The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Bryan Acheampong has lauded the formation of a Savings and Loans Association under the four-year Research for Development and Innovative (Project), adding that it has significantly impacted the agriculture sector.
Over 7, 000 people have so far benefited from the initiative which seeks to expand financial assistance to smallholder farmers at a 5 per cent interest rate.
Delivering a speech on behalf of the Minister of Food and Agriculture in Accra on Tuesday, October 22, at the ReDIAL Project Close-out Workshop on the theme, “Transforming Ghana’s Agriculture through Innovation and Stakeholder Collaboration”, on behalf of the Minister of Agric, Harry Bleppony said the initiative has impacted about eleven farmers so far.
“We recognize the smallholder farmers contribute approximately 80 per cent of Ghana’s Agriculture production. The Ministry is committed to supporting them in every possible way to enhance their productivity.
”This falls in line with the Ministry’s shift to input the credit system which helps farmers to access inputs that they will need for production and pay back at zero interest.”
”ReDIAL’s effort to provide smallholder farmers with essential agriculture services coupled with the creation of Village Savings and Loans Association has made a significant impact on the agriculture sector. I have particularly taken note of the fact that 581 farmers have been impacted and cumulatively that over 11,000 farmers have benefited from this initiative,” he said.
On his part Head of Cooperation at the European Union, Massimo Mina said the Commission is committed to partnering Ghana in ensuring food security in the country.
About ReDIAL project
The Research for Development and Innovation Agriculture and Learning (ReDIAL) is a 4year project in Ghana funded by the European Union (EU) and is implemented under the EU initiative on Climate-relevant Development Smart Innovation through Research in Agriculture1 (and food systems) in developing countries – DeSIRA. The ReDIAL project is contributing to transformation and innovation in agriculture and food systems in Ghana through action research, application of innovative technologies organization of farmers and organizing multi-stakeholder platforms for policy reforms.
Specifically, the project is fostering innovation in improving soil fertility in Ghana and innovative technology to improve the threshing of Grains and Cereals. The project is also promoting climate-resilient agriculture practices. The project has a gender perspective and provides support targeted at about 10,000 farmers with 60% being women and farmers with physical disabilities.
The project is being implemented in the following five (5) specific Districts/Municipals and Regions of Ghana: Yendi Municipal of the Northern Region, Techiman Municipality of the Bono East Region, Ejura-Sekyeredumase Municipal of the Ashanti Regi, Sefwi Wiawso District of the Western North Region and Kwahu Afram Plains North District of the Eastern Region.
The ReDIAL project was implemented by a consortium of three (3) partners made up of two (2) not-for-profit organizations: Friends of the Nation (FoN) the lead, Tropenbos Ghana (TBG) and one (1) research-based university; the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources (FRNR) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The project is supported by two private companies SAYeTECH (producers of Multi-Crop Threshing technology) and SESI Technologies (producers of the FarmSense soil nutrition testing Technology).
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