The One Village One Dam Initiative (1V1D) under the previous administration was touted as a pro-poor policy aimed at improving the lives and livelihoods of members of the beneficiary communities.
The 1V1D, which was based in the northern part of the country, was designed to improve irrigation for all-year-round farming and increase food production. It was also expected to generate employment in farming and other related activities.
Through the initiative, it was anticipated that there would be enhanced livelihoods through the improvement in incomes of smallholder farmers and a reduction in rural poverty, in addition to building community resilience against climate change-related challenges.
But for the Ayopea community in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, a beneficiary community of the initiative, the dam has rather become the source of their woes.
The community is where former President Akufo-Addo cut sod for the construction of the about 400 dams in the northern part of the country but their predicament has worsened.
A study by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) focused on the socio-economic development of the northern part of the country has revealed that dams scattered across the north did not serve the intended purpose.
The Northern Patriots in Research and Advocacy (NORPRA), as part of its monitoring and evaluation, inspected dam initiatives across the five northern regions. NORPRA says it combined desk research, community engagement with stakeholders, and visit to the sites of the dams to evaluate the current state of those dams.
For the Ayopea community, the Executive Director of NORPRA, Bismark Ayorogo Adongo, tells The High Street Journal in an interview that an engagement with community members reveals they are currently worse off compared to the absence of the dam.
Bismark Adongo narrates that their findings reveal that prior to the construction of the dam in the community, the site of the dam was used for rice farming, which was very beneficial for many households. However, after government officials convinced them of the benefits of the dam, community leaders consented and released the land for the dam’s construction.
Few years down the line, the dam which was supposed to provide water for the community to farm all year round has dried up.
NORPRA says there is no water for irrigation, and the land, which was previously used for farming activities, cannot be used for farming again due to construction activities.
“All the dams constructed in Ghana, that was where President Akufo-Addo went and cut sod to begin construction of dams in the north. The community members are saying they are worse off. Before the construction of 1V1D, it [the land] was used for rice farming but there is no water. It has not contributed to any productivity,” Bismark Ayorogo Adongo told The High Street Journal.
These findings, NORPRA says it are a testament to how public funds running into millions of Ghana cedis have been sunk into ventures which brought little to no benefit to the intended beneficiaries.
NORPRA estimates that close to GHC50 million of Ghana’s oil revenues have been lost in the project that failed to inure to the benefit of Ghanaians.
