President authorizes release of $25m to SADA
President John Atta Mills has authorized the Ministry of Finance to release 25 million dollars to the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA)to roll out its development plans, Madam Hannah Tetteh, Minister of Trade and Industry, has said.
One of such programmes is the three million Ghana cedi post-food recovery programme to rehabilitate 6,000 households who lost crops and properties during the recent northern Ghana floods.
Madam Tetteh who was addressing the national launch of SADA post-flood rehabilitation support programme at Nandom-Kogle on Friday said Ghana’s development partners have also pledged 100 million dollars to bankroll the activities of the Authority.
The farmer-support programme is part of a comprehensive package approved by the SADA Board to provide fertilizers and improved seeds to farmers who lost all or part of their livelihoods during the floods last year.
A housing rehabilitation programme is expected to be designed and implemented through collaboration between the National Board for Small Scale Industries, the Department of Rural Housing and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Madam Tetteh said out of 6,000 families who lost crops and livelihoods during the floods, 2,500 families in the Northern Region, 1,200 in the Upper East and 500 each in Upper West, northern Brong Ahafo and northern Volta Regions would benefit from the package.
Basic support package include a fertilizer allocation to help farmers cultivate at least two acres per family plus improved maize seeds for cropping this farming season.
Madam Tetteh said SADA through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture would provide extension services as well as training for the farmers to undertake their farming in a manner that would ensure reasonable yields.
The National Disaster Management Organisation and the Regional Economic Planning Unit would monitor the implementation to ensure that farmers relocate to higher grounds to avoid flood rated disasters.
The Trade Minister called on Northerners to give the girl-child and women equal opportunities and rights to develop their talents, saying any denial would forestall development.
She reminded the people that development “wears national colours and not political colours” and called for collective participation in SADA to make the north an attractive place for investors.
She also called for proper time management in all activities that the people do to help achieve maximum results.
Dr K.K. Kamaludeen, Country Director of UNDP, in a statement noted that SADA would be meaningless to the people if it fails to help change the lives and circumstances of the vulnerable.
He said the Northern Savanna Zone remained the priority area for support to complement government’s effort to achieve the objectives and goals of SADA.
Source: GNA