PLAN GHANA ASSISTS 8 SISSALA WEST COMMUNITIES (PAGE 22)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Nyimati

THE erratic rainfall pattern in northern Ghana and for that matter the Upper West Region, has often led to a very unsatisfactory cultivation of agricultural produce in that part of the country.
The reason is that many of the farmers in that area rely on rains for the cultivation of their crops.
The farmers are, therefore, compelled to idle about during the dry season and start farming when the rains set in. The prevailing situation, coupled with lack of other employment opportunities, has made the Upper West one of the very poor regions in the country with people often finding it extremely difficult to put food on the table.
It is in the light of this that Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), took it upon itself to construct eight multi-purpose dams in eight communities in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region, to make the farmers active, even during the dry season.
Experiencing only one rainy season in a year, unlike that of the southern part of the country, which has two rainy seasons, the dams are to enhance food production with high nutritional value in the Upper West Region.
They have reservoirs stocked with fish and troughs to serve as sources of drinking water for animals.
Furthermore, the dams would, among other things, provide water for farmers in the dry season, especially for vegetable cultivation, livestock watering and the cultivation of fish.
Constructed at a cost of GH¢3 million ($3.2 million), the dams have the capacity of irrigating 92 hectares of land.
The beneficiary communities include Nimara, Buoti, Zini, Kupulima, Jefissi and Pulima, all in the Sissala West District. To ensure that the water and the dams are protected, a 15-member committee known as the Water Users Association (WUA) has been formed. Its activities would be guided by a constitution to regulate the allocation, uses and the governance of the dams. There are also subcommittees for cropping, livestock production and fisheries.
In collaboration with the Sissala West District Assembly and the communities, Plan Ghana has also assisted in providing household latrines and insecticide treated mosquito nets to forestall the contamination of water and malarial infection among the people.
Inaugurating the projects, a Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture in charge of livestock, Miss Anna Nyamekye, said despite the enormous returns people reaped from agriculture, several factors were still hindering its development to make it more profitable.
She said the issue of post-harvest losses, the use of obsolete agricultural inputs and the unavailability of potential markets for farm produce, among other negative factors, were affecting farmers, especially those in the Upper West Region.
She said that had contributed to the low income and worst nutritional indicators in the region, stressing that the government would help tackle the problem.
Miss Nyamekye also commended Plan Ghana for the initiative and urged the beneficiary communities to ensure that the institutions established worked efficiently for the longer lifespan of the dams.
She further advised farmers to endeavour to report agricultural extension officers whose performance fell below expectation
For his part, the Country Director of Plan Ghana, Mr Samuel Paulos, advised the communities to put the dams to maximum use to ensure an all-year-round food production.
He also pledged Plan Ghana’s preparedness to continue to provide financial and technical support for the beneficiary communities to build their capacities.
In a speech read on his behalf the Jefissi Kuoro, Alhaji Saani Sulemani, thanked Plan Ghana for the project and described it as a relief to save the people of the area from their economic difficulties.
The Regional Manager of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), Mr George Tagoe, who supervised the construction of the dams, told the Daily Graphic that the dams met modern standards, stressing that when it was well catered for, it would be of much benefit to the people.
He said apart from the troughs and water tanks, two gauges had been installed close to the intake structures of the dams to monitor the water level of the reservoir.