Rice farmers at Adzoatsi cry for help

Rice farmers at Adzoatsi and its surrounding areas in the Ketu North Municipality of the Volta Region are calling for assistance to address multiple challenges affecting their farming activities. 
 
The farmers fall within Adzoatsi and the entire farming stretch extending to the Awalavi enclave, a vast rice farming area, which is divided into eleven sections from Adzoatsi to Awalavi, covering approximately 2,255 acres (902 hectares).

  
Each section spans around 205 acres (82 hectares), however, they struggle over issues including drainage system and access roads, which had become major obstacles to their farming operations.

 
Mr Wonder Nutekpor, the Secretary of Section 1 of the CDE Water Users Association, shared these concerns with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) during a visit to the farm.

  
He emphasised that the most pressing issue was the drainage system, which was crucial for successful rice harvesting.

  
“When the rice is ready for harvest, we need to drain the water from the fields to facilitate an easy and safe harvest,” Mr Nutekpor explained.

  
“But our drainage system is clogged with mud, preventing water from flowing out.

This makes harvesting difficult and leads to significant post-harvest losses,” he said.

 
He mentioned deteriorating access roads connecting the farms to drying sites, making it difficult to transport the harvested rice as the drivers willing to make the journey often charged double the usual fare.

 
“Sometimes, the vehicles get stuck, and we have to push them, which is dangerous.

We are really suffering,” he said.

 
Even when the rice is successfully transported and processed, the farmers faced challenge with markets to sell their produce, hence the farmers appealed to authorities to address those issues urgently.

  
Although the entire farm is under the management of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA), and the farmers pay an Irrigation Service Charge to GIDA after each harvest, they felt they were not receiving adequate support, Mr Nutekpor said. 
 
Occasionally, through GIDA, some NGOs and companies provided some herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides, and other farm inputs, taking rice in exchange after harvest, but that support was not enough, he said.

 
The farmers expressed the hope that their concerns would finally be addressed, allowing them to continue their farming activities efficiently and contribute to the community and the nation’s food security.