The Ministry of Food and Agriculture says the Torgorme Irrigation Project is expected to generate over ¢30 million annually.

Speaking at the investors conference organized by the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project, Chief Director, Patrick Robert Ankobiah, however said only 4% of the potential of irrigation in Ghana has been realized, hence the need for investments.

“We expect to see resourceful commercial farmers taking advantage of this opportunity to increase economic activity within the project area and consequently increase paddy rice production to 14,000 metric tonnes, create 12,000 direct and indirect jobs as well as improve incomes and livelihoods.”

“The expected annual revenue from direct farm operations is estimated at over 30 million. In addition, the project will generate demand for downstream activities including aggregation and haulage services, agro-processing, packaging and marketing services,” he projected.

Task Team Leader for the project from the World Bank, Dr. Sheu Salau, said the irrigation project would change the narrative of irrigation schemes underutilized, urging investors to fund the project to help achieve the goal.

“We want to change the narrative of irrigation schemes that are grossly underutilized. That is why we are bringing investors from medium to large scale farmers who will integrate them into the global value chain and also generate employment and economic activities in the surrounding communities,” he said.

Meanwhile, Coordinator for the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project, Dickson Kyere is urging government to concentrate on building production capacity in the agricultural sector.

According to him, the country’s productive capacity is very low, hence the continuous losses incurred along the agricultural value chain.

“Our productive capacity is very low as a country. The problem is not with finance but with production that is why when we borrow from banks, we make a loss. What we need to do is to build capacity in terms of soil, agronomy and seeds. We can only do this in two ways; bringing foreign experts to learn from for a certain period or identify locals who are capable, build them and use them as exemplary figures,” he stated.

The Torgorme Irrigation Project is expected to provide 12,000 direct jobs per year, increase direct farm income annually from 1,653 cedis per hectare to 14,253 cedis per hectare and guarantee increased food security.