The Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, has initiated an intervention to restore water flow to farms under the Vea Irrigation Scheme by supporting the desilting of canals supplying water from the Vea Dam in the Bongo District.
The intervention, being undertaken in collaboration with the Irrigation Company of the Upper Region (ICOUR), is expected to improve access to water for farmers in the Bolgatanga Municipality who depend on the irrigation system for dry-season farming.
Speaking during an engagement with farmers at Nyariga, where he inspected the ongoing exercise, Mr. Adongo said three excavators were currently working to remove silt from the canals, with efforts underway to secure a fourth machine.
He explained that the canals had deteriorated over the years, making it difficult for water from the dam to reach farms.
According to him, the rehabilitation of the Vea and Tono irrigation facilities was previously expected to be undertaken under the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project with funding from the World Bank. However, he said the funds were reassigned in 2018 to support the Planting for Food and Jobs programme, leaving the planned canal rehabilitation incomplete.
Mr. Adongo said farmers had consequently been compelled to rely on periodic desilting exercises to enable water to flow through the canals before each dry-season farming period.
He appealed to the government to prioritise the rehabilitation of the irrigation infrastructure, arguing that repeated temporary interventions could not replace a comprehensive repair of the damaged canals.
The MP said his decision to support the exercise was partly informed by the need to strengthen local vegetable production following concerns over Ghana’s dependence on imported tomatoes, particularly after Ghanaian tomato traders were attacked in Burkina Faso.
He noted that the Nyariga irrigation community was once a major tomato-producing area but that many farmers had abandoned the crop because of unreliable water supply.
Mr. Adongo said he was also working with ICOUR to support farmers with improved seeds and fertiliser, while arrangements had been made for tractors to plough their lands at no cost to them.
He said the provision of water remained critical to the success of those interventions, as farmers needed to soften their lands before tractors could operate effectively.
The MP further disclosed that he had reached an agreement with ICOUR to absorb the water usage charges of farmers in the area, with the bills to be issued to him for payment.
Managing Director of ICOUR, Dr. Dominic Anarigide, said the canals had structural challenges because they had not undergone any major rehabilitation since the Vea Dam and its irrigation infrastructure were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s.
He said the annual desilting exercise was necessary to convey water from the dam to farms but stressed that a major rehabilitation was needed to address the recurring problem.
Dr. Anarigide disclosed that about 2,000 farmers depended on the scheme for rice and vegetable production, including tomatoes and pepper.
He said the proposed rehabilitation of the canals from Vea to Sumbrungu was expected to be considered under the World Bank-funded Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP).
The MP said his ultimate objective was to help transform the irrigation community into a productive agricultural hub capable of supporting farmers’ livelihoods and contributing to Ghana’s food supply.
A1 Radio | 101.1Mhz | Joshua Asaah| Nyariga
