The Upper East Region of Ghana possesses the resources to become a transformed economic hub within two decades, but only if its leaders and citizens finally harmonize ideas and move from talk to coordinated action, according to Dr. Michael Wombeogo, Dean of the Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences.
Speaking on the Bluewaves Breakfast Show, Dr. Wombeogo said the region is “on the road toward it, but we are not yet there.” He pointed to existing tomato and meat processing facilities as evidence that infrastructure can work when inflow and outflow systems are properly established. In contrast, he noted the absence of processing plants for rice and the abundant vegetables produced across the region a gap he attributed to a lack of coordinated regional thinking.
“This tells me that as leadership, and as people of the Upper East region, our ideas have simply not been harmonized,” he said.
Dr. Wombeogo described the current Regional Minister’s PEARL approach as an encouraging sign. He argued that if the region holds together, it can develop and implement an “Upper East Strategic Plan,” then seek support from the Government of Ghana and the wider international community. Apart from oil, he said, the region “genuinely has everything it needs.”
He was candid about the region’s shortcomings, “As a region, we talk a great deal and act too little.” While acknowledging that the minister’s plan is sound though costly, he called for traditional leaders, political figures, academics, and technical experts to convene without political bias or personal agendas. The fundamental questions, he said, must be: What do we want? How should it look? When do we want it achieved? And where do we begin?
Dr. Wombeogo advocated an integrated economic vision. He cited the Red Volta area as a potential site for a processing plant backed by improved roads, electricity (including solar power), and organized production of rice, legumes, and other crops. Existing irrigation schemes at Vea and Tono, along with investments already made in dams, should be incorporated into the same plan.
He also highlighted the Bawku enclave, a major producer of legumes, onions, and vegetables. Much of this produce currently “simply rots along the supply chain,” he said. Establishing mechanized processing facilities there, he argued, could within a few years generate both raw and processed materials capable of supplying the entire country.
Dr. Wombeogo’s comments underscore a broader challenge facing many agricultural regions in West Africa converting abundant primary production into higher value processed goods through coordinated planning, infrastructure, and local ownership of development priorities.
By Gayheart Abraham
Source: Mybluevesonline.come/Maurice Duncan/Bolgatanga
