It is trite knowledge that irrigation plays a critical role in farming endeavours the world over. \u00a0Indeed, if there is any technology that has stood the test of time and whose relevance, time and advancement in technology has not been rendered obsolete, it is, arguably, irrigation in farming.<\/p>\n
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Its importance notwithstanding, the discourse on the role of irrigation in farming practices has become more critical at a time climate change has made weather patterns highly unpredictable.\u00a0 In recognition of this reality, governments have sought to provide sustainable irrigation schemes and technology to their farmers.<\/p>\n
Here at home, the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) is responsible for exploring all water resources for livelihood options in agriculture at appropriate scales for all communities. \u00a0However, a lot more can be done by the private sector to prop up the Authority, considering 95% of Ghana\u2019s cultivated lands are yet to be irrigated.<\/p>\n
The Eagle Farmer Project: A Promise to Small-holder Farmers<\/strong><\/p>\n It is against this backdrop that Accra Brewery Limited\u2019s (ABL) Eagle Farmer Project makes an entrance. \u00a0As part of its Growing World agenda, ABL\u2019s Eagle Lager brand has, for the past two years, provided irrigation infrastructure to some communities in three of Ghana\u2019s regions.\u00a0 In 2015, ABL, under the \u201cEagle Farmer Project\u201d, deployed irrigation facilities and infrastructure comprising a solar-powered furrow irrigation system to\u00a0Yirene<\/strong>\u00a0and Paga Kajelo in the Upper East Region; Gbi Avega in the Volta Region; and Huniso in the Western Region. \u00a0The Project has continued to impact more lives, this time in Tindongo and Gambibgo, Upper East Region, as recently as October and November, 2017 respectively.<\/p>\n Eagle Lager\u2019s initiative has not only promoted food security in those communities, but has, most importantly, improved the livelihood and incomes of over 15,000 small-holder farmers.<\/p>\n Roland Tuumyeridam is a former Assemblyman for Nabio\u2019s Kajeto Electoral Area. \u00a0He wields a post-graduate degree in Development Planning and currently teaches in the area\u2019s local Junior High School. \u00a0He narrates the ordeal of his kinsmen prior to the construction of a solar-powered furrow irrigation system in his community.<\/p>\n \u2018Previously, during the dry season, they travel down south to do menial jobs\u2019. \u00a0He proclaims that the project has drastically changed fortunes, noting that \u2018those are things of the past. \u00a0Since they can farm all year round, they are no longer interested in travelling to the south. \u00a0There is year-round vegetable farming going on and they have enough income to take care of themselves\u2019, Tuumyeridam says.<\/p>\n Joseph Tuumbabuya, Community Farm Leader, Paga Nabio, corroborates Tuumyeridam\u2019s assertions, adding, \u2018now, we have access to water every day and it has also helped in dry season vegetable farming. \u00a0We are benefitting a lot. \u00a0When we harvest the pepper, onion and okro, we get money to buy ingredients and prepare nutritious food for the family, take care of ourselves, as well as pay our children\u2019s school fees\u2019.<\/p>\n Madam Mokekem Tanga, a female farmer, rounds up the impact of the project on their lives.<\/p>\n \u2018This project has really helped us in the area of (potable) water. \u00a0We (are also) now (able) to undertake vegetable farming throughout the year and we are better off financially than the previous years\u2019.<\/p>\n ABL\u2019s Commitment to a Growing World<\/strong><\/p>\n As a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABInBev), the world\u2019s largest brewer, ABL\u2019s Dream is to bring people together for a better world. \u00a0To live this Dream, we employ the vehicle of the Eagle Farmer Project to invest in a Growing World where everyone has the opportunity to improve their livelihood.<\/p>\n Achieving resounding success though, means collaborating with government agencies and industry peers to reduce the colossal financing constraint that adversely affects food security and crop yields.<\/p>\n Having been devoted to partnering nation building efforts for over 85 years, this is a path ABL has trod before and will continue to tread irrespective of how seemingly insurmountable the odds are. \u00a0And with capacity expansion, our use of locally-grown raw materials (maize and cassava), which increased by 98.14% and 83.19% respectively from 2015 to date, is set to increase as well.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Credit: ABL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Paga Nabio is a farming community with over 5,000 inhabitants in the Upper East Region\u2019s Kassena Nankana West District. Farmers here mostly cultivate millet, maize, tomatoes, pepper, okro, cowpea, and groundnut against outstanding odds. The community, as is characteristic of the District, is also the unwarranted recipient of the longest and harshest dry season which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":380205,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[171],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n