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The Community Development Alliance (CDA-Ghana) has called on government to conduct a thorough audit into the subsidized fertilizer programme introduced in 2017 because it is fraught with widespread irregularities and corruption.

The local non-governmental organisation operating in the Upper West Region said it has uncovered mass fraud and smuggling of the fertiliser meant for local farmers after a baseline study was conducted in Sissala West and Lambussie districts during last year’s farming season.

Mr Salifu Issifu Kanton, CDA-Ghana Executive Director, told journalists during a breakfast meeting in Wa, that government subsidized fertilizer programme was good but there were serious challenges with its implementation, hence the need for a review.

He said the programme was not new in the country but its implementation has not yielded the desired impact on productivity and income of smallholder farmers.

“Unfortunately, many Ghanaians are not seeing the impact of the current programme, it’s not to say the policy is not good, we are not opposed the policy, however, we think we must encourage all to think through to see how to make it effective,” he said.

“Greedy people are stealing it and it’s in the government own interest the policy is audited” he added: “The way we are implementing it now is unsustainable”.