Crop yields in the Ada East District of the Greater Accra Region have been hampered by unpredictable climatic circumstances in recent years, due to farmers’ inability to plan which crop to produce during the season.
“When we expect the rains it will not come; when we think we are hitting the dry seasons then the rains start,” Mr George Otumfuor, a farmer at Ada, said.
He told the Ghana News Agency that the scenario was hurting the majority of agricultural farmers, posing a threat to food security.
Mr Otumfuor said he and his fellow farmers were preparing the field for cultivation in March, but they weren’t sure if the weather would be favorable.
He claimed that cultivation had been tough due to the inclement weather, and that he had planted one acre of carrots, which were slowly growing.
Farmers rely on rain for their livelihoods, but there has been a constant drought in the area in recent years, he added, pleading with the government to offer irrigation infrastructure to farmers in the area.
“We don’t have an irrigation facility so it is electrical pumps I use but they are not enough to improve productivity, so I’m appealing to the government to support.”
Mr Gabriel Akorley, another farmer, said: “Some farmers are preparing the lands for the cultivation of okro and watermelon but are all treading cautiously.”
GNA
