Lack of agric extension officers in Wa

If something pragmatic is notdone to save famers in the Wa-West District of the Upper West Region by making available agric extension officers, farming activities will grind to a halt. The Wa-West district is one of the food baskets of the region.

Farmers in the district who produce Soya beans, maize, kapaala (a new brand of sorghum) and are engaged in animal-rearing and the production of Shea-butter, have complained bitterly about the non-availability of Agric Extension Officers.

The farmers said the district, which is the poorest in the region, has been affected negatively in the Agric sector over the years due to an inadequate supply of Agric Extension personnel.

This revelation was made known at a one-day stakeholders’ workshop organised by Belinye Cooperative Shea-butter Processing and Marketing Society in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital.

The Secretary of the group, Samuel Nyebar, said farmers in the area need modern knowledge of crop production, and called on the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the government to support farmers in the district with Agric extension officers.

Mr. Nyebar said there are a lot of farmers in the area who produce Shea-butter, but lack of ready-made markets is causing problems within the agric sector of the district. He said this has increased poverty levels in the district.

He also said knowledge of disease prevention and control is another challenge that confronts farmers in the district.

An Advocacy Consultant for Promoting Private Sector Development, Gabriel Fiatui, said climate change affects the quality of the soil, which also affects the farmers’ production in the area.

Meanwhile, one of the Regional Agric Extension Officers, Methodius Bahiru Suglo, said there are only seventy-five Agric Extension Officers in the entire ten districts of the region.

He however said the Wa-West district was given four extension officers, but they are not readily available for the benefit of farmers. Mr. Suglo said two years ago 48 staff of MOFA went on retirement, but they have not been replaced.

He said the staff situation in general in the Agric department is inadequate, adding that it is affecting the whole agric sector of the region.