per cent of the farmers reported having access to personal protective equipment.
Farmers' concerns
The respondents comprised 1,181 small holder farmers; leaders of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Farmer Networks, members of youth movements and young farmers, including persons with disabilities; staff of the Department of Agriculture and the National Disaster Management Organisation.
They were drawn from the NGIDP implementation districts including Nanumba South, Kpandai, Mion, Zabzugu, Tatale/ Sanguli and Gushegu of the Northern Region; Kassena- Nankana, Builsa South, Bawku West, and Nabdam of Upper East; Sissala East , Lambussie , Lawra , Wa East of Upper West, and Central Gonja of Savannah.
The underlying reasons for the lack of knowledge included gender discrimination and political considerations while the lack of access was attributed to excessive documentation, long distance to scheme offices and poor delivery of the schemes, barred some farmers.
"Our assembly man is not fair to our community in terms of sharing information. He hardly informs us of the important schemes that we the women farmers can benefit from," according to a respondent.
Another alleged that "Because our group leaders have no hands in the selection of the beneficiaries for the social protection schemes, they select party members which is not fair."
Government's assurance
When the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, delivered the 2023 budget, he assured citizens of the government's commitment in implementing social protection programmes despite the economic hardships.
He said the government would expand the existing programmes to shield the vulnerable against the adverse effects of the crisis and that for instance, the LEAP programme would cover all 2.5 million individuals deemed extremely poor by the Ghana Living Standards Survey by 2024. The LEAP grant's value was expected to increase to GH¢95.19 bi-monthly.
Additionally, in various discussions on the $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) support for Ghana, Mr Ofori-Atta, the Bank of Ghana and the IMF Ghana team gave assurance that the deal would improve, rather than affect social protection.
But with many farmers in the four regions in the north of Ghana left in the dark, how will the assurances reflect in the lives of the underprivileged?
Proposals
The research team made some valid recommendations which I concur with. There is the need for more advocacy for farmers with disabilities to enable them get adequate support; awareness creation on existing schemes should be intensified, and access to seed, ware housing and markets for farmers should be improved.
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The vulnerability of farmers due to drought and bush fires should be of importance to stakeholders in addition to mobilising local resources to provide post-disaster support to farmers.
Commenting on the issue at a recent training on decent work principles and social protection schemes, organised by ActionAid for journalists in Accra, Dr Eliasu Mumuni, a senior lecturer at the University for Development Studies, described as inadequate the support system for the informal sector with a call for improvement.
He encouraged the media to advocate for improvements such as input support, land access, and market access, as well as contributions to pension schemes, stressing on the need for the government to create a safe working for all.
Nutshell
In a nutshell, the lack of awareness of social protection schemes among farmers in northern part of Ghana is a major obstacle that needs to be removed. The government must take effective measures to educate and sensitise the farmers about their rights and benefits.
Sustainable Development Goals, including Goal 1 - No Poverty, Goal 2 - Zero Hunger, and Goal 10 - Reduced Inequalities are directly related to this issue, and achieving these goals is impossible without proper awareness and participation from the farmers.
If the quote "Knowledge is power" is anything to go by , then providing farmers with the knowledge they need to participate in social protection programmes will empower them and contribute to the country's overall socio-economic growth.
