By Swala Abdul-wahab.
The Upper West Regional Directorate of the National Disaster Management Organization, NADMO has expressed fear that food production will be negatively affected in the region if farmers are unable to replant their crops after their farms were washed away by the recent floods.
The Regional Director of NADMO, Ahmed Mustapha, who briefed the Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture, Emmanuel Sasu Yeboah, on the situation said 2,729 farmlands are now known to have been washed away in 4 out of 11 Districts and Municipalities.
The Regional Director of NADMO said, “something urgent needs to be done to assist farmers to replant their crops else food security in the region is likely to be threatened.’’
Responding to the concerns, the Regional Director of the Department of Agriculture, Emmanuel Sasu Yeboah said the concerns expressed by NADMO are genuine.
He said information from some of his officers from the districts indicates that many farmlands have been washed off, but some farms can still be restored with the immediate application of fertilizers. Mr. Sasu Yeboah suggested to the farmers to do dry season farming with the aid of Dams under the One Village One Dam project.
“This will reduce the impact the floods will have on food security in the region,’’ he stated.
Meanwhile, people of the region have welcomed the commitment of government to devote ¢50 million to restore roads that have been destroyed by the rains. They, however, appealed to government to start working on the roads immediately to revive economic activities.
