Sunyani, Sep. 15, GNA - The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), in collaboration with the government, have set-up a 27.8 million-dollar fund to support the improvement of agriculture in the country.

IFAD contributed 68.5 percent of the grant dubbed "Micro-Enterprise Fund" whilst the government contributed 42.5 percent. The fund is to be utilized on an eight-year 'Root and Tuber Management and Marketing Programme (RTIMP)' to ensure national food security. Under the programme the fund will provide matching grants covering up to 30 percent of the cost of equipment, beneficiaries will pay a further 10 percent and the remaining 60 percent would be covered either by a loan (matching grant credit) or by a micro-leasing arrangements (matching grant lease). Dr. Oppong Mensah-Aborampah, business development and marketing specialist of RTIMP, said this at a seminar for rural and community banks and other stakeholders on the implementation of the fund in Sunyani.

He said the programme was a major intervention of the government to alleviate rural poverty. This, he said, could be achieved by building competitive and market-based root and tuber commodity chains supported by sustainable services that were easily accessible to the rural poor. Dr. Mensah-Aborampah said a memorandum of understating would be signed between Apex Bank and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning on management of the fund. This means that the sole responsibility for loan and appraisal, entering into agreement, disbursement and loan recovery would rest on the rural financial intermediaries. He said 180,000 farmers would be supplied with new root and tuber varieties and 10,000 farmers and 500 processing ventures would benefit from improved markets.

Dr. Mensah-Aborampah said 6,000 farmers would be trained in 200 farms and 5,000 processing ventures would benefit from micro-leasing service to buy improved equipments. He said 15,000 processors and other poor entrepreneurs particularly women would be trained in business management and marketing and 600 groups of root and tuber farmers and processors would also be strengthened.

Dr. Mensah-Aborampah said the first phase of the programme had targeted 14 municipalities and districts noted for cassava, yam, sweet potato and cocoyam. 15 Sept 07