MiDAs revolutionary projects in agric sector
The Millennium Development Authority has disclosed that the last major activity under the Rural Services Development Project, which is one of the three specific themes described in the Compact of the Millennium Challenge Account, is strengthening of Rural Financial Services.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Martin Eson-Benjamin, MiDA is working in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana, ARB Apex Bank and all the 121 Rural Banks in the country to extend the depth and value of financial services provided to the rural population by reinforcing their integration into the cash economy as well as widening their access to savings, credit and cash transfer facilities.
The MCA Compact Program represents a new business model in terms of the delivery of foreign aid. It seeks to provide development assistance to countries, which demonstrate good governance, economic freedom and investment in people. The goal of Ghana’s $547million Compact is to reduce poverty through economic growth. While the Funds are held in the US Treasury, MiDA has, at the end of 2009, committed 67percent of Compact Funds and redisbursed 23percent through the Bank of Ghana, representing $367million and $127million respectively.
Speaking at a media briefing on the third Anniversary of entry into force of the Millennium Challenge Compact, the CEO said improvements to Ghana’s National Payment Systems, when completed, will draw a large number of people currently not served or underserved into the financial system. “The contract to equip, computerize and automate substantially all the 121 rural banks and their agencies, using a common software platform is going full steam ahead,” he indicated.
He explained that this also involves connecting the rural banks branches to a wide area network and to support them with software to introduce cheque truncation, hardware to create a system for the automated clearing of electronic payments.
He further disclosed that MiDA is currently engaged in funding the much needed technical assistance for the review and to propose amendments to the legal and regulatory structure for payments under Ghana’s National Payment System, and are supporting a broad based national campaign to demonstrate the benefits of these new products and the institutions that offer them.
Since March 2008, over 47,000 farmers have received free technical and business skills training delivered by Specialist Technical Training Service Providers drawn mainly from private sector institutions. Each farmer has received and worked with $230 worth of inputs as starter pack. “This innovative arrangement has yielded results and MiDA do have success stories to tell on growing export opportunities and the excellent intermediation of value chain associations,” he added.
MiDA have so far identified and studied 10 major irrigation dams spread across the three zones, four in the North, two in the South and four in the Afram Basin. These will provide water to irrigate some 5,000 hectares of land for all year round faming by Farmer Based Organizations and will facilitate new investments into large scale rice and vegetables production in the Northern and Eastern regions.
As part of MiDAs intervention in land tenure facilitation, Mr Eson-Benjamin said they shall provide for use of the Lands Commission, furnished and operational offices in all three zones, the first of which have been commissioned in November 2009. “In furtherance of this activity, we have already funded and completed a review of the backlog of land cases pending in our courts, and are standing by with funds to support the complete rehabilitation and modernization of ten Circuit Courts across the country, which will handle and clear the backlog and any new land cases,” he stressed.
Other successes chalked by MiDA in three years of operations include the provision of communal packhouses, perishable cargo centre at the Kotoka International Airport, agriculture business centres, export produce quality, agric credits, and embarking on the improvement of the transportation network in the country.
Mr Eson-Benjamin noted that to ensure that MiDA have delivered the program’s objectives and put the funds to the expected good use, the program provides a strict framework for its implementation in terms of governance, oversight management, monitoring and evaluation, environmental and fiscal accountability.
According to the Chief Executive Officer, Martin Eson-Benjamin, MiDA is working in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana, ARB Apex Bank and all the 121 Rural Banks in the country to extend the depth and value of financial services provided to the rural population by reinforcing their integration into the cash economy as well as widening their access to savings, credit and cash transfer facilities.
The MCA Compact Program represents a new business model in terms of the delivery of foreign aid. It seeks to provide development assistance to countries, which demonstrate good governance, economic freedom and investment in people. The goal of Ghana’s $547million Compact is to reduce poverty through economic growth. While the Funds are held in the US Treasury, MiDA has, at the end of 2009, committed 67percent of Compact Funds and redisbursed 23percent through the Bank of Ghana, representing $367million and $127million respectively.
Speaking at a media briefing on the third Anniversary of entry into force of the Millennium Challenge Compact, the CEO said improvements to Ghana’s National Payment Systems, when completed, will draw a large number of people currently not served or underserved into the financial system. “The contract to equip, computerize and automate substantially all the 121 rural banks and their agencies, using a common software platform is going full steam ahead,” he indicated.
He explained that this also involves connecting the rural banks branches to a wide area network and to support them with software to introduce cheque truncation, hardware to create a system for the automated clearing of electronic payments.
He further disclosed that MiDA is currently engaged in funding the much needed technical assistance for the review and to propose amendments to the legal and regulatory structure for payments under Ghana’s National Payment System, and are supporting a broad based national campaign to demonstrate the benefits of these new products and the institutions that offer them.
Since March 2008, over 47,000 farmers have received free technical and business skills training delivered by Specialist Technical Training Service Providers drawn mainly from private sector institutions. Each farmer has received and worked with $230 worth of inputs as starter pack. “This innovative arrangement has yielded results and MiDA do have success stories to tell on growing export opportunities and the excellent intermediation of value chain associations,” he added.
MiDA have so far identified and studied 10 major irrigation dams spread across the three zones, four in the North, two in the South and four in the Afram Basin. These will provide water to irrigate some 5,000 hectares of land for all year round faming by Farmer Based Organizations and will facilitate new investments into large scale rice and vegetables production in the Northern and Eastern regions.
As part of MiDAs intervention in land tenure facilitation, Mr Eson-Benjamin said they shall provide for use of the Lands Commission, furnished and operational offices in all three zones, the first of which have been commissioned in November 2009. “In furtherance of this activity, we have already funded and completed a review of the backlog of land cases pending in our courts, and are standing by with funds to support the complete rehabilitation and modernization of ten Circuit Courts across the country, which will handle and clear the backlog and any new land cases,” he stressed.
Other successes chalked by MiDA in three years of operations include the provision of communal packhouses, perishable cargo centre at the Kotoka International Airport, agriculture business centres, export produce quality, agric credits, and embarking on the improvement of the transportation network in the country.
Mr Eson-Benjamin noted that to ensure that MiDA have delivered the program’s objectives and put the funds to the expected good use, the program provides a strict framework for its implementation in terms of governance, oversight management, monitoring and evaluation, environmental and fiscal accountability.
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