By: Maame Efua Kwaduah
Founding President and CEO of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe has raised alarm over reports of a looming food shortage in Ghana’s Northern belt due to inadequate rainfall.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, addressed to Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Mr. Cudjoe expressed concern about the potential impact of this situation on the already fragile economy and called for immediate and long-term solutions.
He acknowledged the efforts of the agriculture, finance, and defense ministers in trying to contain the situation but emphasized the need to reduce dependency on rain-fed agriculture. He advocated for the development of adequate storage facilities to manage such crises in the future.
Mr. Cudjoe also revisited the government’s One Village, One Dam (1V1D) initiative, which was heavily promoted by Vice President Bawumia as a key strategy to bolster irrigation and support agricultural production in the north stating that billions of cedis were reportedly invested in these dams to improve water supply for farming.
In his post, Mr. Cudjoe questioned the current status of these dams and their readiness to mitigate the effects of poor rains. “Dr. Bawumia, I recall you aggressively led the campaign for 1 village-1 dam as the best strategy to augment existing irrigation systems. And billions of money was poured into these dams. May I know the status of these dams? When are we expecting them to kick in and help?” he asked.