Akosombo dam spillage: Affected farmers will be fully restored – Bryan Acheampong assures

Minister for Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Dr Bryan Acheampong has assured all farmers in the nine districts who have been affected by the recent spillage of the Akosombo and Kpong Dams that the government will ensure their full restoration following the devastating impact of the spillage on their farmlands.

Dr Bryan Acheampong gave the assurance when he addressed attendees of the presidential conference on the “Youth in Agriculture” initiative held at the Cedi Conference Centre, University of Ghana (UoG), today Wednesday, 18 October 2023.

“We have all witnessed the devastation as a result of the necessary action the VRA had to take to save the Akosombo Dam. As a result, several farmers have been affected, and a lot of them have been completely wiped out.

“I have directed that due to this emergency, 40 million dollars of the World Bank-funded food systems resilience programme be restructured to restore farmers fully whose farms have been wiped out due to the necessary action taken by the VRA to save us all” the Food and Agriculture Minister Bryan Acheampong stated.

Impact of spillage

 Tracts of land, including farms and communities downstream of the Akosombo and Kpong dams have been flooded following the spillage of excess water from the two dams used to generate about a third of Ghana’s electricity supply.

The VRA started the spillage at the Akosombo and Kpong dams, both in the Eastern Region, on 15 September 2023, following a rise in the water level of both reservoirs due to appreciable levels of rainfall.

The spillage affected nine (9) districts which include almost all the communities along the lower Volta Basin, resulting in widespread power cuts in the affected communities. The districts affected are Central Tongu, North Tongu, South Tongu, Ada West, Ada East, Keta, Anlo, Shai Osudoku, and Asuogyaman.

In all, about 26,000 persons are said to be displaced as a result of the spillage. The GRIDCo sub-station in Fievie, Sogakope, in the Volta Region, has been inundated, leading to the shutting down of the station.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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