Accra Brewery Limited’s (ABL’s) Eagle Farmer Project has provided farmers in Gambibgo, Upper East Region, with a solar-powered irrigation system, delivering on the company’s commitment to invest in a Growing World where everyone has the opportunity to improve their livelihood.
The GHC80,000.00 sustainable development initiative, which consists of a newly-constructed furrow irrigation system and a solar-powered mechanised borehole, is intended to benefit over 2,000 persons, and offer an alternative to rain-fed agriculture, enabling farmers, whom the company considers its backbone, to cultivate crops all year round.
Speaking at the handing-over ceremony at Gambibgo, Brand Manager of ABL’s locally-sourced cassava beer, Eagle Lager, Mr John Baptist Akado, said: ‘the Eagle Farmer Project is the company’s promise to farmers, as well as the symbol of our commitment to improving the income of small-holder farmers in Ghana’.
Mr Akado further stated, ‘the Upper East Region has benefited the most as it bears the full brunt of the longest dry season, which lasts between 7 to 8 months. It is our hope, therefore, that the project will help mitigate the extreme financial woes the dry season places on our farmers’, he concluded.
The Upper East Regional Minister Mr. Rockson Ayine Bukari, commended ABL for its Eagle Farmer initiative, noting that it will go a long way to ensure food security and consequently contribute to reducing poverty in the region. Mr Bukari also charged the 5-member care-taker committee set-up to ensure the longevity of the initiative, to own the project and ensure the community reaps its benefits to the fullest.
Since its introduction in 2015, the Eagle Farmer Project has complemented governments’ efforts at promoting irrigation infrastructure in farming communities, thus immensely improving the lives of small-holder farmers, whose fortunes would have otherwise been dependent on erratic and increasingly unfavourable weather conditions.
Over the 2-year period, five communities spanning the Volta, Upper East and Western Regions of Ghana have benefited from the deployment of irrigation facilities. These communities are Yikhene and Gambibgo in the Bolga Municipality as well as Paga Nabio in the Kasena Nankana district, all in the Upper East Region; Gbi Avega in the Volta Region; and Huniso in the Western Region of Ghana .
The inauguration and handover at Gambibgo is the second of two projects in the Upper East Region. The first was sited at Tindongo in the Talensi district.
Business Desk