Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Bryan Acheampong, has announced the allocation of $20 million for the expansion of the left bank of the Kpong Irrigation Scheme. The implementation of this project will be overseen by the Food Systems Resilience Programme (FSRP). Dr.

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Acheampong made this announcement during a speech at a grand durbar held to commemorate the 20th anniversary celebrations of Golden Exotic Company Limited, Ghana’s leading banana exporter, in Kasunya, Asutuare, on Thursday, April 25.This funding follows a previous injection of $20 million from the Ghana Commercial Agriculture Project (GCAP) in 2011, which initiated the Kpong Irrigation project.

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The scheme benefits farmers in the Asutuare enclave, including the Golden Exotic Company Limited. The rehabilitation of the irrigation scheme is set to enhance water availability and assist farmers in improving their crop yields.

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 “The people of this community must know that the government has pumped $20 million into the irrigation scheme around this area and I have also approved another $20 million to expand the left bank of the irrigation scheme in this area which is going to be implemented by the Food Systems Resilience Programme and that will amount to $40 million in this area alone.

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”The Managing Director of Golden Exotic Company Limited, Benedict Rich, in an interview with an Accra based TV station mentioned  that the company has leveraged on drone technology to improve productivity.

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“Drone technology has really advanced in the last few years and we have been trying it and a lot of the work that can be done by hand has now been done by aeroplanes and drones are just a gamechanger and we use them to apply fertiliser and use them to count the bananas and use them to monitor diseases.”

the projectThe Kpong Irrigation Scheme (KIS) is a significant agricultural infrastructure

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project in Ghana designed to bolster food security and self-reliance by enhancing irrigated farming practices. Situated within the Accra Plains, this scheme harnesses water from the Volta River, facilitated by the Kpong Dam. Encompassing an area of 2,200 hectares under gravity irrigation and an additional 1,000 hectares under pump irrigation, it serves as a vital resource for agricultural development.

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Initiated in 1968, the project began with the introduction of irrigation across portions of the Accra Plains. Subsequently, with the completion of the Kpong Dam in 1982, the KIS has effectively utilized gravity from the dam to irrigate land, marking a significant milestone in Ghana's agricultural landscape.

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