Survey on Small Scale Irrgation and Dugouts

1.0    INTRODUCTION 

         The Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) has compiled information on formal irrigation schemes in the country. Unfortunately, there is almost no information on informal irrigation. Though there exist quite a number of small scale farmers involved in the informal irrigation, using various systems that involve some permanent structures, very little data exist on their operations.

According to the scanty information available on informal irrigation in the country, it is indicated that informal irrigation actually covers a larger area than that covered by formal irrigation. For instance, around Kumasi metropolis alone, reports indicate that there are at least 12,700 smallholders irrigating more than 11,900 ha in the dry season (Obuobie E. et al, 2006) .

Irrigation development requires long lead times in terms of assembling resource inventories, planning, design, construction and training of farmers to adapt to irrigation as a way of life. With the completion of the irrigation policy, it appears that the only hindrance to a national irrigation development plan is the absence of reliable data on existing dams and dugouts and similar infrastructure to build a database on the irrigation potential in the country and subsequently a Master Plan for irrigation development. 

In October 1999, GIDA undertook a survey of dams and dugouts in Ghana as the first step for building up a national database on informal irrigation.  However, the responses from some districts left a lot to be desired. Consequently, a second phase of this survey was conducted to review the data collected in 1999 and collect data from the other districts that did not respond to the questionnaire sent them.   

This report is a combination of data collected in 1999 and 2008. The main text presents information on the number of dams/dugouts and areas under irrigation for the formal and informal subsectors. However, due to the peculiar nature of areas under irrigation along fringes of lagoons and depressions in the Keta District, information regarding such areas in the Keta District have been separated from the informal subsector for easy analysis.

1.1 Objectives of the Survey
The specific objectives of the survey included:

• Provision of database on existing dams and dugouts and similar water storage structures in Ghana to complement the data collected in the survey of 1999.
• Assessment of the potential of existing dams and dugouts and similar structures in the development of irrigation in the country.
• Creation of awareness among districts assemblies on the potential of the dams, dugouts and other structures for agricultural development in the various districts.
• Sensitization of various farmer groups that might be using water from the identified infrastructure for agricultural production on the existence of GIDA as potential allies in irrigated crop production.

1.2 Methodology

The survey covered selected districts in all ten regions that did not respond to the October 1999 survey namely; Greater Accra, Volta, Eastern, Upper East, Upper West, Ashanti, Central, Northern, Brong Ahafo and Western regions.
It was carried out jointly by GIDA staff and Agricultural Extension Agents of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in the various districts.

The data collection involved the administration of questionnaire that addressed specific issues such as area under irrigation, dam/dugout size and utilisation of the facility.   

2.0       RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

Table 1 below presents a summary of the total number of dams and dugouts on informal irrigation in all the 10 regions of the country.
The survey revealed that there are 755 dams and 2,633 dugouts in the informal sector. Volta Region recorded the highest number of dams (164), while Ashanti Region recorded the least (19). 
In the case of dugouts, the highest number of 838 was recorded in Western Region with the Upper West Region recording the least (54).

Table 1: Summary of Regions and Number of Dams and Dugouts (Informal)

Table 2: Summary of Districts and Regions and areas under Informal Irrigation

Table 2 above shows a summary of the regions and districts and areas under informal irrigation.
Out of a total area under irrigation covering 10,262.34 ha for all ten regions, Brong Ahafo Region had the largest area with 2,816.60 ha. This was a little over a quarter of the total area under informal irrigation representing 27.45%. Central Region with 324.60 ha, recorded the least area under irrigation representing 3.16% of the total area under informal irrigation.  

Table 3 provides details of areas under informal irrigation for the various districts of the study while Table 4 shows details of number of dams and dugouts in each district/region. 

Table 3: Summary of Regions and Districts and areas under Informal Irrigation (ha)

Table 4: Summary of Number of Dams and Dugouts in Districts and Regions (Informal)

The study also collected data on the large number of wells in the Keta District of the Volta Region. Information on these wells which are constructed along fringes of lagoons and depressed areas are presented in Tables 5.   In all, a total of 34,263 wells are located along fringes of lagoons and depressed areas in the Keta District and these irrigate an area of 1052ha. The principal crop produced is shallots and some few other vegetables. 

Table 5:  Summary of Wells and Areas under Irrigation along Fringes of Lagoons and Depressions in Keta District.

Table 6: Summary of areas under Irrigation (Formal Sector)

Table 6 above indicates a summary of formal irrigation schemes and areas under irrigation across the country. In all, there are 22 formal irrigation schemes in Ghana covering 8,296.60 ha being managed by the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority.

Greater Accra has the largest area of 3441.00 ha of the total area under formal irrigation. Out of this area, the Kpong Irrigation Project in the Dangme West District accounts for the largest area of 3000 ha.

Kpando-Torkor Irrigation Project in the Kpando district of the Volta Region has the least area under formal irrigation covering 5.6 ha.

Crops grown on these formal schemes include rice, maize, cowpea, vegetables, passion-fruits, water melon, with rice and vegetables being most dominant.      

3.0       CHALLENGES

The main challenge encountered during this survey was inability of  the Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) to provide information on areas where some irrigation was practiced within the district.  This in a way, affected the results of the survey.

Again, some Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) /District Directors did not seem to be conversant with the technical features and differences between dams/dugouts, and could have affected the administration of the questionnaire. GIDA therefore took measures to build the capacity of the AEAs/District Directors through a thorough explanation of the questionnaire before the exercise started.  

4.0   RECOMMENDATION                                                                          
Since some AEAs failed to provide information on the actual areas under irrigation thus affecting the actual total area under irrigation, it is recommended that a sample validation exercise be undertaken to ascertain the existence and verify the areas under irrigation and other data presented in this report.
It is obvious that the data collected would need to be updated from time to time, especially with regards to the informal irrigation subsector.