The magic wand to reverse famine in the Upper East Region

A GNA feature by Nana Kodjo Jehu-Appiah

Accra, July 3, GNA- Baba Akurugu Vea, a 75-year-old peasant farmer from the Upper East Region, has been using hoe and harrow as his basic farming tools for the past 50 years on a soil that barely awards him the fruits of his labour.

His farming activity on the three-hectare Savannah grassland he inherited from his late father in 1956, is so patchy that his wife and six children have always been at the mercy of food aid from Accra, where the National Disaster Management Organisation and non-governmental organisations have annually rushed food aid to the Region to save the people from the grips of famine.

"I have no money to irrigate my farm and I do not have the power to tell God to extend the rainy season in order to have enough water for my crops," he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) as his eyes wander on his withered millet and maize crops which had been fatally hit by drought. As Baba Vea awaits the good judgement of Divine providence, the Regional Directorate of Food and Agriculture has unveiled a road map that would put the fears of farmers in the Region at bay. Mr Roy Ayariga, the Regional Director of Food and Agriculture, unveiled the programme when Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, visited some farms and agro businesses during a three-day official tour of the Region.

Explaining the Three Crops Per- Year Programme to the GNA, he said rural farmers usually faced food shortages from March till the next harvest in July every year.

He said farmers with access to irrigation facilities do not experience these shortages as they sell vegetables to buy food. Mr Ayariga said only two crops are possible with irrigation dams as the reservoirs cannot produce a third crop due to evaporation, whilst livestock also compete with the water available. He identified soil fertility management as the biggest challenge undermining food production.

Continuous cropping on one piece of land; high population growth and bush burning were some of the factors undermining soil fertility, which had led to persistent food shortage and the demand of the Region for food aid over the past five years.

Mr Ayariga, was however quick to add that there was no useless land anywhere since every soil could be assessed and made productive. He said traditional food varieties such as sorghum and millet were also out of tune with modern trends of food production since they took between 140 and 150 days to mature.

As part of plans to reverse the trend new varieties, which takes between 90 and 100 days to mature, have been introduced. Mr. Ayariga said tree cropping and integrated approach towards livestock rearing, cultivation of mango, cashew and sheabutter along the White Volta and the stepping up of tomato; onion and maize production were also means of putting money into the pockets of farmers and end the annual ritual of food shortage.

He expressed the need for more arable lands to be irrigated to end the over dependence of farmers on rain fed agriculture and asked farmers to establish watering receptacles for irrigation, fish farming and livestock production along the White Volta. "This is only possible along the White Volta which now has water all-year-round through discharges from the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso," he said.

To aid dry season farming, Government has provided 2,000 bags of fertiliser and weedicides for food production on a total of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) in all the eight districts of the Region. Under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture's Food and Agricultural Budgetary Support, 48 irrigation pumps and pipes have been purchased for 48-farmer groups on credit basis.

This, Mr Ayariga said: "Provided profitable employment for 480 farmers, mainly the youth and women beneficiaries." The pumps and accessories cost about 14.5 million cedis. Meanwhile, some district assemblies in the Region are purchasing pumps from their share of the Poverty Alleviation Fund for farmer groups. The Region has the potential to irrigate about 10,000 hectares provided farmers are supported with pumps and pipes.

According to Mr. Ayariga, this is perhaps the best profitable venture for the youth under the National Youth in Agriculture Programme because farmers can earn up to 30 million cedis per hectare if they sell their maize harvest fresh.

He however, called for the use of organic rather that inorganic fertilizer to promote sustainable agriculture. He commended GLOWA Volta Projects, a German based non-governmental organization, for assisting the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to promote sustainable agricultural practices in the Region.