BUDGETARY CONTRAINTS HINDER IMPLEMENTATION OF RELC (PAGE 46, JUNE 7, 2010)

The Volta Regional Research Extension Linkage Committee’s (RELC’s) work is being hindered by poor implementation of its findings and budgetary constraints.
The RELC is an offshoot of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA).
Opening a two-day review and planning session of RELC in Ho, the Deputy Volta Regional Director of MoFA, Mr John Tsrakasu, said the RELC was set up in 1989 to co-ordinate activities of farmers in the region, to find out their problems and to introduce them to best practices in agriculture.
But Mr Tsrakasu lamented that the inability of MoFA to decentralise responsibilities and resources to local and community levels was hindering effective participation and sustainability of the programme.
“The refusal to approve budgets to facilitate the decentralisation of its operations but concentrated everything at the national level has been identified as its main hindrance to the successful implementation of the RELC findings,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to the authorities to expand the capacity of the local management and develop a broad policy framework that would allow local participants to contribute their quota to national development.
Mr Tsrakasu said the review and planning workshops were meant to be held annually to evaluate the performance of AJADSCO and identify the challenges members faced in their work and find solutions to them to ensure improved practices for the farmers. The evaluating officers include agricultural extension officers, scientists and farmer-based organisations.
Mr Tsrakasu said because of the constraints, only three review sessions had been held so far.
He questioned how they could run a project without a budget to work with, since the budget was planned without the input and involvement of the ministry.
He said so far, over GH¢100,000.00 had been expended on the project and could not tell whether it was the non decentralisation of the project which was threatening the existence of AJADSCO.
He explained that invitation could not be extended to a greater number of farmers to be part of the session due to financial constraints.