The flag-bearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo has bemoaned the underutilisation of land in the northern part of the country for the production of sufficient food. He has therefore pledged to undertake an aggressive campaign to make sure that the region’s arable land is put to good use. “Driving around the North, one is struck by the long stretches of flat arable lands. The kind of landscape that countries such as Zimbabwe, South Africa, France, Holland and others use remarkably well for mechanised large scale commercial farming,” Nana Akufo-Addo made the observation in his policy statement for transforming agriculture in Northern Ghana. He was addressing staff and students of the Tamale Campus of the University for Development Studies on Friday. Nana Akufo-Addo is the only presidential candidate to date who has delivered a policy statement on the transformation of the North. Consistently, he has talked about bridging “The yawning development gap between the North and the South. In earlier speeches the Abuakwa South MP pledged to make the North “the bread basket for the entire Sahelian Region.” Northern Ghana has vast stretches of arable land and farming remains the main stay of the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions. However, inadequate irrigation facilities and lack of access to markets has made many a young Northerner to migrate to the south in search of greener pastures. But Nana, speaking confidently on his Agenda for Change speech, stated: “We shall employ the technology already in use in Burkina Faso to harvest rain water for irrigation with the aid of pumps to expand our agriculture.” He also got it spot on, when he said his government will provide tax credit and find “market for value added products.” Nana Akufo Addo’s “The transformation of the North – an Agenda for Change” policy includes the establishment of marketing boards akin to SOFITEX, an export monopoly in neighbouring Burkina Faso. “I foresee increased production of rice, sorghum, tomatoes, mangoes, cotton and livestock,” he told the packed auditorium. To reduce post harvest loses, the policy statement proposes to “construct four major silos,” two for Northern Region and one each for the Upper East and Upper West Regions.