The GPSNP was implemented in 80 Assemblies under the collaborative supervision of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralization and Rural Development with the aim to strengthen and improve the social safety net to include the poor and vulnerable.

The project was initiated in 2018 with financial and technical assistance from the World Bank with US$ 60 million support to the Government of Ghana to improve the productivity of the poor and vulnerable including women and persons living with disabilities.

Madam Vida Akatagriwen Anaab, the Builsa North Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), at an event to disburse the money, said the Municipality was a beneficiary of the GPSNP.

She indicated that the beneficiaries were persons who were already on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme.

“Builsa North Municipality is very grateful to the Government of Ghana under the leadership of President Akufo-Addo and the World Bank for the GPSNP which trained about 313 LEAP beneficiaries with the requisite knowledge and skills,” she said.

Madam Anaab said the beneficiaries, drawn from five communities in the Municipality, were trained in guinea fowl and pig rearing, ‘dawadawa’ and shea butter processing among others, and the capital would help them start their own businesses.

“The start-up capital is meant for them to acquire the tools and equipment to help them work in their respective fields of training. Hopefully, in 2023, the project would be extended to another set of five communities in the Municipality,” the MCE said.

Mr Roger Assibilla Akeeda, Head of the Business Advisory Centre (BAC) in the Municipality, expressed gratitude to Government and the World Bank for the GPSNP, and called for more projects to benefit the poor and vulnerable people in the Municipality.

He entreated the beneficiaries to use the money for the intended purpose, so that their businesses would grow and enable them to also employ the teeming unemployed youth in the area.

Some beneficiaries who received their share of the money, were happy about the initiative, and pledged to use the money for the intended purpose.

Madam Awujoklie Abachingsa, who was trained in guinea fowl rearing, said “This project has come as a relief to me, and I am grateful. We were trained on how to care for guinea fowls, especially the health aspect, and how to raise appropriate structures to house them.”

Another beneficiary, Mr Wisdom Anang, who also received training on pig rearing, said he had already constructed the pigsty and was ready to immediately go into the pig rearing business, which he described as lucrative.