No food crisis looming over VR ...Despite floods
IT has now been established that more than 6, 000 hectares of cropped fields have been destroyed in the Volta Region by the recent floods caused by the spillage from the Akosombo and Kpong dams.
The crops wiped out included rice, 4,700 hectares; cassava, 2,500 hectares, maize 2,750 hectares; tomato, 20 hectares, onion/shallots, 60.7 hectares, and pepper 40 hectares.
The Volta Regional Director of Agriculture, William Dzamefe disclosed this at the just-ended 2023 Farmers Day Celebration in Ho last Friday.
He revealed that more than 6,740 farmers had been displaced by the deluge, which claimed more than 50,000 tonnes of various crops.
Out of the displaced farmers, Mr Dzamefe said, 80 per cent were males.
Assurance
That, notwithstanding, the Regional Director of Agriculture, gave an assurance that there was no food crisis looming over the region.
“The regional department is coming out with possible interventions to alleviate the sufferings of our farmers, proposing, in the short term, assistance to the farmers with planting materials and fertilisers during the next planting window.
“In the medium to long term, plans are underway to support displaced farmers who want to relocate with the appropriate land preparation and development,” he affirmed.
Out of the 18 administrative districts in the region, six were severely affected by the floods.
They are North Tongu, Central Tongu, South Tongu, Anloga, Keta and South Dayi.
The North Dayi District and Kpando municipality were minimally affected.
Mr Dzamefe said the devastation caused by the spillage called for a comprehensive data base on farmers to inform coordinated efforts towards rehabilitating the farmers and other victims.
For that reason, he said, the Regional Department of Agriculture was collaborating with the National Disaster Management Organisation at the district level in compiling vital data on the situation, to be published soon.
Mr Dzamefe affirmed that the Department of Agriculture would continue to offer the needed technical support to the Regional Coordinating Council in efforts to mitigate the plight of the affected farmers.
Meanwhile, the Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa, has tasked the Department of Agriculture to come out with the most pressing needs of the affected farmers and rank them in order of priority, for prompt assistance from the state.
“The region plays a pivotal role in the nation’s food security drive and our dear nation, Ghana will not turn its back on the region,” he added.
Dr Letsa said the region currently produced 23 per cent of the local rice stock.