[ 2011-04-16 ]

SADA takes off modestly in the operational areas - Sulley Gariba
Dr Sulley Gariba, Policy Advisor for the Savannah
Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), on
Friday announced that the programme had taken off
with an initial fund of GH¢ 25 Million.

He said before the recruitment of permanent staff,
which would be advertised next month, the
Authority would in the interim assist victims
affected by flood last year in the catchment areas
of the programme, to reclaim their property and
wealth that were destroyed.

Dr Gariba said the Authority would also help
farmers with improved seeds and other inputs
during this year's farming activities to enable
them to increase their acreage of cultivation.

He announced this during a day's update programme
meeting with the SADA board members and their
partners, in Accra.

Dr Gariba said when SADA begins with its maximum
operations, it would take into consideration all
existing interventions to avoid duplication in the
implementation of programmes in the sector.

“The duty of SADA is not to replace the existing
programmes or create duplication, but to augment
and expand whatever is happening to create greater
opportunities for the people to enjoy the real
benefits of the programme.”

Dr Gariba said the SADA was considering the option
of instituting a levy to permanently sustain the
programme, rather than depending on budgetary
allocation and donor funds in the future, and
called for ideas in that direction for the
programme to materialise.

Mrs Blandina Batiir, a member of the SADA Board,
who spoke with Ghana News Agency after the meeting
said the policy initiative was timely,
particularly when the northern ecological zone was
losing its wealth in the face of natural disasters
such as floods, droughts and land degradation.

She said agriculture, which is the mainstay and
backbone of the country's economy would experience
a massive change and sustenance under the
programme, since women, men, children and the
vulnerable would be assisted in their ventures.

Mrs Batiir said the fact that SADA would be mainly
implemented by the private sector was soul
relieving as the sector would do everything
possible to maintain its balance irrespective of
economic constraints.

She said: “The good thing about SADA is that the
programme is not going to operate in a vacuum, but
will rather support existing projects which I
believe has the potential of surviving
forever.”

The SADA is a government policy, initiated to
bridge the yawning gap between the Northern and
southern areas of the country in terms of physical
development and poverty alleviation among other
issues that undermine growth and development in
the northern sector.

Its current catchment areas are within the
Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions and
selected parts of the Volta and Brong Ahafo
Regions.

Source - GNA

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