The Sissala East District in the Upper West Region will be benefiting from the “Planting for Food and Jobs” project.
The Sissala East District, whose people are predominantly farmers, would be provided with certified seeds, fertilizers, land preparation to produce maize and sorghum under the project as well as have access to ready markets to get value for their produce.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said this in a speech read on his behalf at the annual “Paari Gbielle” festival of the chiefs and people of the Tumu Traditional Council in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region.
The 2,096, 071.52 Ghana cedi project is a Ghana and Canada government support venture, which would run for four years.
The project, apart from increasing farm yields and encouraging the youth into agriculture as a business, would also create jobs for the unemployed youth.
President Akufo-Addo appealed to the chiefs and people of the area to revise some of the harmful cultural practices, such as negative widowhood rites, elopement of young girls, especially those in school, female genital mutilation and early marriage among others, which incidentally abuse their fundamental human rights.
He commended the people for the prevailing peace, saying “there cannot be any meaningful development in an area where there is no peace”.
He said: “Peace is pre-requisite for development. Let us therefore continue to maintain the cherished peace we are currently enjoying in this area”.
He noted that the theme for the festival, “Projecting culture and development in the 21st century, the role of the chieftaincy institution”, motivated him, adding that with the advent of the indirect rule, the chieftaincy institution continued to play an important role in Ghana’s development even in contemporary times.
President Akufo-Addo urged traditional rulers to use such occasions of cultural festivals, to mobilise the people to showcase the rich cultural values, customs, norms arts, food and traditions to facilitate the development of their respective areas.
He also appealed to them to ensure that strategies and plans were put in place to attract investors to bring development to the people and help improve their livelihoods.
“Let us all rededicate ourselves to those pursuits, which would truly develop the Tumu Traditional Council and Ghana as a whole”, he said.
GNA
next post