CREDIT: FIDELIS DA-URI.
Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana are facing a challenging agricultural season due to shifting rainfall patterns that have disrupted traditional farming timelines.
The region, which experiences a single rainfall season from April to November, has seen significant changes in recent years, with rains now starting in May and ending in October.
This year’s situation has been particularly dire, with rains delayed until late June, causing widespread concern among local farmers.
Agriculture remains the primary occupation for a majority of the region’s population.
The delay in the onset of rains has hampered crucial farming activities such as land preparation, planting and weeding is traditionally carried out between May and June.
Farmers, who eagerly await the rains in May to commence farming, have been left disappointed and anxious about the fate of their crops.
Local farmers expressed their worries in interviews with Jirapa FM. “We have done all the sacrifices to no avail and are not sure if the world is coming to an end,” lamented Mr. Yuoni Tanye, a farmer.
The community’s usual recourse to traditional rituals, such as sacrifices to the Tengama (lesser gods) and prayers to the rain gods for rain, has not yielded the desired results this year.
“Usually, we make sacrifices at the beginning of the rainy season and request for more rain, but this year we did all that and we are still not getting rains.
“It seems the world is coming to an end,” Boro Evans, another distressed farmer quipped.
The irregular rainfall pattern in Northern Ghana has been attributed to climate change, which has increasingly disrupted traditional weather patterns, leading to food insecurity, this year’s severe delay is unprecedented and has heightened concerns among farming communities.
Human activities such as bush burning, deforestation, the use of synthetic fertilizers, and illegal mining are partly to blame for the impact of climate change in the region.
Wood logging and commercial charcoal production for export is fast becoming lucrative, yet environmentally destructive to land degrading and businesses in rural communities.
The Environmental Protection Agency and Municipal and District Assemblies in the region should step up with measures to discourage commercial charcoal production in the region.
