The Chiefs and People of Pusiga District, Upper East Region, have appealed to the Government to make the District a beneficiary of the Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJs) and Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programmes.

They said the initiatives by government were lucrative income generating businesses that could generate income for them since majority of them were livestock farmers and could take good care of the livestock.

The Chiefs made the appeal at the ‘Meet the Press series’, organized by the District Assembly at Pusiga.

Mr Salifu Nbugri, the leader of livestock farmers at the Widana community, noted that the rearing for food and jobs programme had been initiated at the right time and urged the authorities in charge of the programme to speed up the processes to enable the people benefit from it.

Mr Nbugri said the programme was a huge income generating venture that the youth would like to undertake as it would serve as a source of income and reduce the rate of unemployment in the area and the region as a whole.

He suggested that since the people were livestock farmers, they could be assisted to expand their farms and rear the animals for export to generate foreign exchange for the state.

Mr Zubeiru Abdulai, the District Chief Executive for the area in a presentation to showcase government and district level development projects noted that government had transformed the lives of the people through the modernized agriculture and job creation.

Mr Abdulai said with the agricultural sector, policies including the Planting for Food and Jobs, One Village One Dam, One District One Factory, Rearing for Food and Jobs and Planting for Export and Rural Development had improved the quality of livelihood in the district.

Mr Abdulai mentioned that as part of measures to improve on education standards in the district, the Assembly setup oversight committees to intensify monitoring and supervision, instituted a best teacher award scheme to motivate teachers and completely absorb the full cost of the basic education certificate examination fee among other things.

He mentioned that government had expanded the school feeding programme and increased the capitation grant by over 100 per cent.

He said the Assembly built 2-unit six classroom blocks at Bimpella and Sarabogo communities, 2-unit three classroom blocks at Widana-Daduri and Pusiga.

Mr Abdulai underscored the need for quality health delivery and said the district had brought quality health delivery to the doorsteps of the people by providing Community Based Health Planning Services (CHPS) compounds, constructed three new maternity wards for health centres at Pusiga, Widana and Kulunggugu to improve on maternal healthcare delivery in the area.