He said out of the number, 58percent were women.

Alhaji Dauda said this at a two day forum on the FSEF project organised by Ministry for Local Government and Rural Development in collaboration with Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Government of Canada.

The forum was also to share experiences and the achievements of FSEF project in the three northern regions. The eight-year 14,300,000 Canadian dollar FSEF project, was to deliver and disseminate innovative food security and sustainable agricultural programmes in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions.

Alhaji Collins said the project which sought to promote sustainable agricultural practices, also supported small scale farmers in accessing land.  He said there is the need for the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Local Government authorities to collaborate in dealing with food security concerns, by providing the basic infrastructure that would support the production and distribution of food crops.

Mr Abdallah Abubakari, Northern Regional Minister, in a speech read on his behalf, said due to the effects of climate change on production, he would appeal to the programme sponsor to extend the project or design a similar one to address poverty in the three regions in the North.

He said the Regional Coordinating Council would continue to ensure that the project succeeds.