Manwe (UWR), June 17, GNA - Mr Kwadwo Adjei-Darko, Minister of Local Government, Rural Development and Environment, on Tuesday said the recent global food crisis should remind Ghanaians of the need for judicious management natural resources.

Speaking at the launch of the World Environment Day and the Desertification Day in Manwe in the Upper West Region, he said it was important to link the celebration of the Day to the global food crisis that had rocked many nations.

Mr Adjei-Darko said land was a critical resource for Ghana's economic growth, since it was the basic requirement for investment and a principal source of livelihoods for the majority of the people. He said agriculture has been the backbone of development in the country, accounting for 60 percent of total employment and about 45 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Mr Adjei-Darko said land degradation was a serious and major problem threatening sustainable use of natural resources and mentioned deforestation, soil erosion, declining soil fertility and deterioration of rangelands as some of the bad practices that needed to be addressed. He said government would prepare a National Action Programme (NAP) to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought and called for effective collaboration with development partners to improve the environment.

He said the government was also preparing the Country Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Investment Framework (CSIF) under the auspices of the World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organisation and TerrAfrica to address desertification and drought conditions in the country. Mr. Adjei-Darko announced that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was assisting the government to strengthen the capacity of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other stakeholders to deliver its mandate of regulation, education and awareness creation.

He said his Ministry would facilitate the coordination and monitoring of the implementation of the NAP through the Ghana Environmental Management Project (GEMP) in the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions to ensure that targeted communities derive maximum benefit from the programme.