Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture has said it is needless and irrational for Ghanaians to believe the promise that all villages in the northern regions will have dams as promised prior to the 2016 campaigns.
Then-presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo promised barely four months to the 2016 polls, to establish one dam in every village in the northern part of the country to boost agriculture through a well-planned irrigation policy.
In the Upper East Region, Nana Addo said a robust irrigation policy “One Village One Dam” will make Ghana crop all year round and eventually become a net exporter of most foodstuff.
He noted that out of 14 million hectares of land only 30,000 of them is put to use.
He said an NPP government would provide functioning irrigation infrastructure through the One Village One Dam policy to create jobs and improve food security in Ghana.
Dr Afriyie Akoto in September said the implementation will start during the start of the 2017 dry season, which normally begins in November.
However, speaking to journalists in Tamale, the Deputy Minister Dr Sagre Bambangi said what government seeks to do is to make water accessible to farmers in various communities if residents desire to engage in dry season farming.
“Not all villages will have dams. We said one village, one dam because it was a campaign message. It is commonsensical to say that all villages will have dams. There are already some villages with dams so we will desilt them and those that cannot have access to water we will find ways of getting water to them”, he said.
Source: primenewsghana
