The meetings, which took place at Damongo and Wa, brought together municipal and district chief executives, heads of decentralized departments, civil society organizations, traditional authorities, development partners, and other stakeholders.

The participants were taken through the medium-term development plan, which seeks to adopt a series of integrated strategies to address the development challenges confronting the Northern Savannah Ecological zone.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NDA, Sulley Sambian, lauded the stakeholders for their contributions towards the development of the five-year development strategy and appealed to them to support its implementation.

“As stakeholders, we believe that your contributions to the strategy are key. This is why we are calling on all of you to feel free to offer your support and contributions towards the successful implementation of the development plan,” said Mr. Sambian.

The NDA’s five-year development strategy has six main objectives on increasing household incomes, accelerating human development through access to quality social services, promoting private sector actions capable of delivering broad-based and inclusive growth, and sustaining livelihoods by developing capacity on land governance.

The other objectives focus on biodiversity conservation and climate change as well as enhancing social cohesion, peace and security.

Mr. Sambian said the medium-term development strategy sets out the focus of the NDA for the period 2023-2027 and is designed to achieve the greatest possible impact for people and communities in the Savannah Ecological Zone.

“With a special focus on poverty reduction, job creation, and sustainable production systems, the NDA will lead in actions that will extend the economic agency of women, men, and young people, and groups at the farthest frontiers,” he said.

Participants at the meetings gave their comments and contributions to the implementation of the five-year development strategy.

Mr. Sambian and his team also paid courtesy calls on the overlords of the Gonja and Waala kingdoms, Yabgonwura Bii-Kunoto Soale I and Naa Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo IV respectively, as well as the regional ministers of the Savannah and Upper West regions, where he took the opportunity to brief them on the five-year development plan.

The meetings were a valuable opportunity for the NDA to share its development vision with stakeholders and to get their input on how to make the strategy a success.

The NDA he said is committed to working with all stakeholders to achieve its goals and to improve the lives of people in the Savannah Ecological Zone.