Lesotho Wire

Dr Charles Nyaaba, the Executive Director of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), says developing the country’s irrigation infrastructure is non-negotiable if farmers have to adapt to the impact of climate change and develop the agricultural sector.

He said irrigation played a crucial role in sustaining agriculture, ensuring food security, and supporting livelihoods around the world.

He said by providing water to crops at the right time and in the right amount, irrigation helped farmers to increase crop yields and grow a variety of crops throughout the year.

Dr Nyaaba said typical examples of irrigation in agricultural development were Israel, Egypt, China, Libya, and Burkina Faso.

The Executive Director said irrigation contributed significantly to the economy by boosting agricultural productivity, creating employment opportunities, and supporting rural development.

‘Our experience is that in all our operational areas; poverty is less endemic in districts with proper irrigation infrastructure
compared with those without and no country in today’s era, developed its agricultural sector without developing its irrigation infrastructure,’ he added.

He said to address the irrigation situation in Ghana, the government in 2019 undertook various irrigation initiatives to improve the number of irrigable lands under cultivation, especially in Northern Ghana.

The ‘One Village One Dam’ (1V1D) initiative, which has the primary objective of providing at least one dam in every village to ensure all-year-round agriculture is a typical example.

From 2019 to 2020 alone, 400 smaller dams were dug across Northern Ghana to ensure support for agriculture and domestic activities during the dry season.

He said irrigation was key to the activities of PFAG, ‘we assessed in 2020 to ascertain how useful these dams could be to our members.’

Dr Nyaaba said unfortunately, the findings suggested very poor construction of most of the dams leading to low patronage.

He said consistent advocacy by PFAG led to the commitment of
resources for the rehabilitation of some of these dams in the 2022 budget.

These include the Kataa and Duong in the Upper West Region; Vunania in the Upper East Region; Sangbaa in the Northern Region; as well as Kachilende and Sunyeri in the Savannah Region.

However, the dams were funded under two separate categories and delivered different outcomes to the

beneficiaries.

With Funding from GIZ, under the Sustainable Employment through AgriBusiness (AgriBiz) in Ghana’, the PFAG engaged a consultant to assess the state and sustainability of the two categories of the dams

The Vunania Electoral Area dam, funded by the World Bank and supervised by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) and

the Gia dam funded under the 1V1D with the supervision of private consultants recruited by the Ministry of Special Initiative.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Wepia Awal Adugwala, the National President of the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG), has called on the government to as a matter of urgency reconstruct the Vunania and Gia Dams.

He said the dans needed to be reconstructed properly to make them fit for purpose.

Mr Adugwala was speaking at a National Stakeholders Dialogue on Irrigation Development in Ghana. The dialogue presented research findings on the One Village One Dam (1V1D) Initiative using the Vunania and Gia Dams in the Upper East Region as case studies.

It also formed part of the activities under the Sustainable Employment through AgriBusiness (AgriBiz) Project in Ghana funded by GIZ.

The Project trajectory is to focus on advocacy to improve irrigation development in Ghana with particular attention to the government’s irrigation programmes through the 1V1D Policy.

As part of the activities, the Association assessed the various stages during the construction of the two Dams and the experience and evidence to proffer solutions for imp
roved irrigation development.

He said if these Dams were properly constructed, particularly in northern Ghana, it would be the surest way to fight endemic poverty and inequality in those areas.

‘These Dams will also encourage farmers, particularly women and the youth to go into all year-round crop production for Jobs and wealth,’ he added.

He said studies had shown that there was a positive relationship between access to irrigation, increased income, and food security.

The National President said while they acknowledged the effort of the government for the conceptualization of the One Village-One Dam initiative as a way of making water available for farming and domestic activities, ‘we would like to state that more needs to be done in terms of irrigation in this country.’

He said the Upper East region was one of the regions in northern Ghana that benefited from the 1V1D Projects by the government.

