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The Board of the Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF) has in the two months of March and April approved about GHC50 million to 12 Ghanaian businesses and institutions. This brings the total approvals for 2014 to GHC105.5 million. A statement signed by Dr Barfour Osei, Acting Chief Executive of EDAIF, said out of the 12 businesses and institutions that received support, seven were awarded grants, totaling GHC31.7 million while the other five received medium term loans totaling GHC18 million. The GHC18 million medium term loans approved are to augment the working capital of a pharmaceutical firm and pineapple farmers to expand on their existing plantations. The pharmaceutical firm would use part of its approved loan to import raw materials to beef up production. In view of the critical role of agriculture in the livelihood of Ghanaian farmers, the EDAIF Board approved GHC19.8 million of the GHC31.7million Grants component for the development of irrigation systems. The funding for irrigation development is consistent with government�s initiative to facilitate all year round agricultural productivity thereby enhancing the livelihoods of farmers. A further GHC10 Million of the grant component is to support youth entrepreneurship development and GHC1.3 million is for capacity building and strategic growth of micro and small scale enterprises. While an additional GHC315,713 is for packaging, fairs and promotion of made-in-Ghana goods with active participation of local industries. The remaining grant of GHC197, 013 is for the procurement of agro-processing equipment. The Board also mandated the Management of the Fund to put the beneficiary businesses and the out growers in touch with the Business Advisory Centres (BAC) of the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) for the purposes of further management training and capacity building. This is to ensure maximum returns for the businesses in the applications of the approved funds. The statement said the Board and Management of EDAIF were committed to ensuring that Ghanaian businesses that need funding to scale up their activities in the areas of export trade, agriculture, relating to agro-processing and industrial development, get the required funding at concessionary interest rates to contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.