What appears to be government\u2019s exclusion of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in the 2015 budget has incurred the wrath of majority of people in the three regions of the north, particularly farmers.<\/p>\n
It is unclear what informed government\u2019s decision but the biggest concern to most residents in the three regions of the north is that SADA should find space in a supplementary budget for 2015.<\/p>\n
Those clamoring for SADA\u2019s budgetary allocation in 2015 include the youth, General Managers of some rural and community banks in Northern Ghana, District Directors of Agric in the north and peasant farmers.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”dvcE8B2v8O2NdSTXBfe38ajSSupZCUqT”]One of the youth fumed, \u201cit is just unfortunate government did not capture it in the 2015 budget and has neglected this whole SADA thing – so I am pleading to government to make efforts to reconsider its decision towards SADA.\u201d<\/p>\n
An Agronomist, Salifu Fuseini said: \u201cI think that is an unfortunate decision by the government because looking at the three Northern Regions, the Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions that SADA was going to cover, neglecting it means people in these regions who are predominantly farmers will be neglected in terms of development and their livelihood will also be reduced.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cso I think it is unfortunate on the part of government to neglect it and I will use this medium to appeal to government to take SADA seriously, even the seed money in my candid opinion was not enough, not to talk of neglecting it totally.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prime objective of SADA was to boost agriculture and expand rural infrastructure in the three regions of the north, Brong Ahafo and the Volta Regions.<\/p>\n
This was meant to reduce poverty as\u00a0a\u00a0means of eliminating the rural-urban drift.<\/p>\n
As drivers of the local economy in rural communities, some General Managers of rural and community banks in Northern Ghana in an interview with Citi News<\/strong> said\u00a0SADA must be resuscitated at all cost.<\/p>\n Chairman of the Upper East Regional Chapter of the Association of Rural Banks, Alhaji Adams Sheriff pleaded with government to place premium on SADA.<\/p>\n He posited, \u201clooking at the three northern regions, I believe SADA was established for a purpose and that purpose was to bridge the gap between the south and the north and if a whole national budget for 2015 did not capture it, is unfortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n He stressed that it “should have been the primary focus of government and if this all important project was not given attention to then I think that there is a problem somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n General Manager of Bonzali Rural Bank in the Northern Region, Paul Atsu Fiawoo jumped to government\u2019s defense but suggested that resources meant for SADA should be channeled into rural banks.<\/p>\n He explained, \u201cSADA is a whole project and we all know the stories which were captured in the media about their non-performance and difficulties that they encounted: I believe that this was what informed the Minister of Finance to be very silent about their activities but still without SADA government can do a lot through the existing structures like the community banks.\u201d<\/p>\n A retired agric extension officer who is also\u00a0a peasant farmer, Madam Rabi Adams expressed her worries about government\u2019s lackadaisical attitude towards SADA.<\/p>\n She recounted; \u201cSmall holder farmers feed the nation and they irk the living on daily basis but it looks like government policies are not targeted for the small holder farmers: I hope government will turn its attention to the small holders by reducing subsidies on agricultural inputs not only on fertilizer but every input.\u201d<\/p>\n Another peasant farmer, Madam Fati called for patriotism to keep SADA alive.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not too late if something has to be done about it and we should also make sure that whoever is brought to manage the affairs of SADA should be somebody who is patriotic, somebody who is not self centered and should be somebody who will die for his people.\u201d<\/p>\n She emphasized, \u201cSADA should be revamped but measures should be put in place to ensure that it works the way it is supposed to work.\u201d<\/p>\n A District Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the Northern Region who identified himself as Afa Alhassan said the SADA tractors were beneficial to farmers in the area.<\/p>\n He also supported calls on government to take proactive steps to sustain the SADA programme.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What appears to be government\u2019s exclusion of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in the 2015 budget has incurred the wrath of majority of people in the three regions of the north, particularly farmers. It is unclear what informed government\u2019s decision but the biggest concern to most residents in the three regions of the north […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16793,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[54,43,38],"yoast_head":"\n