By Emmanuel Akayeti
Ghana mostly depends on an Agrarian economy of which crop farming including vegetables are not left out. Due to inadequate quantities of vegetables, especially tomatoes, Ghanaian traders travel far into neighbouring Burkina Faso to buy that type of vegetable which could have been easily produced by farmers in the country on a large scale, where some would be used to feed industry to add value to the crop and reduce post-harvest losses.
The major challenge encountered by the farmers is the change of the weather pattern especially during the dry season, where sufficient rainfall would have been required to enhance the growth of the crop. In an exclusive interview with GBC News in Bolgatanga, the Upper East Region, the Climate Change Adaptation Manager of GASIP, Dr. Edmund Kyei Akoto-Danso, said one major point is to support farmers to undertake vegetable production during the dry season when the rains are over.
This he added means basically promoting all-year farming through the provision of solar-power mechanize boreholes for farmers. Government can also support the rehabilitation and management of small irrigation farming systems for these smallholder farmers.
Dr Akoto-Danso stated that other Climate Change Adaptation practices that GASIP is promoting is to enhance water harvesting include the contour bonding and rain water harvesting.
He advised farmers to also diversify into un-agribusinesses value chain processes such as processing and marketing in order to add value to their produce.
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