More funds needed for agriculture-Feed the Future

Feed the Future Ghana, a non-governmental organisation with focus on agriculture has bemoaned the country's inadequate funding for agricultural activities.Mr. Samson Konlan, Policy Adviser, Feed the Future, said the situation was pronounced in rural areas and needed immediate attention.He said this at a meeting with Dr Nana Ato Arthur, Head of Civil Service.The meeting was to brief Dr Ato Arthur on the national dialogue on the decentralisation of the agricultural sector, which took place in Tamale in April this year.Mr Konlan said after an assessment and a validation exercise on strengthening decentralisation for effective agricultural sector, the working group concluded that one of the major challenges hindering the agricultural sector was low funding.Other challenges identified were low staffing, inadequate operational logistics, poor coordination, monitoring and reporting on agricultural activities.He said the challenges required immediate intervention to strengthen the sector.He said the gro up proposed that the staffing strength of the agricultural sector at the local level be strengthened.He also said the group proposed that an operational manual should be developed to provide a clear framework for the sector to streamline the areas of work.Mr Konlan also said members at the dialogue agreed that a technical working group should be established.He said the responsibility of the technical group would be to develop terms of reference, prioritise the recommendations from the national dialogue and collaborate with stakeholders to implement the recommendations.He said that would contribute to strengthening the agricultural sector at the local and national levels.Mr Konlan assured Dr Ato Arthur of his Organization's support in the implementation of the prioritised recommendations.Dr Ato Arthur commended the team for the work.He expressed the readiness of the Service to provide the needed technical support to strengthen the agricultural sector.Accordingly, he urged Metropolitan, Municipa l District Assemblies (MMDAs) to ensure that funds allocated for capacity building programmes were strictly used for the intended purposes.Source: Ghana News Agency