Tamale, Nov. 27, GNA - CARE International, a Non Governmental Organisation into agriculture activities, has launched a 15-year "Agriculture and Food Security Programme" for the Northern Savanna Zone to improve food security in the area. The Savanna Zone comprised northern Ghana, parts of Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions. The programme among other things seeks to initiate programmes that would improve the livelihoods of the rural poor farmer and the marginalized persons.

It is also develop sustainable and equitable community based livelihood models, which are resilient to climate change. Mr David Sumbo, Program Coordinator for Agriculture and Food Security, CARE Ghana, Togo and Benin, said the programme would push for pro-poor and natural resource policy reforms and the institutionalisation of accountable and transparent natural resource institutions. Mr Sylvester Adongo, Northern Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), said food insecurity in Northern Ghana was due to the untapped irrigation potential of the area, low technology and small production units. Other factors, he added, were high population growth and the misdirection of policy priorities. Mr Adongo, however, assured that MOFA and the government were putting in place measures to address the food insecurity situation not only in Northern Ghana but the country as a whole. He mentioned measures such as the promotion of quality seed production and usage, introduction of fertilizer subsidy, dry season gardening and value chain production as some of measures being adopted. Mr Adongo said the answer to the long-term food insecurity problem laid in the total transformation of agriculture. 27 Nov. 09