Heavy floods in the Nawuni community in the Kumbungu District of the Northern Region have swept over 400 acres of farmland belonging to some smallholder farmers.
This has left these farmers in a difficult situation. According to the farmers, the past five years have been disastrous, with floods consistently ruining their crops.
They said they do not know why the area has been experiencing such heavy flooding lately.
The rains had been pouring down for weeks, and the usually quiet farmlands of the Nawuni community looked murky, with the waters rising high. The crops, once green, now stood submerged, their leaves trembling in the rushing floods.
Mohammed Hafiz and Mohammed Abdul Kareem were lucky to pick some of their crops before the rising waters submerged the farms.
“We have been able to salvage a few grains even though the large portion is not ready yet for harvest but we are compelled to leave the rest,” Mohammed said.
For Abdul Kareem, all he had was just the little he carried on his bicycle.
“All that I have been able to get from my farm is what’s on bike I’m sending home,” he said.
But Mba Abdulai Zakaria’s farm had been submerged because he was away when the floods occurred. His wife had briefed him on how devastating the disaster was.
“The floods were so heavy that it swept many farmers,” he said.
Armed with this information, he set out to visit his farm.
Mba Zakaria, a man in his late sixties, stood at the edge of the canoe, his eyes filled with a mix of sadness and worry. He had invested everything in this land, and now it seemed like the heavens themselves were conspiring against him.
“We expected that we would get something this year and all of a sudden the flood waters came and submerged the farm. This year the cost of a tractor for an acre was 200 cedis and my farm was 7 acres, you can imagine the loss. I also bought over 10 cans of weedisides and still owing 4 bottles,” Mba Zakaria said.
Mba Zakaria said his hopes are dashed and his worry is how to feed his family.
“Now to feed my family would be difficult; I would have to sell my little rice harvest from last year to help feed,” he added.
Mba Zakaria said many other farmers in his community have no knowledge about climate change.
“I don’t know anything about climate change but the flood is often caused by the rain and the Bagre dam,” he noted.
Climate change expert Mahama Wayo from the Tamale Technical University’s Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources explained the reasons behind the flooding that has constantly hit the area.
“Floods are caused by different factors. The first factor has to do with climate factors to the extent that we have prolonged rain can cause floods. We have anthropogenic factors like people building in waterways, people cutting trees and Geomorphological factors which could be as a result of the land been low lands or the inability of the soil to seap the water, and so for that matter, you can experience floods,” Mr Wayo said.
Mr. Wayo explained that these floods have a significant impact on food safety and security, which can affect SDG Goal 2.
“The Northern part of the country contributes significantly to the country’s food basket and so if we are not sending in our quota into the food basket, then inadvertently we are going to suffer some levels of food insecurity,” the climate change expert said.
He called for livelihood diversification to serve as a buffer for these farmers and for the government to help support them.
This article is brought to you by JoyNews in partnership with CDKN Ghana and the University of Ghana Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies (C3SS), Legon with funding from R4I Opportunities Fund.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com