BONO REGIONAL MINISTER EMBARKS ON MONITORING EXERCISE ON IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIVITIES BY DISTRICT DEPARTMENTS OF AGRICULTURE

The Hon. Regional Minister, in the company of the Regional Agriculture Director and staff of the Department of Agriculture of the Sunyani Municipal Assembly, carried out a monitoring exercise on the implementation of activities by the District Departments at the MMDAs. The monitoring exercise was to enable the Regional Minister assess the level of activity implementation, collect data on specific activities, verify and validate data or information. It also provided her with the opportunity to identify challenges faced during the implementation of activities and propose feasible solutions to mitigate these challenges. Again, it also ensured that targets are met and that productivity and impacts are being achieved for the improved livelihood of stakeholders.

Interventions monitored included the Government’s flagship programmes such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) Rearing for Food and Jobs (RFJ), Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD), Mechanization and Horticulture (Greenhouse) modules. Others include the Research and Extension Liaison Committees (RELCs), Women FBOs supported by MAG (in Berekum and Banda) and other projects by Partner institutions.

The PFJ has five modules;

• Food Crops Module (Planting for Food and Jobs) : Enhancement of yields and total production
• Livestock Module (Rearing for Food and Jobs) : Increase Breeding Stock; access to quality feed and nutrition; access to affordable housing structures, plants and equipment; good animal health; marketing
• Tree Crops Module (Planting for Export and Rural Development) : aims to boost the development of the tree crop sector to diversify the country’s sources of foreign exchange earnings
• Mechanization Module : to import and distribute small hand-held machinery and equipment to smallholder farmers and strengthen AMSECs with more portable machinery and equipment
• Horticulture Module (Greenhouse Villages) : Aims to promote the production of high-value horticultural crops in a protected environment