Saboba, (N/R), Nov. 27, GNA - Community-driven Initiatives for Food Security (CIFS), a Canadian funded project, is investing 4.5 million Canadian dollars in 250 communities in the Northern Region to improve food security and local governance.

The project aims broadly to improve household food security with support to community driven-initiatives, district-wide food security initiatives and to strengthen local government structures. Mr Kuupiel Cuthbert Baba, Project Manager of CIFS-Ghana, announced this at the 2nd CIFS' "Stakeholder Experience Sharing Festival" at Saboba in the Saboba district of the Northern Region on Thursday. It was under the theme: "Improving food security and participatory governance through stakeholder experience sharing and learning". Mr Baba mentioned some of the beneficiary districts as Bunkpurugu/Yunyoo, East Mamprusi, Chereponi, Saboba, Yendi, Gushegu, Karaga, Zabzugu/Tatale, Kpandi, Nanumba North and South and East Gonja districts. The communities are Domon, Sobiba, Bukuli, Ligalbn, Wokon, Bokase, Nambiini and Chereponi all in the Chereponi district. Mr Baba said CIFS had supported farmers in the communities with bullocks for ploughing and donkeys for women to enable them transport their produce from the farms to the markets.

He said the NGO had also among other things encouraged farmers in the communities to undertake the cultivation, processing and utilisation of Soya bean and the rearing of small ruminants and grain banking. He said the introduction of bullock traction had led to the increase of the acreage of farm lands while the cultivation of Soya bean had improved the nutritional quality of food for women and children. Mr Baba said the introduction of grain banking had also ensured the availability of food for the people during the lean seasons. He urged the district assemblies and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to ensure the sustainability of the projects so that peoples' livelihoods were improved.

Mr Ali Adolf John, Saboba District Chief Executive said government would invest in agriculture to maintain the production of crops that had surplus production whilst adequate measures were also being put in place to increase the production level of crops that had deficit production. 27 Nov. 09