Naba Clifford Asobayire
The Kologo Traditional Area under the Kassena-Nankana Municipality in the Upper East Region has large acres of flat fertile lands and a number of water sources that do not dry easily even during the dry season.
Against this background, the Paramount Chief of the area, Naba Clifford Asobayire has thrown a challenge to the youth and financially endowed persons living in the area and in nearby communities, to invest in Dry Season farming.
“…the lands are there, there are also small streams passing through many communities traditional area and larger water bodies too. These are the major resources needed for productive farming. The rest are mechanical and human effort, all of which can be achieved once there is a commitment to investing in farming.”
He spoke to the Daily Guide in an interview at Kologo in reaction to the dwindling quantities of fresh vegetables on the market, the high cost of vegetables,and the need for more people to join in the cultivation of vegetables for urban and rural markets.
Vegetables cannot easily be found on the market during dry seasons, reason being that many farmers cultivate them during the rainy season, and despite the availablity of farm lands and water during the dry season and less competition over purchasing of inputs, and sales of produce, farmers do not farm.
According to Naba Clifford Asobayire the traditional council has cautioned community heads and residents against indiscriminate bush burning across the area, and he is very optimistic that the call will yield a good result.
“Once we keep indiscriminate bush burning under control, we can be sure that people’s investments in the dry season farming will be protected and the investors will make gains. I want more investors to come to Kologo because, the more farms we have here, the more jobs will be created for the youth,” he noted.
Commenting on the illegal cutting of economic trees in the forest reserves in the traditional area Paramount Chief said, “The information is true, I have had complains from community heads and youth groups about how some natives and influencial people connive with illegal chain saw operators to invade our various Kologo forest zones.
The police is aware of some of our complaints and actions aimed at stopping illegal felling of trees in our traditional area and we will not rest until our warnings are adhered to. We don’t want desertification to catch up with Kologo Traditional Area, while some few persons benefit from their illegal actions.”
The Kologo Traditional Area is among the areas with large land space in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality and the Upper East Region. Aside from the Tono Irrigation area in the Kassena-Nanka Municipality and the Fumbisi Valleys in the Builsa South District, the Kologo Traditional Area also welcomes many Ghanaians who come to the area to farm during the farming season.
From: Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Kologo