By Napoleon Ato Kittoe
In 2012 Mamprugu Moagduri district was carved out of Mamprusi West, with Yagaba as the district capital. The region in which the above-mentioned places are is also a new region made possible by a 2017 referendum.
The North East region is generally perceived to be underserved hence this separate recognition for positively skewed attention. Natives of the area are counting their blessings one by one as they compare now with then. The picture of the past was a desolation. The picture of the present is one of more hope as it opens up for increased human habitation. The changes are due to the measured interest in the sheer economic potentials of the area.
The nectar of Yagaba and its surroundings is agricultural. A nice landscape, good soil, natural valleys and above all a people who want to work to better their lives. The politicians having re-demarcated the area for effective functioning, private sector players tip-toed to the area to satisfy their curiosity. Non-governmental organisations were in the majority and are still Yagaba area looking for prospects there, on purely humanitarian basis. The timing of International Organizations also had context. For Instance, the 2018 advent of a juggernaut like the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in the place looked conscious, conscientious corollary.
IFAD which has rural people around the world as its focus and committed to their upliftment by throwing its weight behind their basic chores, targeted the Mamprugu Moagduri district for obvious reasons. Maybe the help which is scattered all over Ghana was to complement the Planting for Food and Jobs agenda of the host government which had shown a clear direction in ways of alleviating the plight of the poor. This is not to say that living in rural community is tantamount to poverty. IFAD then created the Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (GASIP), the special purpose vehicle to tackle the rural problem. It is to lubricate agricultural operations and position poor rural farmers to dream the unthinkable and nurse the hope of becoming commercial farmers one-day.
A high-powered IFAD-GASIP team led by its Country-Director Mr Hani Elsadani has been criss crossing the hinterlands; one of which was Yagaba. Here, the officials had face to face interaction with local farmers. Then came the question whether their interventions had made some difference in the lives of farmers. They said yes. Among provisions made by
GASIP are tractor services fertilizers and improved seeds. Mechanization has eliminated manpower agriculture whilst better agronomic practices have granted beneficiary farmers the chance to respond to climatic change.
Though direct interventions by government itself played a yeoman’s role; it can be delineated from the anchor provided by GASIP since the attends the entire value chain mechanism of smallholder farmers. In the vast rice fields within the catchment area farmers were deemed to have made decent harvests but had issues with sales. A sign that sponsors have to intensify their actions. The paradox of plenty is low prices so the farmers sometimes store excess produce to take advantage of the future sellers market. Bumper harvests are the expected results as production cost has reduced by more than fifty percent on the back of GASIP.
District Chief Executive of Mamprugu Moagduri Hon. Abu Adam said, the Yagaba area whose legislator is current Youth and Sports Minister, Hon Mustapha Ussif, is a veritable food basket capable of supplying the whole nation. He commended the GASIP roll out as helping farmers to make profits for savings. He said government is also doing its part to open up the place.
On the IFAD-GASIP delegation were Alisia Sansoni; IFAD Programme Officer, and a quartet IFAD consultants Messrs Yaw Brantuo;; Peter Akari,, Fuaeini Abu and Shakib Mbabaali.