Irrigation development is a crucial component of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ 2.0) program in Ghana. The program aims to promote agriculture as a key driver of economic growth and improve food security in the country. Irrigation development is essential as it enables farmers to cultivate crops throughout the year, even during dry seasons, thereby increasing crop yields, reducing poverty, and enhancing food security.
The PFJ 2.0 program provides irrigation infrastructure, such as boreholes, water pumps, and irrigation systems, to farmers, making it more affordable and accessible for them to adopt irrigation practices. This, in turn, leads to increased productivity, income, and resilience to climate change for the farmers.
In this regard, the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) on Tuesday 16th January 2024 handed over the site for works to begin on the construction of the Kpagdinga Irrigation Dam at Nadowli-Kaleo District.
During the handover ceremony of the Kpagdinga Irrigation Dam in Nadowli-Kaleo District, the Chief Manager for Project Development at Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), Ing Yankson Philemon, emphasized the importance of district assemblies providing financial assistance for feasibility studies and designs for irrigation infrastructure development.
He urged the District Assembly and District Director of Agriculture to furnish the GIDA regional office with available valleys in their jurisdiction, as this strategic approach usually receives fast endorsement and approvals when funding is available for construction.
The contractor, Savanna Empire Limited, has been given 14 working days to mobilize equipment for the commencement of works at the site and is expected to finish within 18 months. Ing Yankson also urged the contractor's staff not to abuse the youth, especially young women, and to execute good quality work.
The Regional Manager, Ing Suleman Oteng, explained that the scope of works for the project includes clearing, key trench, embankment works, spillway, upstream and downstream protection, and the inlet-outlet structure.
The District Chief Executive, Hon. Safia Abdulai, in her remarks, encouraged women to use the facility for vegetable production to boost their income when the project is completed and urged them to desist from felling economic trees for charcoal production, as this negatively affects the rainfall pattern in the area and has negative consequences on the storage of yet-to-be-constructed dams.