Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, and Hon Leader.
Mr Speaker, I rise to contribute to the Statements ably made by my two Hon Colleagues on the commemoration of World Poverty Eradication Day.
Mr Speaker, the issue of poverty is something that needs to be looked at properly and I would want to state that, poverty is not only in the three northern regions of Upper East, Upper West and the Northern, but in the northern part of the Central Region, Brong Ahafo Region and some parts of the Western Region. Mr Speaker, I can even assure you that in the urban areas, we have certain communities that are poverty ridden.
Mr Speaker, it would be noted that, policies that are many at times, put up do not go far in helping. I would not say “eradicate” but “reduce”. This is because we would only be able to reduce the level of poverty. To eradicate it is another issue.
Mr Speaker, I say so because in this country, the three northern regions, as we have always referred to, have certain peculiar issues that need to be looked at critically.
For instance, the agriculture sector, which is what most of the people from the three northern regions depend and live on for everything that they need, is not properly catered for.
Mr Speaker, the three northern regions, unfortunately, naturally have got only one season of rainfall. Sometimes, we do not have enough rains. Mr Speaker, to help and revamp the agriculture sector in these northern regions, it is important that we put a measure in place to make sure that we support dry season farmers.
Mr Speaker, a lot of the water that comes to the southern sector, either to the Lake Volta or to the sea, comes right down from the northern sector. But what do we see? Most of the water eventually drains into the ground and goes waste. We are not able to make good use of this water by trapping it in large quantities to enable its use for agricultural purposes.
Mr Speaker, we have the Bagre Dam that is situated in Burkina Faso. From time to time, when it is flooded, the Burkinabes simply open it, the water drains down through the White Volta, causes flooding, we carry that problem and at the end of the day, the water leaves us with nothing. What are we doing?
If this can be done in Burkina Faso for the farmers there are to make good use of it, why can we not trap this water at the White Volta to make sure that farmers also use it and that we benefit?
Mr Speaker, most of our rice fields, especially in the Northern Region, lie fallow because of lack of rain, lack of inputs and many at times, support to make sure that those who do large scale farming are able to work well.
Mr Speaker, in the good old days, young as I might have been at that time, we realised that even people from the Upper East and Upper West Regions also went to the Northern Region to participate in rice farming.
Most of the women and girls and for that matter, even the young men never travelled down south as it happens today to come and look for jobs that never exist. Some of them are those who have just stopped schooling simply because they believe that they can make it in the urban areas.
If the area of agriculture is revamped properly, Mr Speaker, it would go a long way to stop the girls and women from leaving their homes and running down to the urban areas.
Mr Speaker, we need support for the few farmers who are able to remain and do the little that they are doing.
We give loans to farmers and at the end of the day, there is no consideration for them when there are post-harvest losses. We compel them to pay as expected with interest. Where would they get those moneys from?
At the end of the day, some farmers are afraid to go for loans because they fear that if they are unable to make it after sales, they would be compelled to pay or be arrested.
There is the need for measures to supplement and make sure that if there is proper monitoring, we would be able to tell whether the farmer has made it or not. For instance, in my village Pusiga, at this time, a big basin of tomatoes goes for GH¢20.00 and onions go for GH¢25.00.
I would not talk about the labour, but imagine the fertilizer and seeds. How would such a person make it if he or she has gone to purchase fertilizers at high prices or with a loan? Do we have a ready market for these vegetables and other products that come up at the end of the day?
There is the need for ready market to support the farmer. There is the need for ready market to make sure that the farmer does not feel that his or her work is just for gratis.
Mr Speaker, education is very key. In the past administration, we had support given to the girl child. Many a time, we looked at it as something not relevant. To the girl child, especially those in Junior High School (JHS) -- today it has come back to haunt most of these girls.
Some of the girls have stopped school and do not want to go to school, simply because we have stopped supplying them with sanitary pads. This is very important. You could look at it in any way. When you get back to the schools in the villages, because of the poverty levels, they are not able to get moneys to buy.
We should be able to support them to be in school and learn. In the future, their education would help them and their parents so that they get out of poverty.
Mr Speaker, I could go on but there is no need. This is because the kayayei in Accra, Kumasi, Kintampo, Techiman, Cape Coast and others need our support to make sure that they get out of poverty. This would enable them go back to their various communities to work and have the children they produce be in school, so that the poverty cycle does not continue.
I believe that if we implement policies very well and they are supported, it would go a long way to help us.
Mr Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity.
