Ghana: FSRP targets irrigation scheme for rice, tomato

By Wisdom JONNY-NUEKPE The Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s Food System Resilience Programme (MoFA-FSRP) will place critical focus on irrigation scheme rehabilitation as a key component of the programme. FSRP Project Coordinator, Osei Owusu Agyeman, told B&FT that the FSRP will modernise irrigation schemes across the country as part of requirements in rice, maize, soya and tomato. He said an irrigation policy of the programme is in line with a climate-smart agriculture demands of the FSRP, in which year-round farming is critical. “We have advertised consultancy for an irrigation policy scheme and implementation on a five-year strategic plan for the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority. This will revolutionise the FSRP’s work. Obviously, we cannot embark on all-year round farming without irrigation,” Mr Agyeman said. He admitted that land ownership remains a big challenge to agriculture activities, stating: “landownership is not defined and this poses problems for farmers”. ...