The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has announced plans to launch an expanded irrigation program aimed at mitigating the impacts of drought and boosting agricultural productivity.
Moses Anim, MP for Trobu Constituency, revealed this during the 2024 Manifesto Insight event on Wednesday, September 4, 2024, where the party’s manifesto on agriculture was discussed under the theme “Reducing Cost of Living.”
The initiative comes in response to declining crop yields and lower productivity, which have led to food shortages and price hikes across the country. Anim emphasized the need to enhance soil fertility to address these challenges.
“We will promote the use of agricultural lime, especially those locally produced in Ghana, to reduce soil acidity, enhance fertility, and increase yield so that more food will be produced and unit costs reduced,” he stated.
This initiative will focus on the rehabilitation, modernization, and expansion of selected public irrigation schemes, including those under the One Village, One Dam initiative.
According to Anim, these efforts by the Bawumia led government are essential to increasing the irrigated land area and reducing the cost of locally produced agricultural products.
Anim further assured that the Bawumia-led government would address post-harvest losses while improving value addition to agricultural products.
“The Bawumia-led government will not only address post-harvest losses but will also improve the value addition of agricultural products so that food is better harvested and preserved,” he noted.