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The state is yet to recover about $90 million from farmers as payment of tractors given to them on credit from 1998 to date, abusing a scheme instituted by government to provide equipment on hire purchase for farming. Failure of farmers to pay for the credit facilities has deprived many others from benefitting from the system. Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister for Food and Agriculture, disclosed this at the ongoing public hearings by the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament (PAC) following revelations that loans given to farmers throughout the country had not been paid. According to the minister, the poor state of loan recovery had occurred partly because Presidents, Members of Parliament and other high profile public officials stood in for farmers to collect tractors and yet when it came to payment, these powerful state officials were not always available to assist in the loan recovery. �It is about time we took a hard look at agricultural financing in the country,� Mr. Ahwoi suggested, pointing out that �anytime government gives loans to people, such loans are erroneously taken us gifts for voting us into power.� The minister, together with his directors, appeared before the PAC during the consideration of the report of the Auditor-General on the accounts of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for the years ended 2007, 2008 and 2009. Government, the minister bemoaned, had to be saddled with granting loans to farmers because banks were not prepared to grant credit facilities to the agriculture sector due to the risks involved. �We may have to move the Ministry of Food and Agriculture from the whole agric financing and put the system that is workable in place,� he hinted. The Auditor-General�s report on Food and Agriculture revealed more poor loan recovery, financial indiscipline and acts of malfeasance such as payment of unearned salaries to workers. For instance, it was disclosed that farmers� loans totalling GH�773,622 had not been recovered in the Brong Ahafo region alone. According to the Auditor-General�s report, during the 2005 minor farming season, the Brong Ahafo Regional Agricultural Directorate granted loans totalling GH�756,000 to farmers in the 13 districts of the region. Beneficiaries, the report indicated, were expected to repay the loans within six months after the farming season and the amounts recovered to be loaned back to other potential farmers. Again, out of a total credit facility of GH�163,600 granted to 1,792 farmers during the 2005 minor and 2006 major seasons by the Municipal Agricultural Directorate of the region, which were expected to be repaid within six months, only a meagre sum of GH�10,319 was recovered as of March 2008. Answering queries, management attributed the poor loan recovery rate to poor rainfall, which resulted in low yields. However, Mr. Ahwoi has served notice that all necessary means, including legal action, would be taken to retrieve the loans. But the Asante Akim North District Agricultural Development Unit, Konongo in the Ashanti region, hit a snag when it attempted to recover a loan of GH�110,100 it granted to farmers between 2005 and 2007. According to management, it started court action with five defaulters but was unable to pay court charges since the District Court was not willing to render the service for payment later.