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Farmers in Bawku supported with Irrigation machines

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The agriculture sector remains one of the pillars of Ghana’s economy. More than 60% of the workforce is engaged in agriculture.

Government since 2007 has been providing support in the form of subsidized tractor and fertilizer services to farmers. However, farming in Ghana still faces a mirage of challenges. One of the challenges that need greater and immediate attention from stakeholders is irrigation.

Farmers in northern Ghana are hard hit because the rains have over the years not been consistent. It is against this background that a Member of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Atlanta Chapter in the USA, Mbawuni Bakutoma, has donated seven irrigation machines to seven communities in the Bawku Municipality of the Upper East Region.

The communities include Zabugu, Kutanga, Mognori, Gentiga, Bador and Tampizua.

The move according to Mr. Bakutoma, is to help farmers in the area engage themselves in dry season gardening. He explained that when farmers in the Bawku Municipality and the three regions in the north get the needed support, it will go a long way to reduce the high level of migration. He said the move is to complement government’s efforts in making the agric sector attractive.

Mr. Bakutoma called on the people in the area to embrace the government’s agricultural revolutionary program dubbed “Planting for Food and Jobs”. This, he noted, is the only way to alleviate poverty among the people in the three regions of the north.

A 49, year old farmer in Zabugu, Emmanuel Ayieb, thanked Mr. Bakutoma for the gesture. He added that the irrigation machine will help them expand their farms, adding that it will go a long way to enhance their living conditions.

Mr. Ayieb said almost all the people in the area are subsistence farmers hence the need for government to provide them with a dam. He said even though they have been promised by the government to provide them with a dam as part of the government’s One-Village-One-Dam policy it is not yet visible.

At Gentiga, a 35 year old farmer, Atuug Musah, who received the irrigation machine on behalf of the Mognori community, praised Mr. Bakutoma for the gesture. He revealed that they are getting such support from an individual for the first time. He was quick to add that the move will help improve the standards of living among the people in the area. Mr. Atuug appealed to government to fix the deplorable roads in the area.

Speaking with GBC’s Radio Ghana, a 30 year old farmer in Mognori, Daniel Ayawin, called on government to assist them with ready market for their farm produce. He commended Mr. Bakutoma for the gesture and called on the people in the area to support him in his political career.

Mr. Mbawuni Bakutoma has declared his intention to contest the upcoming parliamentary primaries of the NPP in the Bawku Central Constituency.

Mr. Bakutoma believes he is the only person among his contenders who can win the Bawku central parliamentary seat and also increase the presidential votes for the NPP.

STORY BY: Samuel Ayammah – GBC.

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