The Minister for Food and Agriculture has stated that the drought situation being experienced in parts of the country cannot be interpreted as a failure of the ‘One Village, One Dam’ (1V1D) policy.

According to Dr Bryan Acheampong, the IV1D was not instituted to solve irrigation challenges faced by farmers.

The Minister's assertion comes in the wake of devastating losses farmers in eight regions have incurred over the absence of rain.

The situation has not only put crop yields at risk but also threatened the livelihoods of many families who depend on agriculture for their survival.

On the back of this, many have questioned the efficiency of the 1V1D and why it couldn’t support the farmers in these difficult times.

However, in an interview on Adom FM’s morning show, Dwaso Nsem on Tuesday, the Abetifi MP pointed out that dams and irrigation farms serve different purposes and the 1V1D has been extremely effective.

“In the situation we find ourselves, what we need is irrigation. All the 574 dams were to hold rainwater and they have been extremely effective and never a failure. With the irrigation, it will require us to pump water from a big water source into a big canal or dam to hold the water,” he stated.