From William N-lanjerborr Jalulah.
Farmers in the region may some lose their crops to a possible drought that could unleash hunger in the region. It is becoming an annual ritual that from the beginning of every farming season, the rains will not fall sufficiently enough for the farmers to begin full scale farming.
As a result, they ended up cultivating their crops very late, and sooner than later, torrential rains set in, coupled with floods, and the farmers lose everything. One of such difficult years was 2007, when the whole of the region was inundated with floods. That year, dozens of lives were lost, farmlands submerged under flood waters, with animals and other belongings washed away.
Not even the quick response of intentional bodies like United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), CARE International, International Red Cross Society, World Food Programme, augmented by local organisations like the National Disaster Management Organisation, could bring life to normalcy for the thousands of victims.
That year, the farmers planted, but had to replant very late, because their earlier crops weltered due to the prolonged drought. Just when the crops were about tussling, the rains started pouring heavily. Then came a series of announcements from the Burkinabe authorities that the Bagre Dam was full to the brim and had to be spilled.
The spillage of the dam aggravated the situation, as all residents along the White Volta Basin had the communities and farmlands submerged. The situation even affected other residents, who were not along the basin, but for the fact that there were canals, streams and other water bodies joining the White Volta, where they had settled and farmed.
History seems to be repeating itself this year, as most crops, like the early millet which had always mitigated hunger during the lean season, were being wilted by the burning weather. Farmers in communities such as Sumbrungu, Bare, Tongo-Beo, Gambibgo, Balungu, Zuarungu-Moshie, Duusi, Pelungu and many others, which were first to cultivate the early millet, were now lamenting over the lack of rains.
In the Bolgatanga Municipality, farmers who engaged in backyard gardening have resorted to irrigating their crops. Some of them told this reporter they could not watch their crops wilter, knowing very well the implications. Some farmers also said they could not cultivate the early millet because of the delayed rainfall pattern.
Such farmers have only one option – to crop late millet or sorghum. Even with that, they must pray the rains do not fall unabated to destroy their crops. Farmers who also went into rice cultivation were lamenting, because most of them were still waiting for the rains to come.
Currently, the weather pattern in the region is unpredictable. Even if the clouds gather and looked saturated with rain, they disappear suddenly and leaving the fate of the poor farmers hanging. Until divine intervention, Upper East farmers are not happy, as their hopes fade daily.