Download the MiDA Newsletter, 8th Edition - MiDA Ghana

Millennium Development AuthorityQuarterly Newsletter | Eighth Edition June, 2011Torgome Irrigation ProjectPlan of the Irrigation Project SiteIn the 1980s, various feasibility studies and a detailed designsto develop the left bank of the Volta River directly downstreamof the Kpong Hydropower Dam, into an irrigation schemewere conducted. The State acquired the land and otheradjoining lands and planned to use the irrigated land forcotton cultivation to feed the Juapong Textiles Factory.For more than 20 years, the Kpong Left Bank Irrigation Projecthas been on hold. The cost of construction was found to bevery high, especially the pump station and relocating theresettlement of displaced villages. Under the MillenniumChallenge Account (MCA) Ghana Program, the Project isnow under construction. The Project which will serve closeto 8000 people living in communities along the project area,will utilize the nucleus farmer–out grower scheme to enablesmall scale farmers in the area to access services from a largercompany which will improve their production of vegetablesfor export.The investments by the MCA Ghana Program in the area hasencouraged Vegpro Limited, an agro-business company withlarge scale operations in Kenya to acquire 1086 hectares ofland in Torgorme to produce vegetables for export. Thehorticultural crops to be produced include baby corn,butternut squash and chillies for export into the lucrativeEuropean market to earn foreign exchange for Ghana. Vegprointends to utilise the Nucleus Farmer Out grower Scheme tooutsource production of some of the export vegetables tolocal farmers in the area.In 2008, a Pre-feasibility Study of the area concluded thatthe Scheme was economically viable and an area of2,000hectres was found technically feasible for surfaceirrigation by gravity flow, with water from the reservoir ofthe Kpong Hydroelectric Dam.The project area lies along two tributaries of the Volta River,the Gblor and Nyifla Rivers and continues further downstreamto the Alabo River, and comes close to the villages along theVolta River, with Torgorme as the main village, about 1.kmaway.Communities along the Project AreaLarge CommunitiesTorgormeSokopeNakpoeAzagonorkopeSmall Sub-Communities/HamletsBekpoe, Ziakpoe, Kasa Mataheko,Foekope,Alabonu, Agorveme, AdzimakopeNyaflakope, GblornuTutukope, Dekope, AgudukopeTosorwukopeAvegodoKlamadaboeNew Fodzoku900ha of land is to be developed in the first instance withthe supply and main canals running along contours on thehighest part of the land between the Gblor and Nyifla streamswhich will be lined with relatively steep side slopes. Farmerswill be grouped into three categories: small-scale farmerswith less than 10ha, medium-size farmers with holdings ofbetween 10ha and 50ha, and large-scale farmers who canmanage 50ha or more land. Gated pipe turnouts will beprovided for the group of small-scale and medium-scalefarmers who will use furrows to plant crops on.The layouts of open canals are to provide a gravity-fedirrigation scheme for approximately 2,000ha which is to beused by the local people, while Vegpro Limited, is to install12 center pivot installations of 64ha each on 1,000 ha ofland north of the project area.6