By: Dennis Bebane
The European Union-Ghana has presented 57 motorbikes worth more than 800,000 Ghana Cedis to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture under the Agriculture Programme (EU-GAP) to help in delivering agricultural extension services in Northern Ghana.
The motorbikes were handed over to 14 District Departments of Agriculture – including all the 11 Districts of the Upper West Region, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba and North Gonja in the Savannah Region, and Mamprugu Moagduri in the North-East Region and to the Babile Agricultural Research Station.
Head of the Infrastructure and Sustainable Development, EU Delegation to Ghana, Mrs. Paulina Rozycka, who made the presentation in Wa, said agricultural extension services provide vital education and information to farmers on environmentally sustainable and climate-adapted agricultural technologies and practices.
She observed that efficient and decentralized provision of extension delivery services contributes to the improvement of farm yields and the generation of more income for the farmers.
Agricultural Extension agents and field officers play a key role in ensuring that new knowledge and appropriate market information reach farmers. These agents need reliable transport to travel to remote areas to carry out their duties.
The motorbikes, which were handed over by the European Union to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, will enable the extension agents to provide quality services to the farmers, no matter how far away their farms are.
Head of the Infrastructure and Sustainable Development, EU Delegation to Ghana, Mrs. Paulina Rozycka, said supporting Ghana’s extension delivery service has practical implications on poverty reduction, on improving food security and social and economic development.
She said the support is to reaffirm the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) common goal to promote sustainable agricultural wealth creation in Ghana.
“On one hand, the motorbikes donated to the agriculture extension agents will help reaching out to more farmers and disseminate timely best agricultural practices, including important knowledge on how to adapt to climate change.
Agriculture financing is also an integral aspect of sector development.
It is addressed under the EU-GAP via different means, including on-going agro inputs funds and matching grants to aggregators and farmers, and a newly launched line of credit via a local microfinance institution” Mrs. Paulina Rozycka stated.
He said due to the bird flu outbreak in Ghana last year, MoFA has made a strong case at the cabinet level for support to recruit veterinary service support staff to help livestock farmers.
Mr Hardi Tufeiru said government has since approved for MoFA to engage 1100 veterinary service workers and so far, 550 people have been employed and the process is ongoing to engage the remaining. He was optimistic that by next year, all 1100 will be brought on board. He commended EU-GAP for the support.
EU-GAP comprises of three pillars: Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH), Market Oriented Agriculture Programme in North-West Ghana (MOAP-NW) and Productive Investment Programmes (PIP) in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zone.
The procurement of the motorbikes was done through the REACH component, which is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by (GIZ) in collaboration with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
