The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has officially launched the Rehabilitation of Irrigation Schemes and the Improvement of Irrigation Water Management Project at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region.
Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday, Mr Opoku highlighted the urgency of revitalising existing irrigation systems to enhance local food production and ensure national food security.
“While we develop new irrigation infrastructure, it is equally important that we rehabilitate existing ones. That is why we are here today,” he said.
The Ashaiman project is the first in a series of similar initiatives to be rolled out in Aveyime, Weta, Via, and parts of the Northern, Ashanti, Bono, and Ahafo Regions.
According to Mr Opoku, Ghana has earmarked over 100 hectares of land for rice seed production and aims to produce 10,000 tons of rice seed annually by 2027, upon completion of the Dawhenya irrigation project. He also announced the construction of a one-megawatt solar farm to power irrigation systems and lower rice production costs.
He stressed the need to protect public agricultural infrastructure, noting that the Ashaiman facility, built in 1968, holds potential to transform Ghana’s agriculture if fully rehabilitated and safeguarded.
Mr Opoku issued a stern warning to encroachers and polluters, assuring strict enforcement of the law to preserve irrigation assets and farmlands.
In support of agricultural transformation, the Minister announced the distribution of 150 motorbikes to agricultural extension officers, with 350 more expected by the end of the month. He lamented the current ratio of one extension officer to 1,574 farmers, which he described as a major barrier to progress.
To bridge the human resource gap, the Ministry, in collaboration with the National Service Scheme, is engaging 5,000 agricultural graduates, with plans to expand the programme to 10,000.
Mr Opoku further revealed plans to establish Farmer Service Centres in all agricultural districts. These centres will offer access to modern farming equipment, subsidised seeds, and post-harvest facilities on a shared or rental basis—particularly to support smallholder farmers, who make up over 80 per cent of Ghana’s farming population.
Announcing a policy shift in fertiliser distribution, the Minister said fertilisers will now be distributed exclusively through registered cooperatives, starting with 3,000 bags allocated to Ashaiman farmers. He urged farmers to form commodity-based cooperatives to improve access to inputs, credit, and government interventions.
He also reiterated the government’s goal to transform agriculture from a subsistence activity into a viable agribusiness sector. As part of this agenda, the Ministry recently facilitated a partnership between tomato farmers and a processing factory in Tema to bridge supply-demand gaps and minimise post-harvest losses.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
