Daniel Kwame Gariba, the DCE for the Builsa South District and the Parliamentary Candidate for the NPP in the 2020 election has touted the government’s achievement in expanding rice production in the area.
He said over the past few years, the Akufo-Addo led government has developed more valleys thus allowing more farmers to invest in the cultivation of rice in the area. Mr Gariba disclosed that in 2016, the Builsa South District alone contributed about 13 percent of the rice produced in the region.
While unable to confirm the current statistics, the DCE was of the firm belief that the area’s contribution towards rice production in the region would have increased substantially due to the government’s commitment.
He said this when he spoke on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East Show.
“Under the Planting for Food and Jobs project (PFJ), the Savannah Agriculture Productivity Improvement Project (SAPIP), the government has developed more than three thousand hectares in the Builsa South areas. If you go to Gbedembiisi, it has been developed. If you go to Youasi, there has been some development.”
“Before 2016, we used to do just less than 40 percent of the developed area of rice valleys in BUilsa South. Today, it has been oversubscribed. People scramble for land to cultivate rice and they do not even get it. Why? the awareness has been created, the sector has been made attractive by the government. The only setback that was putting people off from rice production was the perennial bushfires. Now when the rice is due for harvest, we have more than enough combine harvesters at the valleys for people to use to harvest their rice,” he said.
He said due to the constant development in the sector by the government, some private sector investors have been attracted to the area. The DCE explained that a new factory has been set up. Soon, it would begin the milling of rice so save farmers some costs.
Meanwhile, Mr Gariba is convinced that despite the pooh-poohing of the government’s ambitious One Village One Dam project (1V1D), by opponents and critics of the Akufo-Addo led government, the programme has been largely successful.
Mr Gariba explained that in his area, 10 of the dams have been successfully completed and are serving the people of the area. He explained that during the dry season, animals no longer go long distances in search of water.
Again, residents in the area, who are largely farmers, can continue their farming throughout the year because of the availability of water.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
