Water scarcity threatening security in northern Ghana – Kalabash Aid
“To alleviate poverty for the people of the north means to guarantee a reliable supply of water for drinking, irrigation, farming and for other livelihood support enterprises”.
There has been growing water scarcity and increasing insecurity with water supply in the northern part of Ghana, according to Kalabash Aid.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) says this will be heightened in a time of climate change and reduced rainfall duration across the northern regions, affecting agricultural growth and poverty reduction.
The Board Chairman of Kalabash Aid, John Alexis Pwamang, made the observations at stakeholders’ engagements in the Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Savanna and North-East regions.
The former Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) noted that these five regions would develop if portable drinking water is made accessible to the people.
“To alleviate poverty for the people of the north means to guarantee a reliable supply of water for drinking, irrigation, farming and for other livelihood support enterprises”.
The new Board Chairman stated that the future of development in Ghana and globally depend on how development interventions tackle climate change.
“Kalabash Aid NGO will implement environmentally sensitive projects in the areas of water resource management and supply, environmental sanitation, forestry, renewable energy and agriculture development,” he explained.
Mr. Pwamang added: “Kalabash Aid NGO for the coming years will be on the repair and maintenance of broken Water and Sanitation (WASH) facilities, the provision of new water boreholes, provision of community piped mechanized systems and toilet facilities.
“The NGO will seek partnership to invest in the harvesting and storage of rainwater, storm water and wastewater to support rural agriculture and afforestation of northern Ghana to improve food security, restore and improve the forest cover of the Northern Ecological Zone.”
The Board Chairman said it is time for the government of Ghana and development partners to invest in the water sector of northern Ghana because water is the gateway to the socio-economic emancipation of the people of Northern Ghana.
Mr. Pwamang expressed gratitude to the past board for their work for the NGO and promised “to leverage on their experience in addition to his several decades of work experience and organizational networks built over three decades working with the Environmental Protection Agency to provide both technical and financial partnership for the Kalabash Aid NGO to implement environmentally sensitive projects in the areas of water resource management and supply, environmental sanitation, forestry, renewable energy and agriculture development”.
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
