By Michael Foli Jackidy, GNA
Weta (V/R), July 9, GNA – Farmers under the Weta Irrigation Scheme (WIS) have appealed to the Government to urgently rehabilitate the facility, warning that years of neglect and the recent devastating floods have pushed the scheme to the brink of collapse.
Mr Gideon Kokoroko, who spoke on behalf of the farmers at a press conference in Weta on Tuesday, said the deteriorating state of the irrigation scheme posed a serious threat to food security, rice production and the livelihoods of thousands of farming households in the Ketu North Municipality and beyond.
He said the Weta Irrigation Scheme, formerly known as the Afife Irrigation Project, was constructed with support from the Government of China between 1979 and 1982 and commissioned for cultivation in 1983.
According to him, the scheme had contributed significantly to rice and vegetable production in the Volta Region and Ghana as a whole, with the potential to produce more than 10,000 metric tonnes of rice annually from its 880 hectares of irrigable land.
Mr Kokoroko, however, said the facility had not undergone any major rehabilitation since it became operational more than four decades ago, despite technical recommendations that rehabilitation should have been undertaken over 20 years ago.
He said prolonged neglect had resulted in the deterioration of key irrigation infrastructure, reducing productivity and exposing farmers to increasing losses.
He recalled that in 2023, officials of the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) announced that the scheme had been selected for rehabilitation under the 150-million-dollar World Bank-supported West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP).
Mr Kokoroko, however, said farmers were yet to see any significant rehabilitation work or the movement of equipment to the site, three years after the announcement.
He also recalled that on July 4, 2025, the Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture, Mr John Dumelo, and the Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Mr Eric Edem Agbana, visited the scheme following severe flooding and assured affected farmers of government support.
He said those assurances had not yet resulted in the needed interventions, while the condition of the irrigation infrastructure continued to worsen.
Mr Kokoroko said recent torrential rains had caused extensive flooding that destroyed large areas of rice farms, wiping out farmers’ investments, livelihoods and hopes.
He explained that the collapse of the main protective dyke had exposed the entire irrigation scheme to continuous flooding, making farming activities increasingly risky.
He added that major components of the facility, including the main canals, laterals, sub-laterals, feeder channels, control gates and access roads, had all deteriorated significantly.
“The Weta Irrigation Scheme is currently in a collapsed state. Without urgent intervention, anybody who ventures into rice farming on the scheme does so at his or her own risk,” he said.
Mr Kokoroko warned that the possible collapse of the scheme, considered one of Ghana’s largest irrigation projects, would affect thousands of farming families and undermine national efforts to increase food production, reduce rice imports and create employment opportunities for young people.
The farmers appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to urgently intervene by ensuring a comprehensive rehabilitation of the facility.
They called for the reconstruction of the collapsed dyke, canals, control gates and access roads, emergency support for farmers affected by the floods, and the establishment of a sustainable maintenance programme to protect the scheme for future generations.
Mr Kokoroko also appealed to the World Bank’s Ghana Office to ensure that funds allocated under the Food System Resilience Programme were released and utilised for the intended rehabilitation works.
He said restoring the Weta Irrigation Scheme would revive hope among farmers, boost rice and vegetable production, create jobs and contribute significantly to Ghana’s food security agenda.
Mr Kokoroko expressed appreciation to traditional authorities, the media, stakeholders and individuals who supported the press conference, and reaffirmed farmers’ commitment to working with government and development partners to restore the scheme to full operation.
GNA
Edited By: Maxwell Awumah/Kenneth Odeng Adade