IFAD Loans Ghana 11.5 Million Dollars

ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana and the International Fund for Agricultural Development have signed a 11.5-million-US-dollar loan agreement to support 34,400 people in the Upper East Region.

The loan will be used to fund the "Upper Region Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation Project."

The agreement was signed by Ghana's food and agriculture minister, Joseph Henry Owusu-Acheampong, and the IFAD president, Fawzi al-Sultan.

A statement from the fund in Rome Thursday said the aim of the five-year project is to strengthen formal and informal community organisations, especially women's groups, as institutions through which technical and other support services could be provided.

The project aims to further develop the potential for irrigated agriculture through the rehabilitation and construction of dams and wells, and also lend support to income-generating activities and improve infrastructure.

IFAD has since 1980 supported eight development programmes and projects in Ghana, providing a total amount of 91 million dollars in the form of loans and grants.

It has also initiated 184 million dollar programmes and projects, including the on-going Village Infrastructure Project and the Root and Tuber Improvement Programme.

IFAD's mandate is to combat hunger and poverty by helping the rural poor in the poorest regions of the world.