Farmers in the Tolon District in the Northern Region have decried the lack of an irrigation system and its impact on their farming activities and livelihoods.
According to them, changes in weather pattern has left them with no option than to move to nearby communities in search of water to grow their crops.
The situation, they indicated had contributed to the migration of the youth, especially, young girls to the southern part of the country in search of greener pastures.
They made this known in separate interviews when the Ghanaian Times with support from the Gower Street visited the district last two weeks to find out the reasons behind the migration of the youth, especially, young girls and whether the migration pattern was linked to climate change.
During the visit, the Ghanaian Times observed that only a few of the farmers were seen on their farms trying to either plant some food crops or to find out how well those already planted were growing as it had rained a day before.
One of the farmers, Haruna Tia who spoke to the paper noted that the change in weather patterns over the past couple of years had a negative impact on the farming activities in the district.
He explained that “the time when we expected the rains to set in, it did not and that made the crops we planted not grow very well because the soil became very dry. Aside that we do not have any irrigation system in the district to help us apply water to our farms during the dry season”.
Another farmer, Fuseni Abdullah, said “the situation in the district is very disturbing as we had to contribute and dig a well that can provide us with water to grow our crops when it does not rain due to changes in weather patterns. It is sad to see our young girls migrate to the southern part of the country and only return during the wet season or festivals.”
Although there had been series of engagement with various stakeholders including government agencies, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) on the issue, Fuseni Abdullah said it had not yielded the desired result.
“We have had officials of government agencies in the agricultural sector and NGOs engage us to find out how the lack of an irrigation system in the district was impacting our farming activities but the situation has not changed and remains the same,” he explained.
The farmers, therefore, called on the government to come to their aid by constructing an irrigation system in the district to help address the situation.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Agricultural Department of the Tolon District Assembly, Baasit Abdul Zakari, as well as the District Chief Executive were not present at the time of the visit.
Though the paper was able to get the contact of the Head of the Agricultural Department of the District, efforts to get him to speak on the issue have not yielded results.
FROM BENJAMIN ARCTON-TETTEY, TOLON
