PLAN GHANA ENCOURAGES DRY SEASON FARMING...In Sissala District (PAGE 20)

Story: Chris Nunoo, Pulima

THE provision of dams by Plan Ghana, an international non-governmental organisation (NGO), through its livelihood empowerment programme, to the people of the Sissala District of the Upper-West Region, has been described by the farmers as a lifetime investment, which has brought a new lease of life to their families and households.
They said until the dams were constructed, all they had to do during the dry season was to idle about, sit under trees or probably go round picking firewood.
Barely three months after the dams were formally handed over to the communities, lands around them had been taken over by the farmers for the cultivation of fresh vegetables, including okro, cabbage, carrots and onions.
The dam sites are gradually picking up at market centres as many people including commuters who drive through the towns, pass by the farms to purchase some of the fresh produce.
This, notwithstanding, the dams also serve as a source of drinking water for livestock while those who are engaged in fish farming are also making very good use of them.
These came to light when the Daily Graphic paid a familiarisation visit to the farms of some of the beneficiary communities and interacted with the farmers.
The beneficiary communities, which include Nyimati, Pulima, Buoti and Jefissi, expressed appreciation to Plan Ghana for the project and asked for more of such interventions.
“The dams have actually brought life to our communities. Before the construction of the dams, we had to wait for the rains before we could work on the farms,” some of the farmers told the Daily Graphic.
The farmers also said they now had enough produce to send home for domestic use.
Speaking in separate interviews, some of the farmers — Madam Talata Yakubu, Madam Mamoro Sankoro, Madam Adisa Ali Hantong and Madam Mariama Sumani Haduon — said currently, they could heave a sigh of relief.
They showered praises on Plan Ghana for the initiative, stressing that “now we can eat well and put some money in our pockets as well”.
“The dams have really helped us, but for the dams we would have been idling about, sitting under trees or gathering fire wood,” they said, adding that “with the construction of the dams, we’ll be busy always working on our farms”.
As part of assistance to the farmers, field officers of Plan Ghana intermittently pay visits to the farms to study at first-hand what the farmers are doing.
They also take the farmers through some form of orientation as to the type of seedlings they must sow and how to plant the seedlings.
Plan Ghana is also taking measures to organise special training programmes for the farmers on the proper usage of the dams.