Over 800 farmers in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region have received farm inputs and implements from a social intervention vehicle championed by Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama, son of former Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama.
The program, dubbed, Partnership for Poverty Reduction, (PPR) is a social intervention project aimed at helping to assist the people of Yendi and its environs.
The items worth over GHS 150,000 including 600 bags of fertilizer, 1,200 bottles of weedicides, 580 cutlasses, 340 wellington boots, 100 Knapsacks and 300 anti-snake venoms have been distributed to the farmers.
The initiative is aimed at supporting farmers to increase production in the agricultural sector in order to eradicate poverty in the area.
The donation according to the coordinator for PPR, Kamel Mahama, is in line with the vision of the former Vice President Aliu Mahama on assisting people.
He says the aim is to make Yendi municipality the food basket of the country.
“We are continuing with the vision of the Former Vice President of helping people and our target is to make Yendi enclave the food basket of the country. Alhaji Farouk has a larger vision to modernize agriculture aimed at increasing the yields of farmers ’’ he stated.
PPR is also to set up an agriculture mechanized service centre to serve as one-stop shop for all farmers agricultural needs.
Alhaji Farouk Aliu Mahama, the founder of the Partnership for Poverty Reduction (PPR) though has a political ambition of contesting the parliamentary seat for Yendi, says this is just to continue with the philanthropic works of his late father in helping people to unlock their potentials.
“I am a politician, no doubt about that. My father was a philanthropist and everyone knows it. I am continuing with the good works of my father in assisting people to unlock their potentials. My father was a farmer, I feel that my people should get the support that they need to let us have a bumper harvest.”
“To fight poverty, you must ensure that you provide the people with the requisite materials. Obviously the future is bright but this is not done for purposes of scoring political points but to send signals to the people of Yendi that with good leadership and with people of good intent the vision of making Yendi the food basket of Ghana will come into fruition,’’Alhaji Farouk added.
The Municipal Chief Executive for Yendi admonished the beneficiary farmers to take advantage of the initiative to increase their productivity.
Some of the elated beneficiary farmers told Citi News how the donation will help them.
“We are happy that we are getting this support. It has come at the right time and our yields will increase. We want to assure Alhaji Farouk that his good vision will surely be realized. We want to tell him we are solidly behind him and will offer him our support to achieve his dreams.”
The PPR is a social intervention initiative hinged on three strategic areas namely; education, agriculture and women empowerment.