Wa, Nov. 5, GNA - The Upper West Agency of Adventists Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), this year spent a total of 1.3 billion cedis on the provision of credit facilities to farmers and sanitation development projects to a total of 35 communities in the region.

A total of 977.5 million cedis was spent on agriculture and natural resources, 250.7 million cedis spent on providing 63 household latrines and five hand-dug wells at a cost of 108 million cedis.

Mr. Samson Fordjour, Regional Manager of ADRA, who told the Ghana News Agency in an interview at Wa on Wednesday said 16 communities in the Wa Municipal Assembly are currently benefiting from their projects, 11 in the Nadowli District and eight in the Jirapa/Lambussie District. He said ADRA had also trained 140 people in various client communities as village extension officers, who in turn educate others on health, agriculture and sanitation.

Mr. Fordjour said, ADRA was deeply engaged in food security programmes, which started from 1997 and would continue until 2006. Under the programmes, the manager said farmers were supplied with fertilizers, seeds, bullocks and ploughs, seedlings of cashew and multi-purpose tree spices.

Mr. Fordjour said under the nutrition, health, water and sanitation, ADRA was providing communities with potable water throughout the year, while a total of 300,000 people also now have access to good nutrition, water and sanitation facilities.

The ADRA manager said the household latrines and hand-dug wells were demand driven but communities had to fulfil a task of contributing five percent of the cost of a latrine or hand-dug well. "On the agriculture inputs and facilities however, farmers are supplied as credit facilities and most of them pay back in kind after harvesting."

Mr. Fordjour said their main objectives were to increase food production, increase income levels of farmers, make food available throughout the year and increase awareness on sanitation and environmental protection.

He said ADRA was effectively collaborating with beneficiary district assemblies, Ghana Health Servic Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ghana Education Service, among others and called for more support to enable them execute their projects.

"We hope to expand our scope to include the remaining districts in the coming years, " Mr Fordjour said.