8,894 Nadowli-Kaleo farmers receive inputs, training under PFJ

A total of 8,894 farmers in the Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region have benefitted from interventions under the 2020 edition of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme in the area.

The figure consists of 6,612 males and 2,282 females, who were captured at input sales point and other aspects of the interventions.

The District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Area, Ms Katherine Lankono, announced this during the second ordinary general assembly meeting held at Nadowli over the weekend.

The meeting also discussed the assembly’s 2021 composite budget for approval by the members.

She expressed joy that the PFJ, since its inception, had attracted a lot of youth into agriculture business as it had ensured substantive boost in the income of the farmers.

Ms Lankono said the district also received and distributed 95,720 bags of NPK fertiliser as well as 16,200 bags of Urea fertiliser to respective farmers under the PFJ to enable them to supply their crops with the required nutrients for growth.

“Forty farmers, comprising 26 males and 14 females, were selected for the “Rearing for Food and Jobs” programme, whereas 78,420 seedlings were distributed under the “Planting for Export and Rural Development” policy to be planted on 1,960.5 acres of land,” she said.

The DCE stated that the interventions by the government were aimed at expanding the food basket of the district and the region as a whole and also present agriculture as a business as well as a source of livelihood to the youth.

She said to sustain the gains of the farmers in agriculture, the government was quick to respond to the invasion of the Fall Army Worm on some 807 acres of maize farm in the district in the early days of the 2020 planting season, through the provision of chemicals, which were distributed to the farmers at no cost to help them combat the worms.

The DCE used the opportunity to underscore the significant role being played by the respective farmers in the socio-economic development of the region and encouraged them to work harder to sustain the gains.

Touching on the revenue mobilisation in the district, Ms Lankono decried the inability of the assembly to mobilise enough revenue under the Internally-Generated Fund for development and called on collectors to devise innovative ways to collect the revenue.

The Budget Analyst Officer for the district, Ms Rose Maaliwombu, hinted that the assembly had projected to generate a total of GH¢201,622.03 as IGF for 2021.

She stated that the revenue would be mobilised from basic rates, investment, fines, rent, fees, lands and licences, adding that the assembly had plans to work on its revenue mobilisation strategies to ensure that adequate funds were realised in order to cater for the increasing needs of the area.

The Budget Analyst Officer hinted that the assembly was seeking to spend about GH¢573,000 of it Internally-Generated Funds (IGF) on social intervention programmes and promotion of child rights issues as well as curbing domestic violence and human trafficking.

Ms Maaliwombu called on stakeholders within the district to assist the assembly in its revenue mobilisation efforts.