However, a few of the Dams are not serving the purpose for which they were constructed.

Mr Adugwala said t
he Gia Dam in the Upper East region, which was constructed in 2019 under the 1V1D project currently had several defects and showed a flat valley with pockets of water in the deepest part, clearly defeating the purpose for which it was constructed.

He said again shortly after the construction of the Vunania Dam, it was bedevilled with massive water loss among other defects.

Source: Ghana News Agency

The Department of Children under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection through the Oti Regional Coordinating Council (ORCC) has begun a two-day engagement with traditional and religious leaders in the Oti Region.

The two-day sensitisation brought together chiefs and queen mothers, and Christian and Islamic leaders to deliberate on ways to utilise religious platforms to change people’s reluctance toward protecting children against various forms of abuse.

The engagement sought to educate and support religious and traditional leaders to harness the relevance of child protection laws and rights in the country.

Mr Israel Akrobortu, the Volta and Oti Regional Director of the Department of Children called on parents and other stakeholders to prioritize the needs of children.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during the workshop, he said it was imperative for parents and guardians to reconsider their poor actions in response to the needs of the young children with renewed commitment.

He ad
vised parents to take good care of their children, giving them their basic needs should be prioritised to ensure that the children were well trained to fit into society.

Mr Christopher Lartey, a Principal Programme Officer and Social Policy Analyst said traditional leaders like chiefs and religious leaders from various religions were strategically positioned to play an influential role in their respective areas.

He said traditional leaders have a challenge to advance the important message that parents, guardians and societal members have a role to play to stop child abuse.

Mr Lartey said traditional and religious leaders can use their influence to create penalties for perpetrators of child abuse.

He noticed that opinion leaders need to be more proactive by setting high standards for ensuring basic rules and guidelines are enforced on how people in various capacities relate to children.

Nana Otubea II, the Paramount Queen Mother of Nkonya Traditional Council, mentioned physical attacks, rape, child marria
ge and psychological abuse among others as some of the violent discipline children go through in Ghana and called for conscious efforts to curb the menace.

She said children who get the needed protection, attention and support in their upbringing would be assertive in life and become more responsible when they mature.

Source: Ghana News Agency

Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has held discussions with celebrated actor, Idris Elba, and his team at the Jubilee House, Accra, on how to expand the creative arts economy of Africa.

The discussions focused on the financial inclusion of Ghanaian creative arts and devising strategies to integrate them into the worldwide financial ecosystem.

Vice President Bawumia noted that many African industry players had been locked out of the global payment ecosystem and used the meeting to discuss the proposed implementation of a new system leveraging blockchain technology to assist creative arts players in Africa.

That would enable them to be paid well for their music and arts no matter where in the world they were used commercially.

‘Given Ghana’s relatively advanced system of digital payments, the new system is expected to be launched in Ghana later this year. My thanks to Idris Elba for his commitment to the development of the African creative arts economy,’ the Vice President stated.

In his address to the na
tion on his vision, Vice President Bawumia pledged to change the dwindling fortunes of the entertainment sector and implement innovative measures to create more jobs, if elected President of Ghana.

‘I will also have a major focus on policies, tax and other incentives to increase private and public investment in tourism, creative arts and sports for more job creation. Tax incentives will also be provided for film producers and musicians,’ he said.

‘We will also introduce other initiatives such as digital and streaming platforms for our artists to make tourism and the creative arts a growth pole in Ghana.’

The NPP Flagbearer stated that some of the policies rolled out under President Akufo-Addo’s government were already yielding dividends and would continue to enhance them under his tenure.

‘We will build on the Year of Return, Beyond the Return, and December in Ghana,’ he noted.

‘A Visa-on-arrival policy will be introduced for international tourists to enhance growth in the industry.’

‘To boost tourism a
nd job creation, my government will implement a visa-on-arrival policy for all international visitors to Ghana as has recently been implemented by Kenya.’

Source: Ghana News Agency