4 years not enough for ‘1 Village 1 Dam’ policy – Agric Minister

Agriculture Minister Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has described the government’s One Village One Dam policy as an expensive venture which requires time to effectively implement.

He is, therefore, asking the Ghanaian people to retain the current administration come December 7 to continue with the dam infrastructure they have initiated in the northern part of the country.

Dr. Afriyie Akoto disclosed this on the sidelines of government’s Town Hall and Results Fair to showcase to the Ghanaian people investment made in the area of infrastructure three and a half years after taking office.

“A lot of these policies you don’t expect instant results. You know in the savannah areas in the north, the rainfall is only three to four months in the year. So for the rest of the years for seven-eight months, people are only sitting down doing nothing. That’s the essence of the irrigation.”

According to him, the complicated nature of the projects does not make it incumbent for the development to take shape instantly.

As part of the NPP administration’s commitment to facilitate the growth of agriculture, it embarked on a One Village One Dam policy to improve irrigation all year round.

A cross-section of Ghanaians has hailed the development while others have criticized the implementation describing some of the dams as unfit for purpose.

But the Agriculture Minister wants more time to see to the full rollout of the initiative.

“The irrigation is very expensive and restrictive. Four years is not enough. For instance, I want to make Ghana sufficient in rice. There is no way you can do that in four years,” he explained.