The Minister-designate for Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku faces a major task of transforming the country’s agricultre landscape as promised by president John Dramani Mahama during the 2024 campaign.
One major group of stakeholders in the agiclture vale-chain, the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has therefore called on the minister designate to prioritise the development of robust irrigation systems to combat the growing effects of climate change on agriculture.
National president of PFAG, Wepia Adugwala believes sustainable food production in Ghana can no longer rely on traditional rain-fed agriculture.
He points to the urgency of transitioning to more resilient farming methods, including the widespread use of irrigation.
Adugwala highlighted the Pwalugu Multipurpose Dam as a critical resource that could irrigate over 15,000 hectares of land, particularly in northern Ghana.
He stressed that the full potential of the dam is yet to be realised, and it is essential to expand its use to ensure consistent and reliable irrigation throughout the country.
The PFAG president called on the new agriculture minister to take swift action to modernise the sector and support farmers with the infrastructure needed to adapt to changing climate patterns.
Ensuring the effective use of the Pwalugu Dam and other similar resources, he believes would play a key role in securing food production and livelihoods for many farmers in the region.
“So for us, in this area of climate change, irrigation should number one for the sector. Because if you look at what farmers are going through now, we keep saying that if Ghana is to become sustainable in food production, we cannot keep relying on rain for agriculture. So, we want him to look at irrigation which is very important to us. Especially those of us in northern Ghana where we produce a lot of food staff and we require that. We even have the Pawalugu Multipurpose Dam which is very key because it can irrigate over 15 hectors of lands,” he stated.
