Hydro-agricultural infrastructure and market -gardening perimeters project worth 144,000,000 France CFA has been officially handed over to four twin – border villages in Burkina Faso and Ghana at a short ceremony at Bongo in the Upper East Region.
The President of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Dr. Jean Claude Kassi Brou in his speech said the paramount importance of this project is to make the provision of hydro-agricultural infrastructure and potable water to strengthen the basis for sustainable socio-economic development in the highly affected areas with Onchocerciasis.
The project include the construction of eight boreholes equipped with water towers and solar energy pumps with the development of market gardening perimeters of 0.5 hectares around each borehole site and was funded by the Hunger Project, an NGO with the support from ECOWAS Commission.
Dr. Kassi Brou described the hydro – agricultural infrastructure project as a great relief to the beneficiary communities and intends to feed into a wider regional programme for the benefit of its fifteen member states.
He added that the investment is therefore of a special nature as it opens the door to the mobilization of resources for the scaling up of the infrastructure.
“In the very near future I can assure you that this experience will be repeated in Niger and on the border between Togo and Benin” he emphasized.
He told the chiefs and people of Bongo District that in addition to these investments, ECOWAS is investing in various other areas alongside the most vulnerable population and as a result, the commission recently made remittances of cereals, enriched flours, livestock feed and has granted funding for various micro-projects carried out by producers’ organizations in the agricultural sector.
Some beneficiaries whose vision were impaired by Onchorcerciasis in the district, Dr. Kassi Brou said the commission recognized areas affected by the disease as the poorest in the sub-region because they are totally abandoned and lack socio-economic infrastructure due to the existence of the vector of infection of river blindness.
“It is against his background that the ECOWAS, within the framework of implementing the ECOWAP, regional agricultural policy has initiated a pilot project for the socio – economic development of the Burkina Faso Ghana trans-boundary affected by Onchocerciasis” he added.
Speaking on behalf of His Excellency the Vice President of Ghana, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Upper East Regional Minister, Hon. Tangoba Abayage noted that water is considered as the source of life and therefore, the role of water in daily activities of the citizens cannot be over emphasized.
She explained that Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) represent key areas in the life of a person and the economies of ECOWAS region in general but the poor handling of the sector greatly affects health and productivity. It is estimated by the World Bank that Ghana loses $290 million annually due to poor sanitation.
According to her, this amount represents the cost of clearing huge refuse within cities and that of healthcare and its related diseases and the implicit costs in the loss of man-hours and reduced productivity are also unacceptably high.
The Minister, therefore, called on all stake holders to work together to ensure that the boreholes are used for the intended purpose without compromising maintenance adding that they must at all times put pragmatic measures in place to ensure that the water project functions well.
The representative of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Burkina Faso, Mr. Christophe Joseph Marie Debire, the governor of South Central Region Madam Kabre Zoungrana Y. Josiance in her speech acknowledged the excellent cross-border co-operation that seeks to promote socio-economic activities to the benefit of the twin – eight villages.
She sincerely thanked all the stakeholders especially the experts who have worked tirelessly to the realization of the projects and called for more economic cooperation between the two countries.
The beneficiary four twin –border villages are Kolinia / Mayero, Barre / Namoo, Narguia / Feo and Bingo/ Widnaba.
Kmrfjago , November 18, 2020
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