GOVERNMENT AND African Development Fund (ADF) have signed a loan agreement to support the ‘Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ)’ programme.
Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister for Finance, last Thursday signed the agreement on behalf of the government whilst Dr Yero H. J. Baldeh, the Ghana Country Manager of the Bank, signed on its behalf.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, the loan is a concessionary facility of UA27.86 million ($39.01 million) from the ADF to finance the Savannah Zone Agricultural Productivity Improvement Project (SAPIP).
The Project will be implemented over a five-year period commencing in 2018.
It added that the development objective of the project is to transform agricultural value chains for food and nutrition security, and job creation within the Savannah Zone.
The specific objectives are to increase farmers’ food and nutrition security, increase incomes through increased agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance the creation and strengthening of agribusinesses to increase incomes of actors along selected value chains in a sustainable basis.
The Project has four main components, namely Crop Productivity Improvement; Value Chain and Agribusinesses Development; Infrastructure Development; and Project Coordination, Management and Monitoring and Evaluation.
The statement explained that the project is expected to directly benefit about 50,000 economically active smallholders living in the savannah zone. It will also contribute to the input support programme of the Ministry of the Food and Agriculture reaching about 250000.
source:dailyheritage