Ashaiman Irrigation Scheme rehabilitation begins
The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), through the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), has cut the sod for the rehabilitation of the Ashaiman Irrigation Scheme in the Greater Accra Region.
The project, funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), forms part of implementing the Rehabilitation of Irrigation Schemes and Improvement of Irrigation Water Management Project in Aveyime, Dawhenya and Ashaiman irrigation schemes.
It seeks to improve water availability, expand irrigable land and enhance the productivity and income of farmers, particularly those within the Aveyime, Dawhenya and Ashaiman irrigation schemes in the Volta and Greater Accra regions.
The Ashaiman project, which will be undertaken by a home-grown construction company, Fridoug Building and Civil Engineering Contractors, will include spillway channel works, a 50-metre reservoir, 2.2km canal maintenance road, 2.2km concrete-lined canal, 22 22-metre access bridges to link the right and left banks and a new rice processing warehouse.
Groundbreaking ceremony
The official groundbreaking ceremony at the Ashaiman Irrigation Scheme Office underscored the strong commitment of stakeholders to ensuring the successful completion and effective management of the project for the benefit of the people of Ashaiman and the nation as a whole.
The event brought together political figures, traditional leaders, representatives from MoFA, KOICA, GIDA, and farmers from the Ashaiman municipality.
Notable among the dignitaries were the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, Country Director for KOICA Ghana, Dong Hyun Lee, Project Management Consultant, Jon Seong, Reagent of Ashaiman, Nii Annang Adzor, CEO of GIDA, Eric Adu Dankwah, Member of Parliament for Ashaiman, Ernest Henry Norgbey and MCE for Ashaiman, Freeman Tsekpo.
In a statement, Mr Opoku highlighted President John Dramani Mahama's agenda to drive Ghana's economic growth through agriculture.
He said the President believed Ghana’s vast agricultural potential, if supported by the right investments and policies, could increase farmer incomes, create youth employment, and ensure inclusive economic development.
To implement this vision, the minister said the government launched the Feed Ghana Programme in April, aiming to feed the population using locally produced food; supply raw materials to agro-processing industries, and create jobs across the agricultural value chain.
"In the wisdom of Mr President, our nation is endowed with huge agricultural potentials and so if we can make the right investment in agriculture and combine them with the right policies, we can significantly impact on incomes of our farmers, create gainful employment for our youth, and develop our economy from the scratch so that everybody, wherever you are located in this country, can be a participant as well as a beneficiary in the economic process," he said.
Irrigable land
He said a key focus is shifting from rain-dependent farming to irrigation-based agriculture aimed at ensuring year-round food production, reducing reliance on weather conditions and laying a strong foundation for agriculture to become the engine of Ghana’s economic transformation.
The minister expressed worry that although the nation was blessed with irrigable land estimated at 1.9 million hectares, only 226,000 hectares were under irrigation and gave an assurance of the government's commitment to rehabilitate the existing irrigation infrastructure while building new ones.
KOICA's support
For his part, Mr Lee expressed pride in being part of the project, highlighting it as a symbol of the strong relationship between Ghana and Korea.
He pledged KOICA's continued support for initiatives that improved the livelihoods of the Ghanaian people across various sectors.
Inclusion
The Reagent of Ashaiman, Nii Annang Adzor, expressed concerns about the exclusion of local land custodians from the management of an agricultural irrigation scheme at Ashaiman.
