Accra, Ghana, March 5, 2019//-Ghana is mainly an agricultural economy. Agriculture is the main driving force behind its economy, accounting for approximately 42 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employing 54 per cent of its work force.
Agriculture and the business of selling and buying the food grown in Africa now accounts for nearly half of the continent’s economic activity. A publication of the World Bank Institute, estimates that Africa’s agricultural market is worth $310 billion U.S Dollars and has the opportunity to grow to $1 trillion U.S Dollars by 2030.
These projections indicate that agriculture offers the country the greatest prospects for increasing its GDP. Notwithstanding the demonstrated contribution and potentials of this sector, successive governments have over the years relegated it to secondary levels behind other less sustainably impacting sectors like oil and gas.
It is expected that with current economic challenges, an efficient agricultural sector could increase incomes, boost jobs, and reduce cost of living while building a shared prosperity for the sub-Saharan Africa.
“Agriculture is an important contributor to Ghana’s export earnings, and a major source of inputs for the manufacturing sector. It is also a major source of income for a majority of the population, but we have seen a recent reduction in growth in agriculture, which needs to be reversed through appropriate policies and increased investments.” said Henry Kerali, World Bank country director for Ghana, in March, this year.
In recent years, the government has encouraged the development of the non-traditional agricultural sector in order to diversify the country’s export base.
Special emphasis is placed on horticultural production in recognition of Ghana’s natural and competitive advantages in this area. In addition to possessing the largest fresh water lake in West Africa, the Volta, each of Ghana’s six agro ecological zones is suitable for the production of specific crops.
To diversify the country’s export base the government is encouraging the development of the non-traditional agricultural sector. Special emphasis is placed on horticultural production in recognition of Ghana’s natural and competitive advantages in this area.
In addition to possessing the largest fresh water lake in West Africa, the Volta, each of Ghana’s six agro ecological zones is suitable for the production of specific crops.
It has been recognised, the world over, that any country that depends on agricultural production as basis for industrial development is most likely to fail if irrigation is not part of the agricultural development plan. Indeed in some parts of the world, irrigation remains the dividing line between abundant food and no food at all.
Irrigation is defined as the artificial application of water to the soil through various systems of tubes, pumps, and sprayers.
Approximately 20% of the world’s agricultural land is irrigated, yet 40% of the world food supply comes from irrigated lands with 70% of the world’s freshwater reserves being used for irrigation purposes. . Effective irrigation will influence the entire growth process from seedbed preparation, germination, root growth, nutrient utilisation, plant growth and regrowth, yield and quality.
The main reasons for irrigation are: (a) Not enough rainfall to support crop growth. This may be due to rainy and dry seasons, drought or arid or semi-arid climate conditions.
Irrigation systems may also be used to maintain consistent moisture levels even in areas with moderate precipitation levels as it has been shown to improve crop performance; and, (b) High soil salinity levels.
High soil salinity levels can be a natural occurrence which is the case in many semi-arid and arid locations or a result of poor agricultural practices and ineffective drainage. In cases impacted by salt levels in the soil, irrigation must often be coupled with drainage in order to achieve the desired benefits.
The key to maximising irrigation efforts is uniformity. The producer has a lot of control over how much water to supply and when to apply it but the irrigation system determines uniformity.
Deciding which irrigation systems is best for your operation requires knowledge of equipment, system design, plant species, growth stage, root structure, soil composition, and land formation.
Irrigation systems should encourage plant growth while minimising salt imbalances, leaf burns, soil erosion, and water loss. Losses of water will occur due to evaporation, wind drift, run-off and water (and nutrients) sinking deep below the root zone.
Supplemental irrigation can play a very important role in reducing the risk of crop failures and in optimising productivity. There is potential for delivering excess rainwater to storage structures or groundwater, because even under improved systems there is loss of 12–30% of the rainfall as run-off.
Although agriculture is a key part of the country’s economy, the structure of the sector is vulnerable because it relies on rainfed agriculture during a roughly six-month rainy season. Droughts and other types of unseasonable weather pose risks for farmers.
Under these conditions, irrigation development offers the promise of greater food security and the rural-area development by ensuring yearlong agricultural production.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) despite considerable potential for development and the emphasis placed on irrigation development in many plans, less than two percent of the total cultivatable area in Ghana is irrigated. Moreover, even within this small area, researchers lack a clear understanding of where in Ghana different types of irrigation infrastructure are used and to what effect.
“Less than a third of the estimated total irrigated land in Ghana lies within 22 well-known public schemes, and not enough is known of the location, development and management of the informal irrigation schemes that account for the remaining two-thirds of total irrigated land.
Although donors and policymakers express interest in providing new funds for irrigation development, the lack of reliable data on where irrigation currently exists, trends in its development, and opportunities and constraints within formal and informal schemes undermines consensus about how to build on what already exists in the sector”, it points out.
To the Organisation Ghana cannot achieve economic growth and poverty reduction targets without significant improvement in the agricultural sector.
Growth in agriculture may be achieved both through extensification (putting more land under cultivation) and intensification (increasing the productivity of existing land). In most cases, irrigation is central to increasing productivity of existing agricultural land.
Ghana is endowed with sufficient water resources for irrigation-based intensification. Estimates of Ghana’s irrigation potential are wildly divergent, ranging from 0.36-1.9 million hectares to slightly more than 33,000 ha under irrigated cultivation.
Irrigation development in Ghana has been justified as a way to achieve (1) food security, (2) poverty reduction, and (c) rural employment. This argument is specifically related to the Northern regions, as they are characterised by mono-modal highly variable rainfall distribution.
Despite irrigation’s considerable potential and the emphasis placed on it in recent plans, the proportion of potential irrigable land actually under irrigation is insignificant. In addition, the performance and productivity of existing irrigation schemes, particularly those that were publicly developed, are generally low.
Irrigation started in Ghana in the early nineteen sixties under the Land Planning and Soil Conservation Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) was set up in 1977 under the S. M. C. Decree 85.
The Authority is wholly owned by the Government of Ghana and is finance by the government. By its act of incorporation, however, the Authority can borrow money from the open market for its development programme. In spite of this, implementation challenges had made the impact of irrigation on the country’s agriculture minimal.
Managing rainwater and soil moisture more effectively and using supplemental and small-scale irrigation in combination with increased use of organic and inorganic fertiliser, better access to markets, and increased security over land and water resources will be essential to improving the livelihoods of farmers in rainfed areas.
More effective utilisation of water and moisture on farms can cut losses from dry spells, which claim one in five harvests in the country. A more assured harvest gives farmers the security they need to risk investing in other productivity-boosting technologies, such as fertilisers and improved seed. Irrigation allows farmers to grow a second, often higher-value, crop, such as fruits and vegetables that are more sensitive to water-stress. Once farmers are able to grow more lucrative crops, they are on the road to livelihood and food security.
Market watchers are hopeful that the government shall keep its words to the people at the commissioning of the rehabilitation of Kpong Irrigation Project recently.
“We are determined to transform Ghanaian agriculture, and break with the recent, dismal record of decline and negative growth that has characterised the sector”, President Akufo-Addo said.
By Oppong Baah, African Eye Report
