Veep hails decision of FAO
to establish Regional Office in Ghana
Accra, Dec. 5, GNA- The Vice President, Alhaji
Aliu Mahama on Monday hailed as praiseworthy, a
decision by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) to create a West African
Sub-Regional Office in Ghana.
He said the choice of Ghana for the office
followed an earlier decision by the World Food
Programme (WFP) to purchase one million dollars
worth of locally grown grains annually with
effect from 2006 to serve as a Sub-Regional
storage warehouse.
Alhaji Mahama made this known when he hosted a
dinner for the Rome-based Dr Jacques Diouf,
Director-General of the FAO and his two
counterparts; Mr Lennart Bage, President,
International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) and Mr James Morris, Executive Director
of WFP.
Proposing the toast, Alhaji Mahama said the UN
and allied agencies had supported efforts by
Ghana towards food production.
He said one of the critical dimensions of the
visit by the three UN Agencies Heads was to
forge collaboration between the Government and
the agencies of the world body within the
framework of Growth and Poverty Reduction
Strategy, the New Partnership for Africa's
Development and the Comprehensive African
Agricultural Development Programme.
Alhaji Mahama said:" This collaborative effort
would contribute substantially towards the
accelerated attainment of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), which aims at
eradicating extreme poverty and hunger among
other challenges."
Dr Diouf said he and his counterparts were in
Ghana not by chance but in acknowledgement of
the strides the country was making in all
fronts, including socio-economic development and
good governance.
He said they were in Ghana to pay tribute to the
success of the Government and the citizenry.
Dr Diouf stressed: "Ghana has made remarkable
progress of meeting the food requirements of
Ghanaians."
He said the School-Feeding Programme introduced
by the Government was very promising since it
would facilitate efforts by the country to meet
the MDGs targets.
The Director General said 290,000 children were
being targeted under the WHO/NEPAD feeding
programme.
GNA
