Francis Ennor (Right) receiving the pickups from Reg. Min. Rockson Bukari
Government has presented some vehicles to boost the implementation of the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme in the Upper East Region.
The 13 pickup vehicles will be sent to the districts and municipalities in the region to facilitate the implementation of the agricultural programme initiated by government to boost food production and also encourage more Ghanaians to go into farming across the country.
The vehicles will somehow help to address the issue of lack of stronger means of transport in the various district and municipal offices of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to get to the hard-to-reach areas with inputs and for monitoring purposes.
At a brief handover ceremony in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Regional Director of MoFA, Francis Ennor, said the vehicles had come at the right time and commended government for fulfilling its promise in time.
He promised that the vehicles would be put to good use and be maintained so as to prolong their life span, while the departments work to boost production and sustain food security across the Upper East Region.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Rockson Ayine Bukari, who had earlier met the regional and district directors of MoFA over government’s expectation of them and also to know their challenges in the implementation of the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs’ programme, gave the assurance that government was committed to improving the agricultural sector, expecting the directors to also work harder to protect the gains that would be made in the sector as a result of the programme.
According to the regional minister, the 13 vehicles are part of a total of 216 vehicles to be distributed to all metropolitan, municipal and district offices of MoFA.
The president of the Conference of District Directors of Agriculture, Saibu Mahama, reminded government on the need to hasten the distribution of motorbikes to the field officers in the various districts and municipalities to encourage frequent-farmer visitations and to help in early detection of agriculture-related problems.
This year, a total of 16,796 farmers from all over the Upper East Region have been registered and have received inputs to help them in cultivating crops including, rice, sorghum, wheat, maize, tomatoes and onion.
FROM: EBO BRUCE-QUANSAH, Bolgatanga