Environment Care Group/kindomo Complements Efforts To Avert Flooding Along The Black Volta

There is a growing concern about the safety and source of livelihood for people living along the Black Volta in the Wa West district of the Upper West Region. This is particularly so with the spillage of water coming from the republic of Burkina Faso. Year in and year out some residents along the black Volta in the Wa West district are often displaced with all their farmlands and property often flooded with water leading to hardship with nothing to survive on.

Some notable communities that are affected annually by the spillage along the Black Volta from the republic of Burkina Faso in the Wa West district are the following: Jambusi, Talawonaa, Tuole, Bamkpamah .Others are Maase, Dabo, Mwaabasi, Nyose, Paala, Chiatanga, and Gonbile, the very notable ones among others.

To save the situation, a local Non-Governmental Organization called Environmental Care Group/Kindoma has been championing the cause of communities living along the Black Volta in the Wa West district. Environmental Care Group/Kindoma has been working with government agencies such as the district directorate of the Ministry Of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in the district, in order to help people living along the Black Volta in the district to live a meaningful and sustainable life and also show them how to survive the floods from the spillage of water from the republic of Burkina Faso into the Black Volta in Ghana.

It is important to establish the link between affected communities and the spillage of water coming from the Black Volta in Burkina Faso for a very thorough working understanding of the problem at stake. To enable the average person to truly understand the cascading effects of the spillage of water from the republic of Burkina Faso into the Black Volta and on the affected communities in the Wa West district along the Black Volta, this is how it runs.

The Black Volta River is a major water source in the Upper West Region of Ghana and it is the primary surface water source for Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in the area at Jambusi for water distribution of pipe borne water to the Wa township, the Upper West Regional capital.

The Black Volta is a trans-national river that originates in the republic of Burkina Faso and flows through Ghana, forming part of the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso, and Ghana and La Côte d'Ivoire.

The Source of the Black Volta originates in the Cascades region of Burkina Faso, near Mount Tenakourou, and it flows directly into the Black Volta roughly, north and east for about 200 miles (320 km), then turns south for 340 miles (550 km) north.

The Black Volta then empties into Lake Volta at Bamboi in the Savannah Region where the Ghana Basin is located. The Black Volta basin covers an estimated area of about 130,400 km2, with Ghana's portion covering about 18,384 km2.

Annually, the Black Volta over flows it's banks and floods farms and houses in the process destroying and rendering most farmers and their families along the bank of the Black Volta in the Wa West district homeless and virtually with nothing to survive on.

What are some of the measures put in place to ease up the burden of population along the Black Volta which must be addressed in the Wa West district of the Upper West Region?

Environment Care Group/Kindoma in collaboration with some government agencies are ensuring that the people living along the Black Volta are safe and can go about their activities without having to hustle for survival and displacement.

It is in this regard the group is working hand in hand with the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) in carrying out preventive education by educating residents about the dangers of flooding along the Black Volta and what they should be doing during the period.

According Mr Seidu Dolimomaa who is the district director for NADMO,when interviewed, he said his outfit has been carrying out public education by educating the people who live along the Black Volta to move upstream especially during the farming season and peak periods, as they are also given education on how to run their farm work and to rebuild their new homes upstream.

He said this public education has been very effective as the people have now moved away from the flood prone areas, this he said, has eased up the problems associated with flooding along the Black Volta, and the resultant effects of the destruction of farmlands, homes and property.

According to him, this public education work has sunk down very well with the people and so lately the problem of flooding and destruction of farm lands, homes and property has minimized drastically.

Another government agency that came up strongly for mention, is the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). Mr Rashid Ibrahim who is also the district director of agriculture working with the Ministry Of Food and Agriculture was also interviewed on his agency’s effort to help people living along the Black Volta in the Wa West district. He said his Department of Agriculture often advice farmers in affected communities, especially those staying at low lying areas along the Black Volta, to resort to the use of early maturing crop varieties to enable them harvest their crops before the floods come.

He said his outfit also advised local farmers to leave a buffer zone of not less than 100 meters away from the Black Volta River before putting up their farms.

According to him, the Ministry Of Food and Agriculture encourages farmers to go into dry season farming. Mr Rashid Ibrahim said early-maturing crop varieties are a risk-reducing technology that can help farmers produce and harvest within three months.

He advised farmer along the Black Volta to select good varieties of seeds with the tendency of maturing within short periods with a low risk of drought or low rainfall. He gave examples of some early-maturing crops to include but not limited to Soybean, Maize, and Cowpea as some of the early maturing crops.

Another interesting thing that strongly surfaced is the work of Environment Care Group/Kindomo as an NGO working within the Wa West district, which is also dedicated to improving lives and living conditions of the people of the District.

Mr Nuhu Alhassan is the executive director of Environment Care Group/Kindomo. According to him the Wa West district has about two hundred and thirty (230) communities scattered across the length and breadth of the district which is mainly a farming area.

He said his organization has been working over the years with government agencies like MOFA and NADMO to ensure that people living along the Black Volta especially those living closer to the river are safe. He said, his organization has chalked some level of success by improving the lot of the people living along the Black Volta, working with these government agencies within the districts.

He confirmed that together with NADMO and other agencies, they have been able to carry out public education on issues relating to the people living along the Black Volta especially on how to improve their lot and mentioned that there has been some level of improvement but was quick to add that a lot more needs to be done.

He said his organization is open to all, especially organizations and individuals with ideas on funding on how to help people living along the Black Volta to be safe especially during spillage from the republic of Burkina Faso into Ghana along the Black Volta in the Wa West district of the Upper West Region.

Communities living along the Black Volta needs to be given special attention as the flow of water from the republic of Burkina Faso into Ghana on annual basis has some devastating effects on the Wa West district in Ghana. It is therefore important that pragmatic steps are taken to ensure that the safety of people living along the Black Volta and the Wa West district at large, should be something to be realized for the betterment of the people and the district.

Seidu Bomanjo
Email:seidubomanjoi@gmail.com
The writer is a Development Communication practitioner/expert and broadcast journalist for over two decades. He has a background on environmental law and is based in Northern Ghana (Upper West Region) as a media practitioner.

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