The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called on the government to address the challenges faced by farmers in Northern Ghana by fast-tracking policy direction to strategically invest in creating viable irrigation facilities to grow the economy.
The Association said the region was blessed with arable farmlands, which could change the face of the economy when the government considers rehabilitating existing irrigation facilities and providing water sources for farmers all year round.
This call was made by the Executive Director of PFAG, Dr. Charles Kwowe Nyaaba at a maiden Kayoro Sorghum Farmers awards ceremony, organized by PFAG.
Speaking to the media, he said that the rehabilitation of these irrigation facilities and the provision of water sources would make farming more attractive for people, especially the youth; thereby, creating employment opportunities, reducing poverty, reducing rural-urban migration, and attaining food security.
According to him, he regretted the importation of food from other countries. He said Ghana imports tomatoes from Burkina Faso when Ghana can invest in its agricultural sector to make the country the food basket of West Africa.
Statistics from the Ghana National Tomatoes Traders and Transporters Association indicated that Ghana spends about $99.5million to import fresh tomatoes from Burkina Faso annually.
Dr. Nyaaba said this was unacceptable thus the opportune time for the government to invest in effective irrigation systems must be looked at.
According to him, most of the dams that have been constructed to aid in irrigation had dried up while some had siltation and other challenges, contributing to low agricultural output and compelling the people to rely solely on rainfall to engage in farming.
In a statement, he said, “Most of our youth are in the southern sector looking for jobs and the jobs are not available and yet we have arable land here which is very fertile but there is no water, so we are appealing to the government to de-silt the silted dams.”
Hed however urged the government to take a keen interest in the challenge and revisit the dams under the One Village One Dam (1V1D) policy to create a sustainable framework of available water sources for farming.
Also, a farmer at Kayoro in Northern Ghana complained about the difficulty encountered by farmers in the town due to the late distribution of fertilizers in the middle of the season.
At the awards ceremony, about 100 farmers were awarded knapsack sprayers, smartphones, PFAG branded clothes and T-shirts for efforts in the production of sorghum in 2021.
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