Mr. Mark Woyongo, the Upper East Regional Minister on Wednesday said government had invested GH¢18.1 million in the model village under the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).

He said this formed part of the commitment of government to bridge the poverty gap between the north and south for which SADA came into being.

He said the project, which would be between the West Mamprusi and South Builsa Districts, would put a premium on provision of health facilities and would be replicated in other districts when the project turns out well.

Mr. Woyongo said this in Bolgatanga when he delivered an address to Internal Auditors of the Ghana Education Service (GES) in Bolgatanga.

He said the region also received 40 out of 100 tractors under SADA and has been distributed to the districts to support 10,000 farmers, who have no capacity to access tractor services.

He said out of over 1.1 million people, 80 per cent of the population of the Region was engaged in agricultural activities.

According to him, government would continue to put in interventions that would improve agriculture.

He said with seed money of GH¢130 million from the government to SADA, a lot was being achieved already and that included a 5 million tree planting and growing project under the forestation component of SADA in the Upper East Region.