4 FARMING COMMUNITIES GET WATER PUMPING MACHINES (PAGE 47, JAN 25, 2010)

The Water Resources Commission (WRC), in collaboration with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has presented 13 water pumping machines and accessories to four farming groups.
The pumping machines, worth GH¢13,000, were presented to the farming groups in four communities along the White Volta in the Bawku municipality and the Bawku West District in the Upper East Region to support the implementation of the Improving Water Governance in the Volta Basin (PAGEV) project.
The presentation of the equipment to the communities, namely, Bazua, Nafkolga, Googo and Kobore, was aimed at encouraging farmers in those localities to desist from farming too close to the White Volta, a practice which leads to erosion, but rather move upland to farm.
The IUCN is a trans-boundary sub-basin of 2,700 kilometre square spanning downstream of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso to the Gambaga Scarp in Ghana.
In Ghana, PAGEV is assisting communities in river conservation activities and supporting initiatives for income generation among marginalised people, especially women.
The PAGEV is also responsible for supporting communities in Ghana and Burkina Faso to improve policies that enhance a better governance of the shared water basin.
Speaking at a brief ceremony at Zebilla in the Bawku West District, the Project Co-ordinator for PAGEV, Mr Kwame Ababio, said the gesture was to promote the preservation of the eco-system, adding that it was also aimed at promoting greater collaboration between Ghana and Burkina Faso in managing shared water resources within the Volta Basin geared towards limiting potential conflicts between the two countries.
According to him, the project would also help to reduce poverty among the people.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Mark Woyongo, commended the IUCN and its development partners, notably the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and the Netherlands Government, for their continued support to the water and environmental sectors.
He noted that a close observation of the White Volta depicted a widening of the river channel, with reduced water holding capacity, which was caused by siltation, deforestation, farming too close to the river and erosion.
Mr Woyongo, therefore, welcomed the decision to support the beneficiary communities with water pumping machines, stressing that the gesture would not only reforest degraded river banks but also augment their efforts at harnessing water for dry season farming.
He urged the beneficiary communities to take advantage of the programme to preserve the ecosystem to improve upon their livelihoods.
“It is my fervent hope that farmers will take advantage of the support received to increase their cropping areas and consequently their earnings to reduce poverty,” he said.
He also encouraged them to embark on the planting of economic trees along the White Volta to boost their income- generating activities, in addition to the food crops that they would cultivate.
Mr Woyongo encouraged the implementers of the project to target women, since they played a key role in augmenting the livelihoods and food security needs of their families.