Gov To Reconstruct Dipali Dam
THE NORTHERN Rural Growth Project (NRGP), under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has secured 170 hectares of farm land for the cultivation of various crops; including rice, maize, sorghum and millet, under a large scale irrigation system at Dipali in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality of the Northern Region.
As a result, the government of Ghana, with support from its foreign partners has voted a substantial amount of money for the redesigning and reconstruction of the Dipali Irrigation System, which was constructed under the Small Scale Irrigation Development Project (SSIDP) of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), but was abandoned several years ago.
The redesigning is expected to be completed in March, while procurement and award of contracts is also scheduled to be completed by July to pave way for construction in August 2014.
The Project, when completed, would engage over 400 farmers who would also be provided with improved seeds, agricultural inputs, training, technical advice and ready market, as well as storage facilities to avoid post-harvest losses.
The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Kofi Humado, who disclosed this whilst on an inspection tour of the dam site, said the government was committed and determined to execute its Better Ghana Agenda by addressing the needs and problems facing the Ghanaian masses.
He indicated that the government would continue to create income generating ventures and also utilize every existing opportunity that had the tendency to alleviate poverty and improve the living standards of the people.
The Agric Minister, who was accompanied by the Minister of Roads and Highways, Alhaji Amidu Sulemani and the National Coordinator of the NRGP, Mr. Roy Ayariga, as well as Chief Directors of the Ministries, maintained that the only way Ghana could improve on its food quality and availability was for government to continue to invest in the agricultural sector, which is also the mainstay of Ghana's economy.
Mr. Humado was particularly not happy about the fact that poverty in Ghana and most parts of Africa was predominant among farmers and their households. He appealed to farmers to endeavour to send their children to school and stop using them as cattle herds.
He commended the chiefs and people of the Dipali for agreeing to release the land for the project and assured them of possible extension of electricity to the community because of the project.
Meanwhile, government, through the Ministry of Roads and Transport, according to the sector Minister, Alhaji Amidu Sulemani would construct feeder roads to the irrigation site and also link all the communities to ensure that farmers conveyed their produce to marketing centres without problems.
According to him, road infrastructure remained very critical in the promotion of agriculture, and therefore appealed to contractors who were working and those who would work on the roads connecting the irrigation project to complete them on schedule.
Alhaji Sulemani threatened to terminate any contract that would delay and jeopardize the efforts of government.
The Road Minister also met with all the Contractors from Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta Region and Brong Ahafo Regions working for the Ministry through the NRGP in Tamale to discuss progress of work and challenges facing them.
The National Coordinator of the NRGP, Mr. Roy Ayariga said that the Dipali Irrigation Project was very dear to the government and officials of NRGP because it holds the key to boost national food security, create employment and reduce poverty. He said the NRGP was encouraging more youth to venture into the agricultural sector and give hope to the sector.
Mr. Ayariga indicated that his outfit would ensure that the market was assessed before cultivating crops to avoid post-harvest losses.
The NRGP Coordinator advised the farmers to be vigilant of the activities of Fulani herdsmen who would obviously attempt to feed their cattle on the farms during dry seasons.
The overall goal of the NRGP is to contribute to an equitable and sustainable poverty Reduction and food security among rural households. The specific objective is to increase northern Ghana area rural households' income on a sustainable basis.
The program will have positive social impact on men, women and youths in 32 district of Northern Ghana with about 372,000 rural households or three million people living in these households directly or indirectly benefiting from the program.
An estimate of 1.56 million women will also benefit from the program. The NRGP addresses the priorities of the Government of Ghana in the pursuit of poverty reduction and it is contributing to achieving the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the NEPAD's Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP).