Eric Opoku, the Minister for Food and Agriculture, has attributed the failure of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme — introduced by the previous administration — to poor leadership and weak implementation structures.
The PFJ initiative was launched in 2017 under the erstwhile Akufo-Addo administration, with the goal of boosting the production of selected food crops and promoting agriculture as a profitable business venture.
On Saturday, April 12, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama launched the Feed Ghana Programme, a new flagship initiative with similar goals to PFJ but with renewed strategies to drive food production, reduce imports, and ensure long-term food sufficiency.
“You know that when you have an agenda and you come to your strategies, one of your responsibility is to rally people behind the strategy to make it happen at all course.
“But if you start giving out the right instruction and you monitor every stage of the implementation, the status quo will change. Otherwise, you end up sacking everybody and bringing in new people. But it is all about leadership.
“When you come to the ministry, you will see for yourself. Some of the people are willing to work but the leadership must be there to ensure that we get the best out of them,” he stated.