Upper East Regional Agricultural Investment Coordination Unit launched
The Upper East Regional Agricultural Investment Coordination Unit (RAICU), an initiative designed to enhance agricultural investment and development, has been launched.
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The main purpose of establishing the RAICU is to have a common platform that will support the equitable distribution of agricultural interventions in all the municipal and district assemblies (MDAs) in the region.
It has a 17-membership with representatives from all key stakeholders, including staff of the Department of Agriculture, Peasant Farmers Association (PFAG), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and input dealers, among others.
It is being supported by the Feed the Future (FTF) Ghana Policy LINK Activity, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Uncoordinated landscape
Speaking at the event in Bolgatanga, the Country Lead, Policy Link, Yunus Abdulai, said the agricultural policy landscape was not well-coordinated, leading to the duplication of projects in communities.
He stated that whereas there was a saturation of agricultural projects in some locations, other districts and communities were disadvantaged due to a lack of coordination among stakeholders.
He said stakeholders engaged at the national and sub-national levels admitted to a lack of proper coordination in their activities, leading to skewed agricultural interventions in communities.
He stated that RAICU was birthed based on lessons learnt in the implementation of earlier agricultural interventions, saying “This is an opportunity for the region to properly coordinate all agricultural projects to reap its full benefits.”
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He assured stakeholders that Policy LINK would provide support in various ways to make sure that the unit achieved the objectives for which it was established and further urged the members of the unit to work hard to sustain their operations.
Duplication of interventions
The acting Upper East Regional Director, of the Department of Food and Agriculture, Osman Lantana, said in the absence of the unit, there was the likelihood of duplication of interventions by NGOs and development partners in certain parts of the region.
She mentioned that the whole idea was to get a common platform with a database of all agricultural-related activities in the region, stressing that “doing so, will make it easier for organisations to know where to roll out their intervention to avoid duplication.”
She indicated that the unit would reach out to organisations with interest in their activities so that when Policy LINK Activity winds up, they would be able to get the needed support for the unit’s activities.
Improved seeds
The Chief Director of the Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, Alhaji Abubakari Inusah, urged agricultural research institutions to come up with varieties of improved seeds to shore up agricultural production.
He explained that the region was blessed with the Vea, Tono and Tamne dams, coupled with vast and fertile agricultural lands and called on farmers to take advantage of such resources to increase food production to feed the country’s population.
While cautioning the members not to treat the RAICU as business as usual, he charged the leadership of the RAICU to bring their expertise together to achieve the desired results.
Writer’s email: gilbert.agbey@graphic.com.gh.