SSIAPP Assists Farmers With ?300m

The Small-Scale Irrigated Agriculture Promotion Project (SSIAPP), has provided credit support of ?300 million to the Ashiaman and Okyereko Co-operatives in the Greater Accra and Central Region.

The support is to help to ensure food security, sources of Employment and improve the living conditions of the people.

Mr Albert Ntim, Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) Scheme coordinator, made this known at a two-day workshop for pump attendants at Okyereko near Winneba in the Central Region. He said the SSIAPP was established as part of the GIDA to develop a sustainable irrigated agriculture and said Okyereko scheme was therefore, adopted as one of the model sites for its implementation.

He said the project was given the mandate to identify the constraints of irrigation farming, develop strategies and empower the farmers to participate in the operation, maintenance and management of the scheme in order to address the constraints for a sustainable irrigation farming.

Mr Ntim noted that during the implementation of the SSIAPP, Japanese Grant Aid was extended to the Government of Ghana for the rehabilitation of the Okyereko scheme. He said the work which involved the construction of physical infrastructure comprising buildings, delivery pipeline canals, drains and installation of pumps and generators.

He stated that it was discovered that the Okyereko reservoir could not support total cultivation of the 81 hectares of land due to low recharge over the years and therefore a pump had been installed to pump water from the Ayensu River to supplement the reservoir.

Mr Kumagai Hideki, an engineer expert, urged participants to apply what they have learnt at the workshop to improve the efficiency of the facilities.