More than 1,000 dry-season farmers in Ghana’s Bolgatanga Municipality and Bongo District have abandoned their fields after silted and damaged canals stopped water from reaching their farms at the Vea project.
The farmers say they do not intend to return this season unless the water supply is restored, raising concerns about food security in the Upper East Region.
As the rainy season comes to an end in the Upper East Region and parts of the Northern Region, farmers who depend on irrigation throughout the year are preparing for dry-season cultivation.
The Vea Dam is the main source of irrigation for farmers in Bolgatanga Municipality and Bongo District, particularly during the dry season. Much of the vegetables produced in the two areas comes from farms near the dam, supplied through its canal network.
However, water is no longer flowing freely through the canals. Farmers in Zaare, Nyariga, Yikene and Sumbrungu – all in Bolgatanga Municipality – say the situation has left them anxious and discouraged.
Many have decided not to cultivate their land this year, while others have travelled to southern Ghana in search of alternative work.
The Alliance for Change has responded to reports about the farmers’ difficulties by beginning work to dredge the left bank of the Vea canals. The aim is to clear the silt and restore the flow of water to the farms.
Francis Ayine Atomisgo, the farmers’ representative for the Vea Irrigation Project, thanked the organisation and called on farmers who had left their fields to return.
“We have been farming here for a long time. Where we are now is the left bank. We have the right bank and the left bank. The left bank comprises nine communities. When they [Alliance for Change] came, today is their second day. Looking at the work they are doing, the canals will be desilted for us to return to our farms,” Mr Ayine Atomisgo said.
“Due to this situation, a lot of the farmers have travelled to the South for greener pastures. As I speak, most of them have resolved to return and farm,” he added.
Roger Apos Ayine, chairman of Alliance for Change, said farmers were essential to daily life and that helping to clear the canals was the group’s contribution to protecting food security.
“We saw the plight of these farmers in the media, and then we decided to find out what happened. We have now gotten the information. It is an opportunity for us to find out what we can do to help these farmers. The information we got is that empty promises were given to farmers about working on the canals, but for some time now, the situation has remained the same. We don’t know whether it is coming again or coming at another time,” Mr Ayine said.
“But now that the dredging is taking place, I am sure the farmers will come back and continue their activities. I think the farmers should consider the Alliance for Change as their own, because many people have come and made promises, and the promises have not been fulfilled. But as Alliance for Change, we saw the plight and decided to take up the project. So we want the farmers to have confidence in us.”
Alliance for Change member Isaac Atindana Ayariga also stressed the economic importance of clearing the canals and pledged the group’s continued support whenever the farmers needed help.
Some farms are between 15 and 20 kilometres from the Vea Dam, making the canals vital. While some farmers use hoses and pumps, those with more distant fields cannot afford the long coiled hoses and machinery needed to move water from the dam.
By Tanko Mohammed Rabiu
