The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Eric Opoku, has handed over 21 motorbikes and tablets to agricultural extension officers in the five northern regions under the Promoting Rural Opportunities, Sustainable Profits and Environmental Resilience (PROSPER) Project.
The distribution of the motorbikes forms part of government’s strategy to invest in human and institutional capacity needed to drive agricultural transformation under the Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda (AETA) and its flagship implementation framework, the Feed Ghana Programme (FGP).
Presenting the items in Tamale on Friday, Mr Opoku said the AETA sets out government’s bold vision to reposition agriculture as a key driver of economic growth, job creation and industrial development.
He explained that the Feed Ghana Programme would operationalise this vision by focusing on ensuring national food sufficiency, reducing reliance on imports, stabilising food prices and ensuring a consistent supply of raw materials for agro-industrialisation.
The Minister said the PROSPER Project was designed to reduce poverty, enhance natural resource management and promote sustainable, climate-resilient livelihoods.
He added that it also seeks to strengthen climate resilience and environmental sustainability among smallholder farmers and agribusinesses across nine regions.
The regions are Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper East, Upper West, Eastern, Bono, Bono East and Oti.
Mr Opoku said the project was expected to benefit about 420,000 people, including 100,000 direct beneficiaries, with deliberate inclusion targets of 50 per cent women, 30 per cent youth and five per cent persons with disabilities.
He noted that this aligned with the government’s commitment to inclusive growth under the Feed Ghana Programme.
He further stated that the PROSPER Project was implementing a range of interventions that support the objectives of the Feed Ghana Programme.
These include the construction of feeder roads to improve market access, provision of community infrastructure such as boreholes and storage facilities, promotion of household and backyard gardening to enhance food and nutrition security, and strengthening of Farmer-Based Organisations through training in financial literacy and climate-smart agriculture.
From Yahaya Nuhu Nadaa, Tamale
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