Bryan Acheampong
Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Bryan Acheampong, has officially handed over the Emergency Support to Rural Livelihoods and Food Systems (ESRF) infrastructure projects and food processing equipment to beneficiary communities across the country at a ceremony at Tordzinu, in the Volta Region.
This milestone marks a major step in the government’s efforts to transform Ghana’s agriculture sector into a thriving and competitive industry.
The ESRF project, jointly funded by the government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), was designed to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
The project aims to protect smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities’ livelihoods, incomes, health, and resilience.
Dr. Bryan highlighted the government’s commitment to agriculture through the launch of Phase II of the Planting for Food and Jobs campaign, which targets achieving self-sufficiency in major staple crops such as rice, maize, soybean, cassava, yam, plantain, tomato, pepper, onion, and poultry.
The ceremony saw the handover of infrastructure development interventions worth $3.2 million and food processing equipment valued at $1.7 million.
The project includes 33.5km of farm tracks constructed across various regions, 200 ha of water harvesting schemes built for smallholder farmers, 51 boreholes drilled in different regions and 47 drying platforms constructed for smallholder farmers.
In addition, 229 processing groups and individual smallholder farmers, including women and youth groups, have received over $1.72 million worth of livelihood equipment.
The equipment includes rice mills, cassava graters, soya khebab mills, pepper processing machines, and chicken processing equipment.
The minister emphasised that these interventions will improve access to market centres for farmers and boost their productivity by facilitating the smooth transportation of agricultural produce.
He commended contractors for their good work and supervising agencies for providing effective supervision.
Dr. Acheampong expressed gratitude to IFAD for their support in making these projects a reality, and called on faith-based organisations (FBOs) and individual farmers to actively use, maintain, and own these facilities to transform agriculture.
The sector minister expressed optimism about the significant impact these interventions will have on the lives of smallholder farmers and beneficiary communities.
He stressed that these projects equip them with tools for agricultural success and empower them to withstand challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
“With these milestone projects, we are committed to building a resilient and sustainable agricultural sector that propels Ghana towards prosperity,” Dr. Acheampong said.
A Daily Guide Report