Dr Sulley Gariba, Policy Advisor for the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), on Friday announced that the programme had taken off with an initial fund of GH¢ 25 Million. He said before the recruitment of permanent staff, which would be advertised next month, the Authority would in the interim assist victims affected by flood last year in the catchment areas of the programme, to reclaim their property and wealth that were destroyed. Dr Gariba said the Authority would also help farmers with improved seeds and other inputs during this year’s farming activities to enable them to increase their acreage of cultivation. He announced this during a day’s update programme meeting with the SADA board members and their partners, in Accra. Dr Gariba said when SADA begins with its maximum operations, it would take into consideration all existing interventions to avoid duplication in the implementation of programmes in the sector. “The duty of SADA is not to replace the existing programmes or create duplication, but to augment and expand whatever is happening to create greater opportunities for the people to enjoy the real benefits of the programme.” Dr Gariba said the SADA was considering the option of instituting a levy to permanently sustain the programme, rather than depending on budgetary allocation and donor funds in the future, and called for ideas in that direction for the programme to materialise. Mrs Blandina Batiir, a member of the SADA Board, who spoke with Ghana News Agency after the meeting said the policy initiative was timely, particularly when the northern ecological zone was losing its wealth in the face of natural disasters such as floods, droughts and land degradation. She said agriculture, which is the mainstay and backbone of the country’s economy would experience a massive change and sustenance under the programme, since women, men, children and the vulnerable would be assisted in their ventures. Mrs Batiir said the fact that SADA would be mainly implemented by the private sector was soul relieving as the sector would do everything possible to maintain its balance irrespective of economic constraints. She said: “The good thing about SADA is that the programme is not going to operate in a vacuum, but will rather support existing projects which I believe has the potential of surviving forever.” The SADA is a government policy, initiated to bridge the yawning gap between the Northern and southern areas of the country in terms of physical development and poverty alleviation among other issues that undermine growth and development in the northern sector. Its current catchment areas are within the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions and selected parts of the Volta and Brong Ahafo Regions. Source: GNA