Tongu farmers appeal for seeds, inputs
The Chairperson of the Tongu Floods Committee, Mamaga Sename III, has appealed to the government to support farmers in the three Tongu districts with farm inputs and seeds as a matter of urgency, to avert food crisis in the area and other parts of the country.
Advertisement
Mamaga Sename, who is the Paramount Queen of the Mafi Traditional Area, said with vast farmlands claimed by the recent floods, the future looked bleak for food security.
“It is, therefore, crucial for the farmers to enter the next farming season well-equipped, to make up for their huge losses,” Mamaga Sename said.
She was speaking with the Daily Graphic in an exclusive interview at Sogakope last Sunday after leading the 15-member committee set up by the chiefs, queen and Members of Parliament in the area soon after the floods, on another tour of some of the flood-hit areas to assess the damage at first hand.
So far, members of the committee have visited Mepe, Battor, Aklamador, Sogakope, Zorotodzi, Agave-Agorme and other communities.
Mamaga Sename said the Tongu area supplied other parts of the Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra regions with foodstuffs prior to the floods.
Effects
The destruction of farms by the floods, she said, would definitely affect other areas which relied on the three Tongu districts for their food supplies.
The queen pointed out that although the floods had receded, it would take a long time for wounds inflicted on the victims to heal.
Other Trending Stories
For that matter, she said, there was a need for the government and other stakeholders to continue supporting the people in various ways to adjust to the situation at hand.
For instance, she said, the flood victims still needed potable water and shelter while efforts were being put in place to resettle them.
Roads
The Paramount Queen of Mafi also said the roads to the areas affected by the floods needed to be fixed.
“Some culverts on the roads need to be replaced with steel bridges for smooth movement of vehicles,” she maintained.
Further, Mamaga Sename said the trauma unleashed on children by the floods would take years to heal.
“The government and other stakeholders must not relent in their efforts to ensure schools are reopened and new ones built for the children to return to school,” she stated.
The queen said that the Volta River Authority could not escape blame for the disaster, and called for a waiver of electricity bills in the affected areas.