The Ministry of Food and Agriculture has cut sod for the commencement of phase two of the Kpong Irrigation Scheme rehabilitation project at Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region.
The rehabilitation and modernisation of the Kpong Irrigation Scheme project, which is under the auspices of the West African Food System Resilience Programme, is to increase preparedness against food insecurity.
The project, which is being carried out for $22.6 million, with World Bank funding when completed, will help boost food production, especially rice, which is the occupation of the residents in the area.
Speaking at the sod-cutting ceremony for the commencement of phase two of the project, Chief Executive Officer for Ghana Irrigation Development Authority, Richard Oppong Boateng acknowledging the impact of climate change resulting in unexpected drought and flooding destroying farmlands and other livelihood of farmers said this has made it necessary to build a resilient system to mitigate the shocks in water resources through sustainable agriculture.
He added that, with the completion of the project, access to irrigation water improved for the hardworking smallholder farmers, private commercial farmers and other key stakeholders who depend on the scheme for their operations, not forgetting the over 10,000 direct and indirect which have been already provided in the phase one of the project.
“In recent times, Ghana and the rest of the world have been impacted greatly by climate change. Our river systems have been affected by unexpected drought. We have also experienced excessive floods destroying farmlands and other livelihoods of farmers.
“These shocks call for the need to build resilience to mitigate the shocks on water resources used for agriculture, livestock, watering, and aquaculture development. This can be achieved if the irrigation sub-sector of agriculture is given the needed attention. As it is seen as a tool for great revolution and the game changer for agriculture transformation.
“The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) saw the need to invest in irrigation systems. MoFA, through the honourable minister, has taken bold decisions to support GEDA to deliver on its core mandate of developing suitable water resources for irrigated farming. It is implicit that upon completion of the works, access to irrigation water will improve for our hardworking smallholder farmers, private commercial farmers and other key stakeholders who depend on the scheme for their operation not forgetting over ten thousand direct indirect jobs on the scheme has provided,” he stated.
The Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Yaw Frimpong Addo revealed that the Ministry is rolling out a combination of adaptive, innovative and sustainable interventions to arm vulnerable households, families, farmers and communities to withstand uncertainty and shocks in food production and distribution in the sub-region.
While urging the youth to take advantage of phase two of the planting for food and jobs to build businesses in the agriculture sector, the Deputy Minister indicated that the investment by the government and its development partners in the rehabilitation and modernisation of major irrigation schemes demonstrate its commitment to building a resilience food production and delivering system in the country.
“We call on all Ghanaians, especially the youth, to take full advantage of the numerous opportunities under the PFJ 2.0 to build businesses in the agricultural sector. And here, making specific reference to the youth in this area, they should take full advantage of this project because under the PFJ 2.0 once you have a scheme like this, through the input credit system everything that you require to become a farmer is provided. So I don’t see any reason why a young man or woman in this area would not take full advantage of it,” he stated.
A Senior Agric. Economist of the World Bank and Task Leader for the Food System Resilience Programme, Anshwini Sabastian.
On her part indicated that the World Bank would be supporting other value chain interventions, including the use of climate-smart seeds, adoption of innovative agricultural practices and marketing integration, among other interventions.
She then advised project beneficiaries to be at liberty to voice out their concerns or grievances related to the implementation of the project as the World Bank is bent on ensuring that all stakeholders and value chain actors take ownership of the project implementation.
“In the second phase, we will invest another $20 million just in Kpong and also spend resources in Tano, Bia, Tanoso and other lowland irrigation schemes, so we want these things to be utilised. The World Bank is very serious about environmental and social safeguards. If you have any issues, we want things to be functional and sustained.
“So, what we want the farmers to do is to come back and let us know how these things are working. Irrigation has to be accompanied by access to the market, good ergonomic practices, and agribusiness processing, and we want to see all these things happening for Ghana.
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