When production soils run dry – a tale of farmers in two economies

The rains have come down heavy in the month of November. But Nina Bawa, a farmer at Ahoto in the Atebubu-Amantin Municipality of Ghana's Brong Ahafo region had expected the downpour months earlier.

On her farm this boiling afternoon, Nina has the support of her four children in harvesting groundnuts.

“She is doing groundnut because she feels it's a cash crop and it takes shorter duration, so that after harvest she can also use the field for minor season; either they repeat the groundnut or maize,” says extension officer, Seidu Jambara, who supports farmers in this community.

On a typical harvest day, Nina would uproot the groundnuts with her bare hands. But not today; she is rather using hoe in digging the produce because the soil is unusually dry and hard.

“Every year by this time we are at the peak of the raining season but because of the drought that has occurred since July, the harvesting has become a problem,” explained Seidu.

Ghanaian farmers, like most others in Africa, rely heavily on the rains to till their lands, plant and grow their crops – food production is hampered when the seasons fail.

In recent times, the drought period has become frequent in parts of the country and it is increasingly becoming challenging to predict the weather.

Rice production in northern Ghana, for instance, could not do well in 2013 due to the drought.

Farmers therefore need more than the services of the weatherman to go into crop cultivation.

Integrated crop-small ruminant production
Women like Nina are targets of an integrated crop and livestock production system introduced to farmers in dry areas of the Northern and Brong Ahafo regions of Ghana.

Droppings from the animals help in fertilizing the soils whilst some of the fodder crops help prevent erosion and water transmission from the soil to aid the production of cowpea and groundnut.

“We believe that this is a strategy that can quickly increase food security and also reduce poverty among our farmers,” says Dr. Stella Ennin at Ghana's Crops Research Institute (CRI).

She however notes that interventions under the project, including soil moisture monitoring activities, are not complete without irrigation facilities for the farmers.

“Irrigation is something that we cannot ignore, especially in seed production and also in the very profitable ventures; we encourage farmers to go for irrigation so that they can be sure that at certain critical times when the water is not coming and it's critical for the growth and yield of the crop, they irrigate and it will be profitable,” Dr. Ennin stated.

An estimated 1.6 percent of the country's crops is harvested from irrigational farming, suggesting there is no shift from the high dependency in rain fed agriculture.

For the majority of Ghanaian smallholder farmers, access to irrigation facilities and water harvesting techniques is a luxury.

Rainwater harvesting in Kenya
In the Katumani community in Machakos County in Eastern Kenya, farmers have smiles on their faces. This follows the introduction of a new technology to improve on their farming activities, which has greatly impacted positively on their livelihoods.

“The challenge has been how do farmers make the most out of the little rain that they get,” says Dr. Kizito Kwena of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). “As a project we decided that the best way out is to make sure that they terrace their land, they construct pits and choose the correct crops to plant and most importantly is to base their decision on the type of season to expect.”

The Katumani community scenery is filled with dry vegetation, a sign that farming would be difficult to blossom in this area. Farmers produce maize, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins and beans among others.

In the past, farming was left to men as women remained at home to take care of the household. However, women are now actively involved in production.

Fifty year old Willington Ngei explains this rainwater harvest technology, funded by the World Bank, has made farming easier for his family and contributed to the increase of their production.

“It's the way all the weather has changed that is why we have changed our farming through this technology; it has helped me a lot, I try to use only the rain water which is in my shamba. If there is no rain, I think I can survive through that hardness,” an excited Ngei laughed out in excitement at the intervention.

Food researchers in Ghana are developing early maturing and drought resistant crop varieties for adoption by farmers.

It is however evident in the community of Katumani that sustainable water management is possible if local farmers like Nina Bawa can access such water harvesting technologies to mitigate the challenges of the changing climate.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh