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Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Friday launched the afforestation component of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA ), at Vea in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region. Under the five-year component, 50 millions trees would be planted in the ecological zones of the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta and some parts of the Brong Ahafo Regions. The Vice President explained that the project, which would cost about 75million Ghana cedis, was expected to engage more than 10,000 youth, and stressed that this would help improve the livelihoods of the people as well as protect the northern regions from desertification. He said Ghanaians, including chiefs, school children and workers, civil society organizations would be involved in the exercise, adding that under the project a day would be set aside in Ghana for the planting of tress. �The project is dear to government and it will not only engage the brigades that will be recruited but will involve all major stakeholders in communities particularly the chiefs�, he emphasized. Vice President Mahama said that government was committed to the implementation of SADA, and debunked the allegation being raised by some people that it was only paying lip service to SADA. He said what have been done so far on SADA attested to the fact that government was committed to its fullest implementation. Vice President Mahama said during the farming season last year, 6,000 small hold farmers were supported with improved seedlings, fertilizers and extension services that led to an increase in agriculture production. �Following the success story, SADA will be supporting 16,000 small hold farmers in the Northern Savannah Ecological Zones and 30,000 fertilizers will be distributed to them including extension services and improved seeds. SADA has also added tractor services where small holder farms would be ploughed free of charge for them�, the Vice President said. He said SADA was targeting the private sector to add values to the produce of SADA by ensuring that it partners with the sector. The Vice President cited the recent launch of the share nut processing plant at Bupie as part of efforts to add value to produce to make it more marketable locally and internationally. He announced that between July and August this year, SADA would establish a rice mill along the Nyankpala road in the northern region to produce 5,000 metric tones of rice per a day. The Vice President said the defunct GIHOC factory would also be revamped to produce groundnuts oil and vegetable oil for local consumption and export.