Agricultural officers to maintain production of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes

Company News of Monday, July 15, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-07-15

Mr. Samuel Y. Tika, Deputy Regional Minister of Savannah, has commissioned agricultural extension officers to work closely with farmer groups to ensure the widespread availability and sustainability of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes (FOPH ) to promote nutrition.

The appeal followed the inauguration of the World Food Program (WFP) potato nurseries in Kiape, Bole-Bamboi district, where agricultural officers were responsible for to help farmers to ensure continuous production of the crop to improve the lives of the beneficiaries.

The OFSP nurseries have boreholes, a shed equipped with solar panels for the distribution and pumping of water, standpipes and receptacles for water tanks, watering cans and fencing to ensure crop safety.

It should serve as a multiplication center for vines equipped with solar powered irrigation units, to ensure a farming operation throughout the year and a provision of beneficiary communities for planting on farms and backyards.

Mr Tika noted that vitamin A deficiency and malnutrition limit the intellectual potential of individuals and also undermine their economic and social development.

He called on WFP and other partner organizations to educate beneficiaries on the range of PDCO food preparation approaches.

It is said that the product contains vitamin A in abundance and could be used by families to prepare flour which, combined with wheat flour and other ingredients, could be used for making donuts, porridge and other types of food.

The minister said the government has prioritized agriculture as the best tool for creating jobs and cleaning up the economy by subsidizing agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and seeds. to facilitate farmers' access.

Tika said the One Village One Dam program (1V1D) had started in the Bole-Bamboi district to ensure a farming operation throughout the year.

Ms. Rukia Yacoub, Country Representative and Country Director of the World Food Program (WFP), said the FOPH program had been piloted in the Northern, Savanna and Upper West regions.

It is part of a collaborative program between the Directorate of Women and Agriculture (WIAD) of the Department of Agriculture of the Northern Region, the International Potato Center ( IPC) and the World Food Program (WFP).

She said the program started in 2017 and aimed to improve the nutrition of vulnerable people in northern Ghana. This would create income-generating opportunities for smallholder farmers involved in the culture of culture.

She called on stakeholders to support the program to cover the rest of the northern districts.

Ms. Yacoub said that about 120,000 OFSP vine plants had been distributed to 10,000 farmer peasant groups, comprising 320 women and four male secretaries from Bole, Mampurugu, Nadowli Kaleo and Lawra districts.

They were trained by Women in Agriculture Development and the Ghana Health Service on how to produce, add value and cook with OFSP leaves and tubers.

The beneficiaries would intend to train others as they were trained as part of the train the trainers module.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, Ms. Yacoub said that women had acquired the skills and basic technical knowledge to manage the OFSP sites after the pilot phase.