ONION FARMERS COMMEND PAGEV (MIRROR, Saturday August 29, 2009 PAGE 35)

From Benjamin Xornam Glover, Sakom.

Onion Farmers in the Sakom community in the Upper East Region have expressed appreciation to PAGEV, a Ghana-Burkina Faso trans-boundary project for improving water governance in the Volta Basin, for the rehabilitation of the only dam in the community.
According to the farmers the rehabilitation of the dam, which was done in partnership with the Bawku West District Assembly, has ensured an increase in onion production and subsequent improvement in the finances of the farmers.
The collapse of a portion of the dam walls led the farmers to relocate to another community, 15 kilometers away to engage in farming, which affected yield.
However, through the partnership of PAGEV and the Assembly, the dam was repaired and this has boosted onion production in the community.
This was confirmed by the District Agriculture Development Officer, Mr Charles Akwotiga, during a tour of some of the farms by a team of media practitioners from Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo on a visit to PAGEV’s field activities.
Mr Akwotiga said to ensure the effective use of the facility, water users association have been put in place and they are in charge of the day-to-day management of the dam.
He said through the support of Technoserve, an NGO, a storage facility has been built to enable the farmers keep their produce and sell later at better prices.
Mr Kwame Odame-Ababio, PAGEV’S Project Coordinator, said 75 per cent of cost of rehabilitation amounting to 45,000 Euros was borne by his oufit, while the District Assembly took care of the remaining 25 per cent, with the community providing labour.
The field trip was organised by the Water Resources Commission as part of its sanitation programmes for media persons in Ghana and Burkina Faso on the institutional and established legal frameworks for the management of water resources shared between the two countries, especially the Volta Basin.
The trip also included Mognori, where through the intervention of PAGEV, a number of trees have been planted along the banks of the White Volta river to prevent siltation.
The Volta Basin is the main and largest shared waters for Ghana and Burkina Faso. The two countries share the Volta Basin with four other West African countries, namely Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin and Mali.
Ghana and Burkina Faso share 85 per cent of the basin between them with 67 per cent of Burkina Faso and 64 per cent of Ghana being drained by the White Volta.
The water body also serves as a source of water supply, hydropower and irrigation for both countries.