The Water Resources Commission (WRC) says farmers who still cultivate within the buffer zones of water sources posed a major challenge to ensuring safety of communities along the White Volta.
The continuous farming activities within the buffer zones adversely affect the current trend of flooding, especially when the Bagre Dam is spilled.
Mr Andrew Asaviansa, the Assistant Basin Officer of the WRC, who spoke to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, said over the years, efforts to curb farming within the buffer zones, especially 90 meters away from the banks of the water bodies, had not been successful.
Responding to the possible effects on communities by Burkina Faso’s Bagre Dam spillage, he said farming was still being carried out upstream the White Volta, making the area vulnerable to flooding and silting.
The WRC was dredging the main White Volta at Sapeliga and its environs in the Bawku West District and had educated the farmers to move away from the banks and cultivate at safe distances, he said.
Mr Asaviansa said though some farmers were able to harvest their crops before the spillage, any farmer who had not yet harvested would find it difficult since the area was flooded.
The plains were not able to accommodate all the excess water, hence the flooding, but its fertility and availability of water continued to attract farmers.
He explained that the White Volta tributaries in the Bawku West, Bawku Municipal, Talensi, Binduri and Nabdam districts in the Upper East Region were areas likely to be most affected by spillage.
Communities along the White Volta, however, had a respite from the usual flooding because the Dam was not spilled.
Mr Paul Woomah, the Upper East Regional Manager of the Red Cross Society of Ghana, said the sensitisation had prepared the people for the outcome of the spillage and farmers advised to harvest their crops on time to avoid losing them in case of any eventuality.
Source: Ghana News Agency
