Mr. Mark Woyongo, Upper East Regional Minister on Thursday reiterated the need for irrigational facilities to boost agriculture and improve on the livelihoods of the poor in the Region.

He said the region was vulnerable to the southern spread of the desert and called for more investment in that direction since over 80 per cent of the population of the region depended on agriculture.

Mr. Woyongo made these remarks when an IFAD evaluation team (ET) from Rome, India, Norway ,Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana, led by Mr. Roy Ayariga, National Coordinator of the Northern Regional Growth Programme (NRGP) paid a courtesy call on him at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC).

He said the Sisil-Koulpon project in the Builsa District and the Tamne Irrigation dam in Garu-Tempane District were dear to the heart of the people of the region and urged investors to consider the latter for all year round farming and food processing in the Bawku Municipality.

He said plans were far advanced for a dam at Pwalugu near Bolgatanga, which would be used to irrigate over 110,000 hectares of land for farming, transport, aquaculture and electricity generation under the Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA).

Also among the delegation were representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), MOFA and IFAD.

The mission of the visit was to inspect Rural Enterprise Projects undertaken in the region, and have interactions with beneficiaries of the project.

Mr. Pattanayak Shobhan Kumar, leader of the ET said IFAD was committed to supporting the poor to improve their lives.

The delegation’s first visit was in Navrongo where 48 women in the Sonoo, Wedaga and Unity women’s groups were undertaking various capacity building programmes under the Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP) under MOFA.

The groups were using Sweet Potato to produce “Potaghurt”, a vegetable drink, at the Rural Enterprise Project (REP) phase two, under the partnership of the district assembly and GRATIS Foundation.

They also inspected a $256,357.80 workshop where various manufacturing activities are carried out under the REP.

Other things inspected were agro processing equipment, repair works undertaken by the trainees in the area of agricultural machinery, fabrication of automobile parts and metal furniture for schools.

Mr. Nelson Mornah, Manager of the facility said since it was established, the facility had trained 1,927 master craft persons, and 1,010 males and 917 females in various skills in the Kassena Nankana East district.**