GDCA Sensitise Stakeholders on Its Activities

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NGO Workshop
NGO Workshop

The Ghana Developing Communities Association (GDCA), an NGO based in Tamale, has held a day’s workshop to educate stakeholders on a Project to Support Livestock Mobility for Better Access to Resources and Markets in West Africa (PAMOBARMA).

The PAMOBARMA project’s main objective is to protect the mobility of the herds and their access to pastoral resources and markets.

The European Union and the French Development Organisation jointly funded the project with an amount of 592,021.24 Euros for a period of 50 months.

The workshop, held in Tamale, was attended by some representatives from the Northern Regional Co-Coordinating Council, representatives of some Municipal and District Chief Executives, representatives from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Veterinary Services, Security Services, Traditional authorities, members from the Fulani community among others.

The project is also the second phase of a project known as Strengthening the Resilience of Agro-Pastoral Systems in West Africa (PARSAO) implemented in 2015 by the GDCA and a French partner, Acting for Life (AFL).

The PARSAO project was also aimed at improving the socio-economic development of the livestock sector throughout the ECOWAS Sub-Region.

Dr Osman Al-hassan, Chair of the GDCA said for some decades, livestock production system had been affected by economic and institutional changes in the West African region, thereby affecting transhumance activities.

He said the ECOWAS regional integration policies on the free trans-border movements, harassment and restrictions were still imposed on transhumance.

Dr Al-hassan said it was therefore necessary to launch the PAMOBARMA project since it would help address some of the challenges of livestock production by developing livestock infrastructures such as livestock markets, loading platforms, movement corridors as well as support local authorities to harness the potentials within the livestock sector in their administrative areas.

He, therefore, called on all stakeholders to give their unflinching support to help achieve the project’s goals to enhance job creation and promote peaceful co-existence within communities.

Mr Lukman Yussif, the Project Manager of PAMOBARMA, in a presentation said during the first phase of the PARSAO project, Bawku, Pusiga, Tamale, Buipe, and Gushegu were the areas that the project concentrated on in terms of monitoring livestock markets.

He said GDCA also created a platform in the Gushegu municipality and the Karaga district for herders, crop farmers, traditional authorities, opinion leaders and media to educate and promote understanding of their roles in creating peace and co-existence with transhumance.

He also said livestock data monitoring items were put in place to collect data from the livestock markets in some of the districts in the northern region and the Upper East region, which would help local authorities generate revenue from this market for development.

Mr Yussif said the specific objectives of PAMOBARMA project were to prepare conditions for access to natural resources and mobility of herds by strengthening the capabilities of key actors at the cross-border level, improving the living conditions of Agro-pastoral population by providing livestock corridors, access to veterinary services and to consolidate cross-border mobility of herders by enhancing cooperation at the regional authority levels.

He said it was therefore significant that decentralized authorities and Civil Society Organisations teamed up with GDCA to help consolidate the gains made in the first phase of the PARSAO project implementation to make the PAMOBARMA project a success.

He also urged the decentralized institutions to take up project activities and integrate them in their development agenda and comprehensive plan on transhumance management to help maximize the economic benefits of transhumance.

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