12 months of agricultural activities using water from the Volta Lake to help implement the 24-hour economy of President Mahama
The agricultural sector of Ghana is largely subsistence-based and dominated by the crop subsector. Several efforts have been made by successive governments since independence to feed the country. Despite all these efforts Ghana still remains a major importer of food products, with imports estimated to have reached $2.6 billion in 2022. Ghana imported 1.3 million tonnes of paddy rice in 2020 as compared to one million tonnes produced locally. In 2020 Ghana imported other products: 873,000 tonnes of wheat; 84,333 tonnes of soybeans; 49,963 tonnes of shea nuts; and 22,312 tonnes of malt. Fruits and vegetables imported in 2020 included apples-11,160 tonnes, garlic -7,081 tonnes and tomatoes-4,000 tonnes. (Ghana’s agriculture sector report, 2023).
Challenges in local
production are:
Lack of sustainable large-scale and small-scale irrigation projects; due to inefficient water distribution, unsatisfactory operation and maintenance, uncoordinated irrigation support services, land tenure issues and weak extension support system.
Poor funding of research and development; over the years, serious concern has been raised about the increasing decline in funding of actual agricultural research and development activities.
Low mechanisation and Poor adoption (by farmers) of research findings/Technology; generally, farmers are slow to adopt new technologies because they are not exposed to it or cannot trust how well it would affect their production.
Cumbersome land tenure systems; this is not controlled by central government but by chiefs, families and other communal structures.
Poor Financial Support; the financial sector players involved in agricultural financing consider agriculture as high risk.
Heavy post-harvest losses due to poor transportation and lack of storage facilities; road, transport and storage infrastructure for the movement and storage of agricultural commodities and inputs are inadequate.
Inadequate agriculture extension services; the extension officer to farmer ratio stands at 1:706 as compared to FAO standard of 1:500.
Aging farmers and limited interest of the youth in agriculture; the youth perceive farming as a low-status profession, physically demanding and unsuitable for the educated.
These, on a broad outline, are the major causes of challenges in the agricultural sector in Ghana. This article is an attempt to prescribe a sustainable solution to Ghana’s agriculture problems, focusing on exploring and using water in the Volta Lake and Volta Basin, which lies across the country. This constitutes a shift from rain-fed agriculture to small-scale and large -scale irrigation.
Ghana has the potential to irrigate approximately 1.9 million hectares of land, though only a small fraction, around 1.6 per cent, or 31,000 hectares, is currently under fully controlled irrigation. Of this 1.9 million hectares of estimated land suitable for irrigation, 1.2 million hectares lie within the Volta basin. Research findings have proved the productivity-enhancing role of irrigation. The Volta Lake and its basin represent a good opportunity for developing irrigation schemes. About 178, 068 hectares out of 335,092 hectares of the Accra Plains could be irrigated by gravity and by pumping water from the Volta Lake. Drawdown irrigation farming was successfully carried out complemented with sprinkler irrigation water by using small pumps at VRA’s resettlement township of Ampem. People living in the whole of the Afram arm of the Volta Lake have broadly adopted this method of farming. The Afram area has thus become important for the production of tomatoes and other short maturing crops during the dry months between November and May. Kpong Farms Limited was created by the VRA in order to promote leadership in agricultural systems, irrigation practices and food processing technologies. The objective of the authority was mainly to prove that irrigation is economically viable and can be adopted to cover the Accra Plains. (Boubacar BARRY et al., 2005).
The prevailing weather conditions in the country, particularly the northern parts are such that the provision of irrigation technologies is critical for sustainable agricultural production, job and wealth creation for development. Investments in irrigation technologies would maximise water usage for improved agricultural production likely to translate to improved livelihoods of the people who depend on agriculture for survival. Irrigation technologies would encourage farmers; especially women and the youth to go into all year-round crop production for jobs and wealth creation. Regions like the Upper East region have a significant potential for small-scale irrigation development, estimated at 130,000 to 190,000 ha. (Mubarik Salifu et al., 2020)
The NDC government has on its manifesto “The Farmer Centres Programme” which will furnish farming communities with farm inputs to enhance their productivity. This is a laudable approach to support our subsistent farmers who constitute about 80 per cent.
The Volta Lake and its Basin, with a tentatively estimated irrigation potential of 1.2 million hectares, is an area where smallholder crop-livestock farmers can be supported to become more competitive by strengthening existing value chains and exploring innovations within the constraints to increase production. If properly managed, the Volta Lake and its Basin alone has the potential to feed the nation and export agricultural products.
Recommendations:
It is my humble conviction that the following recommendations, if adopted, would go a long way to help alleviate/mitigate Ghana’s agricultural challenges.
1. Enhance subsistence farming within the Volta Lake and Basin by establishing “Farmer Centres” to supply agricultural inputs and augment production.
2. Design productivity enhancing support package for small-scale commercial farmers within the Volta Lake.
3. Rehabilitate existing irrigation projects that are non-functional or functioning below optimum levels.
4. Develop new irrigation projects.
5. Promote water conservation methods by adopting drip irrigation.
6. Develop catchment areas around dams and water sources to promote agricultural production.
7. Adapt all-hands-on-deck approach by fostering partnerships with government agencies, NGOs and private sector organisations to leverage resources, expertise and funding.
8. Build the capacity of farming communities by organizing training workshops on irrigation management, best-fit, best practices of agriculture and agri-business.
9. Incorporate a very strong research and development component using demand-driven approaches.
10. Government policies should be comprehensive, coordinated and encompassing all aspects of agriculture from production to markets.
Conclusions:
My sincere believe is that if these recommendations are applied, there would be the desirable impact of the Volta Lake and Basin alone feeding the nation with surpluses for export.
The writer is a Research Scientist (Rtd), Agronomy
BY EMMANUEL KAMBAN PANYAN (PHD)
