SADA, ministry to harmonise activities
The Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) have resolved to collaborate to improve agricultural production.
The collaboration is primarily to reduce duplication of duties and functions and enhance policy harmonisation for the expansion of the agricultural value chain.
This was the outcome of a stakeholder roundtable meeting in Tamale for the two institutions to harmonise their activities.
In line with that, it was also resolved that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) be drawn to elaborate SADA's working relationship with MoFA, iron out existing differences and fashion out plans for the smooth implementation of agricultural interventions in the SADA zone.
A communique issued at the end of the meeting, which was read by the Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of crops, Alhaji Alhassan Yakubu, identified some key challenges militating against the smooth implementation of agricultural programmes in the SADA zone.
They included inadequate communication among stakeholders, limited knowledge of SADA's activities among stakeholders, limited application of national policies and regulations related to agriculture, weak governance structures at the regional and district levels, weak involvement of established MoFA structures and inadequate leveraging of existing government programmes and interventions.
The participants, including chiefs, national and regional directors of MoFA, project coordinators within the SADA zone and the management of the Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), agreed to strengthen collaboration between SADA and MoFA at all levels.
The Chief Executive Officer of SADA, Alhaji Gilbert Iddi, noted that the event was SADA's special engagement platform designed to build consensus with strategic stakeholders to facilitate operations at various sectors of the SADA zone.
By Vincent Amenuveve/Daily Graphic/Ghana