Bolgatanga, (U/E), Oct. 15, GNA - Participants at a public forum held on Wednesday in Bolgatanga has issued a communiqu=E9 calling on the government to ensure that the Northern Rural Growth Programme (NRGP) was effectively implemented to benefit peasant farmers.

The forum was to create awareness on the NRGP, launched by Vice President John Dramani Mahama, to be implemented in the three northern regions and parts of Brong Ahafo Region.

It is aimed at achieving sustainable agricultural and food security for the rural poor especially those dependent on marginal lands, rural women and the poor. The specific objective of the programme is to develop inclusive and remunerative commodity and food chains to generate agricultural surplus production and orient it towards remunerative markets in southern markets=

and abroad.

The Communiqu=E9, whilst commending the government, International Fu= nd for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Africa Development Bank, stated t= hat there were many interventions aimed at increasing and boosting agricultur= e production to reduce poverty but were mostly mismanaged and exploited by government officials. These interventions, the communiqu=E9 noted, includes the Upper East=

Agriculture Development Programme, Agriculture Sector Improvement Program= me, Village Infrastructural Programme, Land Conservation and Small Holder Rehabilitation Projects. It said purpose for establishing those projects were not in the regi= on and that if those interventions were judiciously utilized and not misappl= ied and mismanaged, the development of the region would have seen some level of improvement.

The Communiqu=E9 therefore appealed to the Government to adopt a pragmatic mechanism for monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of NRGP to ensure that it achieves the purpose for which it was set up. It advocated for the timely release of farm inputs and credit facilities to enable farmers to undertake their farming activities at the right time as regards the weather.

The communiqu=E9 stated that farmers would ensure that farming activ= ities became a major business and devoted much attention to food production. Mr. Richard Ananga, Focal Person of GTLC, said his outfit recognized=

the important role of farmers and producers and had been giving support i= n the form of advocacy to influence government on policies and programmes=

affecting farmers. He said one of the roles of GTLC was to work towards the removal of barriers that hindered increased and sustainable food production. The Programme was organized by Trade Aid International and funded by=

the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC) both non-governmental organizations working to promote the activities of farmers and producers to sustain their livelihood.