Several farmlands along the Kubore River in the Upper East Region have flooded following the spillage of the Bagre Dam in Burkina Faso.
The spillage, coupled with heavy rainfall, has completely submerged food crops after months of hard work by the farmers.
Speaking to reporters, some affected farmers lamented the losses.
“This Bagre Dam water spillage has come and spoilt all our farms. They don’t inform us early and right now the crops too, it is time for us to harvest them and the water has come and destroyed them.
“It brings a lot of problems to us especially the food that we have, something we can use to feed our family, the water has come and spoilt everything…So we are pleading with the government to come to our aid and help us. If not, we have nowhere to go,” one farmer said.
The floodgates of the dam were opened on Monday, August 19, as earlier announced by the Power Utility of Burkina Faso, SONABEL.
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The spillage of the Bagre Dam takes place either in August or September every year, to prevent destruction to the dam.
This exercise results in flooding in low-lying communities in Burkina Faso and Ghana.
About 35 communities along the White Volta in the Bawku Municipality, Bawku West, Garu, Binduri, Nabdam and Talensi districts are the hardest-hit areas.
In 2023, the spillage and its subsequent floods displaced more than 2,000 residents in the Kpandai district of the Northern Region.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) stated on Monday that it lacked the necessary resources to assist all victims if the flooding got worse.
Adam Bavug, the West Gonja Municipal NADMO Director, mentioned that the organisation was, however, working on relocating the residents to safer grounds.