By Philip Tengzu
Wa (UW/R), Aug. 18, GNA – The Upper West Regional Agricultural Investment Coordinating Unit (RAICU) has been launched to coordinate all investments in the agricultural sector in the region.
The co-ordination would maximise the scarce resources to improve the sector.
PolicyLink, a USAID-funded activity in the region, facilitated the formation and inauguration of the Unit, which is in line with its “Objective Two” that focuses on coordination.
Members of the Unit comprised representatives of the Northern Development Authority (NDA), farmer groups and other actors in the agriculture sector, chaired by the Upper West Regional Director of Agriculture.
Speaking at the launch in Wa, Madam Annie Dela, the Programme Lead, Feed the Future Ghana PolicyLink Activity, said the RAICU was expected to be a coordinated effort of stakeholders in decision making and actions to strengthen the agricultural sector.
“It is not to be owned by a specific organisation or institution,” she said, and that similar Coordinating Units had been launched in all regions in northern Ghana where USAID Feed the Future activities were implemented.
These are the Northern, North East, Upper East and Upper West regions.
Madam Akanko said MEDA was to lead the establishment of the initiative in the Savana Region under the Grow 2 project.
She said discussions to reconstitute and inaugurate the RAICU started in 2022 following lessons learnt from previous initiatives to ensure the revised initiative succeeded.
Mr Joseph Abugre Atogyine, the Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, said the Regional Coordinating Council had a keen interest in the RAICU and would do everything within its capacity to support its activities.
“From time to time, leaders from the Regional Coordinating Council shall be referring matters related to the development and promotion of agriculture to this unit for better policy formulation and implementation,” he said.
Mr. Atogyine, however, expressed concern over the sustainability of the initiative and cited many laudable programmes in the past, which had folded up due to poor sustainability plans.
Touching on the recent drought, he urged all stakeholders to work together to address the issue of climate change and its impact on the country, including creating alternative sources of livelihood for the people.
Mr Fidelis B. Naapaneh, the Regional Manager of Feed the Future Ghana Market Systems and Resilience (MSR) Activity, said one of the focus areas of the Activity was to create an enabling environment for actors in the agricultural space to work effectively to ensure the growth of the sector.
These include the Regional Policy Dialogues the MSR Activity facilitated last year, which culminated in a National Policy Dialogue held in Tamale.
Mr Naapaneh appealed to the members of the Coordinating Unit and stakeholders to take ownership of the initiative to enable it to yield the expected impact.
Madam Maria Johana Yuorpor, the Upper West Regional Coordinator of NDA and member of the RAICU, said the initiative was timely considering the challenges farmers were facing in recent times.
She assured the people of the commitment of the NDA to supporting any initiative or interventions that sought to develop the agriculture sector and promote the general well-being of the people.
GNA