Farmers trained to improve livestock production in Upper East

The Project to support Livestock Mobility for Better Access to Resources and Markets in West Africa (PAMOBARMA) has trained farmers and stakeholders in the Bawku West District in the Upper East Region to improve on the quality of livestock production in the area.

Livestock production had become one of the main sources of livelihoods for a growing number of rural African communities, including the southern areas of the Sahara or the Northern Regions of the coastal countries.

Most of these communities are unable to produce the needed livestock due to some economic and institutional challenges.

The training was not only to help in the production of quality livestock for consumption and improvement in livelihoods, but to further ensure food and water security, and curb environmental degradation and its associated problems.

The four-year project is being implemented in eight West African countries, in collaboration with the Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), with funding support from the European Union and the French Development Organization. Mr Osman Abdul Rahman, the Executive Director of the GDCA, who addressed stakeholders at the workshop, said the project would facilitate and ensure free movement of livestock and easy access to production resources in Ghana.

He said the project seeks to provide employment and income for about 80 million people in the beneficiary countries.

Naba Abodbundi Ayagiba, the Divisional Chief of Sapeliga in the Bawku West District, expressed gratitude to PAMOBARMA and its sponsors for the training and added that it would greatly increase livestock production in the area and lead to improvements in the standard of living of the people.

He said the training would further enable them to co-exist peacefully with Fulani herdsmen in the area.

Dr Phillip Fuseini Akutam, Deputy Director of Veterinary Services in the District, said the project objective is to protect mobility of livestock and encourage stakeholders to venture into livestock production as a business and contribute to food security.

Dr Akutam said the project was not limited to only Ghana, saying that, the veterinary in Ghana was collaborating with other countries including Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal among others, to map out measures that would help improve on livestock growth in the sub-region.

He called on the participants to actively support the implementation of the project to create employment and generate revenue for the development of the participating countries.