BOLGA MEAT FACTORY IN NEED OF MORE FUNDS (BACK PAGE, NOV 6)

THE Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in the Upper East Region is soliciting the support of Parliament to ensure that the government makes resources available to resuscitate the Bolgatanga Meat Factory.
According to the acting Regional Director of MoFA, Alhaji Abdul Rahman Ziblim Salifu, with the injection of a little capital, the factory, which has been closed down for some years now, would be in a position to produce quality dairy products.
He recalled the days when the factory produced the famous “Volta Beef“ and said in its present state, it could produce high-class products comparable to similar products from other countries.
Alhaji Salifu made the appeal when he briefed the Parliamentary Select Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs on the performance of the ministry in the region.
The committee, led by its Chairman, Dr Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu, was on a working visit to the region.
He told members of the committee that agro-based raw materials in the northern sector of the country and the Upper East Region in particular had the potential to bring about food self-sufficiency if farmers applied science and technology to agriculture.
On livestock, the acting director said the production of indigenous chicken, especially guinea fowl, could be enhanced with the provision of small-scale incubators to replace natural brooding and the cold chain system that could boost processing and transportation to southern markets.
Touching on the performance of the fisheries sector in the region, Alhaji Salifu said rehabilitated dams and fish ponds at Tono and Vea could be used for technologies on integrated aquaculture such as cage culture.
He said from 91.16 tonnes in 2006, catches rose to 378.44 tonnes in 2008, adding that with the injection of resources and other logistics, there would be a great potential for aqua-culture.
Dr Yakubu commended the Regional Directorate of MoFA for working hard to reduce the hunger cycle in the region.
“This is a region that had a hunger cycle of three years but due to hard work by MoFA and its partners, it was reduced to five years and now it is almost non-existent,” he said, and urged the staff not to relent in their efforts.