Ndaana Ghana Limited to help boost agriculture in northern Ghana

Ndaana Ghana Limited is to help boost agriculture in northern Ghana through the Food Security and Environment Facility (FSEF) project under the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA.

The project which spans three years with a financing figure of Ghc752,000 will focus on soil and water conservation integrated with crop and livestock production for rural women in Zang, Tibane, Zanguosi and Zanbogu all in the Nadowli /Kaleo District of the Upper West Region which falls in the priority areas of the Northern Savannah Accelerated Development Initiative (NSDI).

At a meeting with officials of the Nadowli District Assembly on Tuesday, the 28th of January 2014 to discuss the implementation of the project, Chief Executive officer of Ndaana Ghana Limited, Mr. Gregory Lankono Mornah, opined that the project was approved in May 2013 and that work could not commence immediately as it was rainy season at the time.

According to him, the flagship component of the project is the rehabilitation of the existing community Dam in Zang with the development of an irrigation scheme around the Dam subsequently.

The meeting, Mr. Lankono Mornah explained, was to officially inform the District Assembly of the company’s presence and activities in the District and to invite the Assembly to monitor the project through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

He noted that the collaboration between the District Assembly and the Company started even before the proposal for the project was written, explaining that there had been several meetings with the District Co-ordinating Director, pointing out that a critical requirement for accessing funding for the project was to have the consent of the beneficiary communities and the District Assemblies under which the beneficiary communities fall.

“Our meeting with the coordinating Director of the Assembly regarding the project was very successful because he thought the project tied perfectly with the developmental agenda of the District, so he graciously appended his signature to the document and here we are, ready to hit the ground running”, said Mr. Lankono Mornah.

Expatiating further on the project, Mr. Lankono Mornah stated that the biggest component of the project has to do with irrigation and the quest to reduce the use of chemical fertilizer to the barest minimum while promoting the use of manure as an alternative.

The overall objective of the project according to him is to ensure food security in the beneficiary communities while ensuring a clean and safe environment.

The project is also viewed by many in the beneficiary communities as the answer to the clamour for dams and dugouts that will enable them engage in dry season irrigation vegetable farming.

He stated that the company was currently mobilizing equipment to site and that the technical staff were also putting in place the requisite measures that will ensure a smooth take off of the project.

“We are also very grateful and happy for the kind of welcome that we got from the beginning of the project up until now and we are certain that going forward we will have a fruitful working relationship between ourselves and everybody concerned,” he concluded.

The District Chief Executive, Mr. John Bosco Bomansan on his part was upbeat about the prospects and benefits of the project and underscored its importance to the economic and social wellbeing of people the beneficiary communities.

Mr. Bomansan was also grateful to Ndaana Ghana Limited for choosing to execute the project in the district, adding that it fit very much into the developmental agenda of the district and that the Assembly was open to any project that will improve the wellbeing and situation of the people.