The Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation, and Rural Development has launched the second stage of the Integrated Rural Development Project (IRDP). This substantial initiative aims to reduce poverty and create job prospects.
With a budget of $24 million, this program, set to run from 2022 to 2027, centers on collaboration with the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). The objective is to offer vital infrastructure and economic empowerment to 23 disadvantaged districts throughout Ghana.
The initiative was introduced by Daniel Kwaku Botwe, the minister responsible for the sector, during a ceremony held in Accra on Wednesday, August 23, 2023.
This comprehensive endeavor is set to make meaningful contributions to sectors such as education and healthcare, while also striving to eliminate poverty and enhance sustainable income growth within rural communities through the provision of microcredit.
The IRDP consists of four pivotal components, encompassing the provisioning of socio-economic infrastructure, extending credit to small-scale and medium enterprises (SMEs), conducting outreach, sensitization, and capacity-building initiatives, as well as effective management and coordination.
The financial structure of the project comprises a $20 million loan facility from OFID, complemented by contributions of $800,000 from the government and $3.2 million from beneficiary districts.
These districts include Tema West (Greater Accra), Afigya Kwabre North, Sekyere Central, Offinso North, and Sekyere Afram Plains (Ashanti), Okere, Akuapim South, and Ayensuano (Eastern), Assin North and Awutu Senya (Central), Essikado-Ketan (Western), Adaklu (Volta), Karaga (Northern), Binduri (Upper East), Sunyani West and Wenchi (Bono), Techiman (Bono East), Lambussie (Upper West), Akotombra (Western North), Krachi West (Oti), Asunafo South (Ahafo), East Gonja (Savannah), and Chereponi (North East).
Emphasizing the need for accountability, Minister Dan Botwe highlighted that the success of the IRDP lies in stringent oversight at the local level. He urged Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) to enforce accountability systems, closely monitor project implementation, and ensure value for money through transparent procurement processes.
“The engineers, planners and other technical staff at the assemblies should be able to give accurate progress reports on the projects, and the MMDCEs must insist that this is done,” the minister emphasised.
The minister also emphasized that project outcomes should tangibly benefit local populations and urged stakeholders to prioritize the voices of beneficiaries.
“People should be able to see, feel and experience the impact of the projects when they are completed.
Let it not just be another project that offers an opportunity for people to make money while the people suffer,” he added.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Social Investment Fund, Justice Mensah Amankwah, echoed these sentiments, lauding the project’s potential to alleviate poverty, create jobs, and contribute to national development.
“I am particularly happy that this project is taking off because it aligns with the goals and agenda of the government to open up all parts of the country to development,” he stated.
On his part, Emeritus Professor Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, who was the chairman for the occasion called on the project implementers to ensure that needs of the masses are at the center of such interventions.
“The voices of the beneficiaries are important, so let us keep that in focus when the projects are implemented,” the former Vice-Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) underscored.
The launch of IRDP phase two represents a significant stride towards fostering local economies and enhancing nationwide development. The successes of the initial phase underscore the potential benefits of this ongoing initiative for the newly added 23 beneficiary districts.
Under the first component of the project, beneficiary MMDAs will receive 215 basic socio-economic infrastructure units including 51 mechainsed boreholes, 43 sanitation facilities, 42 six-unit classroom blocks, 20 teachers’ quarters, 19 culvert/drains, 15 rural clinics, 15 nurses quarters and 1 market which will be distributed across the various assemblies.
The second component of the project will ensure the provision of credit to SMEs along the agriculture value chain adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.