Story: Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah, Sunyani

Construction work on 13 water systems to serve about 175,000 people has been completed in the Brong Ahafo Region at a total cost of GH¢5,540,000 under the World Bank’s Small Towns Water and Sanitation Project.
The successful completion of the project has thus increased water coverage in rural communities and small towns to 55.1 per cent from the previous percentage of 46.
The beneficiary towns are Suma Ahenkro, Sampa, Dwenem, Mim, Akrodie, Sankore, Kukuom, Jinjini, Koraso, Kantaka, Yeji/Kokrompe, Amantin and Bomaa.
Mr Ignatius Baffour-Awuah, the Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, who disclosed this in Sunyani at an Ordinary Meeting of the Regional Co-ordinating Council (RCC), said the World Bank had also approved $10 million under the same project for the provision of small piped systems for five other communities.
He named the towns as Nkyiraa/Nwoase in the Wenchi District; Goka in the Jaman South District; Aworowa in the Techiman Municipality and Katakyiekrom in the Jaman North District.
Furthermore, the regional minister indicated that the government in collaboration with the Agence Francaise de Development, was to implement a $20 million Rural and Peri-Urban Water and Sanitation Project in the region, beginning this year.
According to him, about 17 small water supply schemes and 621 boreholes would be constructed under the project, which would benefit all the 19 districts in the region.
For the previous year, Mr Baffour-Awuah noted that the region achieved between two to three per cent increase in production levels in all the major staples, namely, maize, cassava, yam, plantain, rice and cocoyam.
In that case, he said, the region did not anticipate food shortages, especially when it enjoyed favourable rainfall and weather conditions during the minor season, stressing that comparative marked prices indicate fairly stable prices in major staples, compared to the same period in 2006.
Mr Baffour-Awuah emphasised that the Wenchi Research Station in collaboration with the Crop Research Institute (CRI), the Plant Genetic Resource and the Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme, were undertaking studies in plant material multiplication in cassava, yam, soybean and maize, to ensure regular supply of planting materials for farmers in the region.
He added that the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC) had tasked the station to produce certified seeds and grains for distribution to farmers and use the plots as good practice centres for training farmers.