The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) has promised to invest heavily in the agro-processing industry in the Upper West Region of Ghana, as a way of transforming the region’s social economic growth. This, according to the party, is to enable the region take advantage of the vast arable land in the region and improve upon its economy to solve the increasing north-south drift. The flag bearer of the party, Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, said this at Koro, a town within the Lambusie constituency, where a mammoth rally was organised as part of his tour of the Upper West Region. According to Dr. Nduom, the Upper West has got all it takes to have a buoyant economy but the lack of a committed government has left the region in the shackles of poverty. He therefore assured the people that the PPP will provide that needed ingredient to make the region one of the leading regions in the country. “We would provide the technological know-how that would help farmers in this region get the opportunity to do farming the whole year instead of the one crop season…,” he said. Agriculture’s contributing to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has declined steadily from the annual average of 50-70% to a negligible figure and this Dr. Nduom observed has arisen as a result of the lack of commitment of government to the sector over the years. He also attributed the continual drifting of the youth of the three northern regions to the south to this menace, and promised to help provide the needed equipment and training to aid improved farming in the region. “A PPP government under my leadership would ensure that we provide irrigation schemes that would help our farmers in this part of the country to embark on three main crop seasons instead of the traditional one season,” Dr. Nduom added. “With this improvement in farming, he added, would come the building of Agro-based industries to add value to our crops like maize, soya bean, and sorghum so that we would have value from what we are producing instead of always exporting the raw materials.” He maintained that the construction of the industries would provide employment that can help stop the north-south migration and also bridge the developmental gap between the north and south. As a means of opening up the region for investment, Dr. Nduom pledged to construct inter-regional highways in the north to replace the dusty un-tarred roads that hamper movement within the region. The PPP parliamentary aspirant for the Lambusie constituency, Mr. Peinpuo Ernest Sangare Weirmann, also appealed to the constituents to vote the party to power to solve the developmental challenges in the constituency. Speaking in his native Sisali dialect, the parliamentary candidate encouraged his constituents to hope for better education, healthcare and jobs with the party’s assumption of power. He urged the people to see the PPP as the only party that can implement the free continuous and compulsory education from kindergarten to SHS that would bring quality education to the constituency “because we are the originators of the idea.”