Farmers in the Nandom Municipality have expressed worry that they may not be able to profit from their investments due to inadequate rain in the area this year. The farmers say their plants particularly maize, soya bean, sorghum and millet have become stunted due to several weeks without rain.
Speaking to GBC at Nandom, a farmer at Goziir, Maximus Kplibu stated that the inadequate rains will affect harvest in the coming weeks.
This means that farmers would have less food produce to sell or use for household activities during the months.
Mr Kplibu thus appealed to government to provide irrigation dams along with irrigation equipment to help farmers stand drought-related challenges.
He said although the government’s One Village One Dam (1V1D) has been beneficial, adding that, it is essential that the program is expanded.
Mr Kplibu said in the Goziir community, for example, the location of the dam makes it difficult for many farmers to benefit from the project.
Another farmer, Domatus Kplibu was unhappy about the continuous presence of the fall armyworms. He said the worms did not only affect their maize crops this year but other crops have been affected as well.
Mr Kplibu lamented that pesticides provided by the Department of Agriculture did not affect the presence of the worms.
He appealed to government to provide farmers with more potent pesticides to address the fall armyworm issue. He said the worms coupled with the drought means farmers would face financial losses.
The Director of Operations at Tieme Ndo, Moses Yaanemengna said farmers are likely to face hard times in the coming months due to a number of factors.
He said the continuous presence of the fall armyworms, drought and the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic would impact heavily on the incomes of farmers in the Nandom Municipality.
On the fall armyworms, Mr Yaanemengna explained that since 2017, farmers have been experiencing the presence of the worms.
He said despite government’s efforts to get rid of the worms by providing pesticides, the presence of the worms still persists.
The Director of Operations at Tieme Ndo said this year has been no different with regards to the worms. He called for more effort on the part of government by continuing to facilitate spraying gangs and distribute pesticides to affected farmers.
Touching on the drought, Mr Yaanemengna mentioned that because some farmers planted early in the year when the rains failed, farmers are losing their investments.
He said the only way out of such situations is to train and educate farmers on climate change and its effects.
Mr Yaanemengna urged government to continue to construct irrigation facilities across the Northern Sector.
The Director of Operations at Tieme Ndo, Moses Yaanemengna said the COVID-19 pandemic will drastically affect the incomes of farmers. He explained that before the start of the farming season, farmers could not sell enough of grains and other produce they had stored from the previous farming season because of the absence of markets.
He said due to this, farmers could not make enough money to reinvest into their farms this year; coupled with other issues like the fall armyworm and the drought, farmers will be cash strapped.
Mr Yaanemengna said his organisation is structured to help farmers address some of their concerns.
Tieme Ndo, a social enterprise supports farmers with farm inputs on credit basis. This, Mr Yaanemengna believes, has helped farmers continue to grow their investments despite the crippling challenges the sector faces.
Story filed by Mark Smith.
