The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has asked the Ministry of Finance to reverse Ghana’s withdrawal from the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP), warning that the decision has placed GHS643.87 million in existing contractual commitments at risk.
In a letter to the Finance Minister, MoFA said the Finance Ministry’s September 23 request to the World Bank to withdraw from the programme was made without prior consultation with the Agriculture Ministry.
“The Ministry requests urgent reconsideration of the decision,” the letter signed by Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku said.
MoFA said GHS643,867,633.36 in obligations had already been incurred under the FSRP for ongoing agricultural infrastructure works.
Of that amount, GHS520.26 million relates to the International Development Association (IDA) credit, while GHS123.61 million relates to the FS2030 Trust Fund.
The ministry warned that withdrawing from the programme without an alternative financing arrangement could force the government to meet the obligations from other resources, potentially resulting in delays, additional costs or contractual claims.
It said critical irrigation rehabilitation works at Weta, Vea, Kpong and selected inland valleys could be affected.
The development follows a September 24 directive from the World Bank ordering an immediate pause on activities and procurement financed under the IDA credit and Recipient-Executed Trust Funds.
The World Bank also directed the suspension of tomato seed and micro-irrigation activities under a Norwegian grant.
Several activities under the FS2030 Trust Fund were also halted, including recruitment for the Feed Ghana Brigade, a Network Operations Centre adviser and a data analyst, as well as further digitisation, farmer registration and support to the Feed Ghana Secretariat.
MoFA said the stoppages could disrupt implementation of the government’s Feed Ghana programme and delay systems required to register farmers, target interventions and monitor delivery.
It also warned that the suspension of tomato seed and micro-irrigation support could affect production because delays could cause farmers to miss seasonal planting windows.
“The pause under the IDA credit and Recipient-Executed Trust Funds affects the Ministry’s ability to progress contracted works and planned procurement,” MoFA said.
The ministry is asking Finance to formally retract its withdrawal notice to the World Bank and seek written clearance for the resumption of the affected activities.
It has also called for the two ministries to urgently reconcile contractual commitments, payments due, and affected activities before engaging the World Bank on an arrangement to protect ongoing works.
MoFA further urged that funding for the Pwalugu project be pursued through an arrangement that does not jeopardise Ghana’s existing FSRP commitments or other affected agricultural interventions.
