Revitalise IVID policy to improve agriculture productivity – GARDJA

The Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) has urged the government to revitalize the One village, One dam policy to improve the agricultural sector.

According to the Association, the policy had not made much difference in the lives of farmers other than serving as a source of drinking water for animals.

The government introduced the ‘One village, One dam’ initiative to construct dams in some villages in northern Ghana to support the farmers in dry season farming.

However, when they were eventually constructed, the dams did not meet the expectations of Ghanaians as they were poorly built.

Mr Richmond Frimpong, President of GADRJA, called on the government to revitalize the initiative for the benefit of farmers.

He warned of drastic hikes in food prices in 2022 unless urgent measures were taken.

He said data available from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture showed that January and October 2021 record price hikes of maize, yam, cassava, tomatoes by 12 and 73 per cent.

“There is a need for urgent action because the challenges with the hike in food prices we saw last year was a clear warning that unless drastic actions are taken, danger looms in 2022. Minus immediate bold interventions, 2022 is likely to come along with an even more drastic increase in prices of foodstuff, deepening inequalities among the farming population and an increase in Ghana’s dependence on foreign foods, as well as loss of agricultural jobs. Immediate government action is needed now,” he said.

He commended the government for the concept of providing farmers with irrigation facilities as it is a good move that must necessarily be pursued.

The Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA) is an association of about 300 journalists and communicators working to promote issues of environment, agriculture and rural development in the media space. GARDJA is an affiliate of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ), the world’s largest association of agricultural communication practitioners, with membership covering more than 50 countries.