Youth Engaged In SADA Zone To Plant Five Million Seedlings(8th July 2012)

by Musa Jafaru & Benjamin Glover More than 5000 youth in the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) Ecological Zone of Ghana have been engaged to plant five million seedlings of assorted trees within the SADA zone. The programme forms part of SADA’s Reforestation and Restoration Initiative aimed at empowering the populace in the zone to contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the communities and eventually reduce the level of poverty in the area. The project is a collaborative effort between SADA, and ACI Construction Company, a subsidiary of the AGAMS Group of Companies. It will be operated as a Public-Private Partnership over a five-year period. Launching the project at Vea in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region Friday, the Vice President, Mr. John Mahama said within the short span of when SADA’s Board was sworn in and the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer, SADA had been involved in rolling out a number of programmes which were being implemented to bridge the development gap between the north and the southern parts of Ghana. He said the SADA Act enjoined the carrying out of two critical things, the putting in place of a long term vision and blue print for the Savannah Zone. “The Board and Management have not only done that but gone beyond and produce a five year business plan which is currently in implementation”, he said. According to the Vice President, an investment fund had also been set up for SADA to which the government has provided GH¢ 200 million as seed money for SADA. He said a number of projects had already been started for the people to begin to see the impact of the programme. Last year, he said, 6,000 farmers benefited from the agriculture inputs programmes embarked on by SADA. The farmers, he indicated, where given fertilisers, improved seeds, extension services to produce rice, maize soya beans and some cases mangoes. Mr Mahama said those farmers were required to pay for the inputs only after harvesting. ‘It was very successful and led to an increase in production and a rise incomes for these families” he said adding that following the success of the programmes, SADA scaled up the programme and increased the beneficiaries to 10,000. The Vice President said almost 30,000 bags of fertilisers had been distributed under the programme while tractor services had been added to provide free ploughing services to farmers. The Vice President said, aside this, SADA has a facilitating role for the private sector and as such so many private sector companies have contacted SADA to add value to products from the north. He disclosed that between July and August this year, two new processing plants were to to commissioned at Nyankpala and at the old GIHOC Vegetable Mills to process rice and produced groundnut oil for the local market and for export. Mr Mahama annoounced that steps were being taken to bring on board the Nasia Rice Mills and also improve the Cotton Production in the north all with the aimed of improving lives of the people. Mr. Paul Victor Obeng, the Chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), said there existed potential in the SADA ecological zone which must be unlocked to benefit the people . He said it was as a result of that that the government was committed to the implementation of the SADA programmes. The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Mark Woyongo urged the youth from the northern ecological zone who migrate to the south in search of non-existent jobs to take advantage and be part of the initiative. The Chief Executive of SADA, Alhaji Gilbert Iddi, said persons who had always harboured skepticism about the ability of SADA to deliver could now find themselves on the wrong side. : http://graphic.com.gh/news/page.php?news=22181&title=Youth Engaged In SADA Zone To Plant Five Million Seedlings