Farmers at Ejisu in the Ashanti Region are facing a challenging season as they report significant losses in their ginger crops, which they attribute to changing weather patterns.

The municipal assembly, known for its agricultural productivity, has seen a decrease in ginger yields this year, raising concern among the farming community.

Kofi Asante is a 44-year-old farmer with 12 years of experience.

He owns a two-acre ginger farm, which is among those severely impacted by the low yield of ginger.

He expressed his frustration and disappointment, stating that this is the first time he has experienced such a drastic loss in crops.

"I have been a farmer for the past 12 years, and this is the first time I have experienced anything like this

It saddens me every time I visit the farm and see my crops dried up because of the harsh weather,” he lamented.

Farmers in the region traditionally harvest ginger in September and rely on consistent rainfall during the months of June, July, and August to ensure healthy crop growth.

However, this year, the anticipated rains were irregular, leading to dried-out crops and reduced yields.

"I typically begin harvesting and selling my ginger in September, but due to the low rainfall, most of the crops have dried out, and some of the ginger plants are now sprouting prematurely," he lamented.

Asante, who spent approximately 25,000 cedis on land preparation and the planting of ginger, now faces a significant financial loss.

He highlighted the economic strain caused by the failed harvest.

The situation has left many farmers in Ejisu worried about the future of their livelihoods as they struggle to adapt to the increasingly unpredictable weather conditions.

"The bad weather has impacted my finances. I rented the land specifically for ginger farming and invested all my money in labor and fertilizer for preparing the land

I was expecting to harvest around 20 to 30 bags of ginger," he revealed.

A bag of ginger that sold for 600 cedis has now surged to 1,200 cedis doubling in price.

This price hike has also impacted the smaller retail sales, where consumers used to buy ginger for as little as 2.00 cedis.

Today, those prices have climbed to 5.00 cedis, 10.00 cedis, and even 20.00 cedis depending on the quantity.

The rise in prices is being felt particularly by traders in the Ashanti Region, with many sourcing their ginger from Gyankoba, a farming community known for its ginger cultivation.

"The price increase is over 100%, so we had to raise our prices in order to make a profit. It has significantly impacted our sales, "Aunty Fausty, a trader at Roman Hill noted.

Rain-fed agriculture has been the traditional method of farming in Ejisu and many parts of Ghana.

However, the increasingly unpredictable rainfall patterns due to climate change has made it a less reliable option.

Dr. David Anambam, director of agriculture at the Ejisu municipality revealed, with the establishment of a proper irrigation system, farmers would be able to grow vegetables throughout the year, rather than being limited to the rainy season.

“If we want to promote agriculture under rain fed, I don’t think we can go far, that is a major setback,” he advised.

Professor Robert Aidoo, a senior lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness, and Extension at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has raised concerns over the implementation of the government's "One Village, One Dam" initiative.

According to him, its execution has not met expectations and may require a strategic shift.

Prof. Aidoo urged “the government to reconsider its approach and focus more on developing comprehensive irrigation schemes at the district level”.

He added, “the government could have improved the “One Village, One Dam” policy, by hiring contractors to build more effective dams, so that when we’re in the dry season we don’t get the dams dried up

If these dams were functional, communities would have reliable access to water for irrigating their farms”