Civil Society Organizations in the Upper East Region have called on the government to name and shame persons caught smuggling fertilizer meant for government’s 'Planting for Food and Jobs' (PJF) program.

Government, in order to boost food production, introduced the policy to support Ghanaian farmers with subsidized fertilizer and seeds.

However, due to the proximity of the Upper East Region to Togo and Burkina Faso, some individuals are smuggling the fertilizer out of the country, denying Ghanaian farmers the opportunity to get the fertilizer for their farms.

It is against this backdrop that the CSOs called on the government to name and shame these perpetrators.

Mr Mark Kebo Akparibo, a member of the CSOs who read a communiqué on behalf of the group during a Regional stakeholders’ dialogue on PFJ, appealed to government to continue distributing confiscated smuggled fertilizer to the poor and vulnerable groups.

He urged government to motivate informants and security personnel at various check-points to arrest and prosecute persons engaged in smuggling of farm inputs.