Chemicals

The Golinga (100 hectares) is one of the two major irrigation schemes in the Northern Region of Ghana, developed in the mid - 1980s to promote intensive cultivation (in the rainy and dry seasons) of rice, upland crops such as soya beans and vegetables by small scale farmers from the catchment areas of these schemes Golinga Socio-Economic Background of Golinga Community. The Golinga community is located in the Tolon-Kumbungu District of Northern Region. The Golinga community in this proposal refers to Golinga,Galinkpegu and Gbelahagu villages- the these satellite settlements operating on the Golinga Irrigation Project (100 hectares of developed area). There are approximately 100 compounds or farming households, habitating 8-15 persons, in each village in the Golinga area. The over all population is about 2000 persons of which the female component is slightly on the edge. Every household in these two communities is basically a farming family. The two major seasons here are the dry (November to April) and rainy (May to October).Farm holdings range from 1 to 5 hectares and all families have some livestock.Maize, sorghum,millet,yam and cassava are the major crops farmed under rain fed conditions and cash crops such as soya beans groundnuts and shea have in recent years gained increased prominence in the cropping systems of the communities. Apart from the major pre- occupation as farmers each village has one or two persons engaged fully or seasonally in some other enterprise. There are for instance butchers, blacksmiths, carpenters and petty traders and fresh fish mongers. The dominant ethnic group in the Dagomba but migrant Fulanis are everywhere in Northern Ghana. Small settlements of the Borto fisher folk are scattered everywhere there is a large water body such as the Golinga dam. Every household in the in the community has one or several persons engaged in some farming activity under irrigation with average farm holdings being between 0.2 to 2.0 hectares. Rice is the most important crop under these schemes and is grown in both seasons of the year under. Market gardening, in the dry season, of tomatoes, onions garden egg and pepper has significant economic importance also. Figure 1 below is a map of Northern Region of Ghana with the Tolon-Kumbungu District sandwiched in the centre close to the Savelugu-Nanton and the Tamale Municipal assemblies. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Water and cultivable land are key limiting resources in the drought-prone Northern Ghana. Studies conducted in recent years by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and others indicate that the main challenges confronting small to medium scale Irrigation farmers in the project area include the following: Declining yields and quality of rice and other crops from year to year Soils, water bodies, fish and crop products produced and the environment in general in the projects catchment areas are becoming more and more polluted as a result of inappropriate and unsustainable use of agro-inputs. Cotton pesticides and cheap adulterated pesticides smuggled into the country often find their way into the hands of unwary rice farmers operating on these projects. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides for rice production are very expensive and out of the reach of majority of small scale farmers operating under these irrigation schemes. Inadequate capacity development in proven agronomic technologies, and especially in sustainable organic/integrated farming alternatives, have frequently been cited as the underlying causes of the declining rice crop yields and productivity of these schemes and the increasing impoverishment of the farming communities operating under them. One way to increase the productivity of land and water resources effectively is to integrate irrigation and aquaculture. Rice-fish farming is one example of integrated-irrigation aquaculture (IIA)-a strategy to increase agricultural productivity from every drop of water while improving the financial sustainability of investments in irrigation. Rice and fish are grown together either on the same plot or on adjacent plots and the by-products of one are used as inputs by the other. KEY PROJECT OUTPUTS OUTPUT 1. Sustainable integrated rice fish farming enterprises established for 25 farmers and 5 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA,s) in Golinga Community through IPM. OUTPUT 2. Land use efficiency and productivity improve by at least 30 per cent at the irrigated sites due to adoption of proven best bet farming methods of rice and fish and improved land & water management interventions by the end of the second season of the project. OUTPUT 3. Sustainable production and processing of cottage industries of rice and fish (production, processing and marketing) for 20 females and youth in each community developed over two seasons. 3.2 PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND INDICATORS Output 1: Sustainable integrated rice fish farming enterprises established for 25 farmers and 5 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEA,s) in for each of the Golinga and Bontanga Communities through IPM ACTIVITIES INDICATORS 1.1 Conduct. Base line survey of the proposed project area Base line survey of project completed within first quarter of year 1 1.2 Conduct Needs Assessment: Meetings of Implementing Team with Chiefs and Elders, Water User Associations (FBO, s) and other stake holders at two Project sites Needs assessment and design of interim work plans completed by end of fi

Ghana