Village Aid finding ways to support farmers and vulnerable

Tamale, Oct. 10, GNA - Village Aid Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) operating in Tamale on Thursday commenced a month-long workshop aimed at finding ways to effectively support rural farmers and the vulnerable in society to enhance their living conditions.

The workshop would among other things discuss possible measures to give extension assistance to Agricultural Extension Officers to enhance their knowledge and measures to reduce illiteracy in the rural areas and train their members to in turn train others at the district level.

About 45 participants drawn from Village Aid Research Teams and Project Staff of the 13 districts of the Northern Region and personnel of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture are attending the workshop. Mr Siat Kanturib, Deputy Country Director of Village Aid, said the main purpose of the workshop was to give adequate training to field workers to equip them with knowledge on how to assist the people.

He said at the end of the workshop some of the issues affecting the NGO and the people would be put at their proper place and implemented to ensure that Village Aid achieved its objectives.

Mr Ibrahim Adam, Tamale based Legal Practitioner, said the poverty situation in the three Northern Regions was so appalling that seasonal farming alone could not sustain the people unless there was an injection of immense assistance.

He advised other NGOs to focus their attention towards poverty reduction.