Agricultural Development Plan '2007-09'

Agriculture still remains the main economic activity in the district.  About 90% of the people in the district are engaged in agriculture, which is largely subsistence in nature.  Very few farmers are engaged in large-scale production of cereals and legumes in Lambussie, Han and Mwankuri areas.  Cash crops cultivated in the district are shea nuts, cotton, groundnuts and cashew.  Few farmers are graduating into small-scale businesses in the transport sector.  The table below presents the average yields as well as the land area under cultivation for each crop.

Farming Systems

Most of the farmers in the district still rely on the use of the hoe and cutlass in cultivating the land.  However, few farmers use tractor services and animal traction.   The over dependence of farmers on rain-fed agriculture adversely affect crop yield due to the erratic nature of the rains.  This calls for the need for alternative methods of farming such as irrigation to support crop production during the dry seasons.

Some of the farming systems in the district include mixed farming, crop rotation and bush fallowing.   The land tenure system, the increasing pressure on land for farming and other activities are gradually limiting the system of farming.

Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry are mainly produced as a supplement to crop farming.  A few farmers however engage in large-scale livestock production in the Han and Lambussie areas. 

Agricultural Projects

The Agricultural Sector has two main projects in the district.  These are the Livestock Development Project and the cashew Development Project.  Other minor projects are the Biodiversity Project and the Land and Water Development Project.

Non-Agricultural Activities
Non-Agricultural activities that are carried out in the district include
Black smiting                     - men      -    20
Petty trading                      - women   -  500
Pottery                              -   women   -    50
Pito Brewing and                 - women   -  200
Bicycle and motor bike repairs - men    - 20

Incomes that are earned by these operators ranges between ¢150,000per month

Off-season Activities:-
 * Farmers are mostly engaged in dry season farming, pito brewing, poultry petty trading and rearing of livestock

Social Infrastructure:-
 * Health situations of the people of Jirapa district has improved a lot in the recent years most people walk about 2-6km to the nearest health centre.  There are 12 health centers in the district with three chips centers.
* An estimated number of 5000 people per health centre and nurse to patient ratio ranging from 1300 per nurse The doctor to patient ratio still ranges very high i.e. 1 doctor to 20,000 patients.
* Distribution of HIV/AIDs cases by age groups and sex.

HIV/AIDS is spreading at an alarming rate of 0.13%
•    Number of health workers:
     There are 5 doctors and 80 nurses as at 2004

Education:

Type and number of educational institutions
The district is well resourced with educational institutions.

School enrolment by gender the teacher and pupil ratio:
The teacher: pupil ratio the primary and J.S.S as at 2004 is 1:40
 
Poverty pockets
There are nine poverty pockets.   There are three poverty pockets at the Northern part, four at the Central and two at the Western part of the district.

Agricultural Infrastructure

•   Fertilizer Depots:-  The district had Ten (10) fertilizer depots during the time of URADEP.  These depots were built by

    the then FASCOM i.e. farmers services company.  However due to the privatization system by government these depots are

    not   is  use at now.
•   Input retailing shops:-  There are a few input retailing shops in the district.  These shops are not solely for farm inputs

    but with  other confectionaries.
•   Office accommodation to DADU:-  The district has an office accommodation with 9 rooms and a Conference Hall.  There is

    also a veterinary laboratory attached to the office.
•   Number of quarters for DADU:-  The DADU office has fifteen (15) quarters for field staff.  There are also two (2)

    bungalows situated at Hamile and Jirapa for the district Veterinary Doctor and the district Director of Agric respectively.
•   Tractor services centers:-  There is no approved tractor service centre in the district.  However with the incoming of

     the Farm Tractor Services are arranged for all beneficiaries in the office.
•    Storage facilities available (traditional and improved and communal or private).  The district has got a number of storage

     facilities in place.  There is one silo at Lambussie and two other communal storage facilities at Samoa and Billaw.
•    Post harvest losses for major crops:-  Post harvest losses technologies for small holder farmers have also been

     instituted in the district.  These are the construction of improved mud silos, the use of polythene dryers and the

     aluminum  storage silos.

Energy, Machines, Tools and Equipment:-

•    Sources of energy:-  The district has no other source of energy that electrically generated energy from V.R.A.

      However machines in the district are tractors and power tillers. We have 10 tractors and two power tillers in the district.
•    Sources of water: Source of water in the district are bore holes, and Dams.  The district has also got three town  water

      systems at Jirapa, Hamile and Ullo.

Others

•    Investment opportunities:

     The investment opportunities in the district centered on agro processing and plantation agriculture. Farmers can improve

    upon their lives when they go into Shea butter processing, groundnut paste and oil processing.Soya, tome brown

     processing.  Also mango and cashew plantations can be established in the district.

•    Dietary patterns/habits of households:

     House holds consumes mainly what is produced in the district.  They use maize, millet and cowpea in their food preparations

    like tuo Zafi, rice and beans, rice, and also beans with gari.  Some of these foods are combined with vegetables and other

     greens  to balance their diets few farmers in the rural areas consume meat and meat products.

•    Income and expenditure data of farmers:

      Average income of farmers are ¢5,000,000 a year However some consume more than this amount which is supplemented

      from labour down south.

•    Number of major markets and market days:

The major markets in the district are Jirapa, Tizza, Han, Karni, Hamile, and Piina.  These Markets do not have specific days apart from Jirapa market that comes on every Sunday.  The rest of the markets comes every six days thereby moving the days backwards. For example when Tizza market comes on Friday then the next market will be on Thursday.

Farmer to Technical Officer Ratio

The minimum technical officer farmer ratio is 1:1,500.  However the case has been different in the Jirapa District. There has been a continuous widening gap in the farmer technical officer ratio.

The widening gap is due to transfers, deaths, retirement and also officers leaving for courses to upgrade themselves.  This has worsened the already existing gap.  This puts much stress on the technical officers who are few in the field. 

1.     Supply of farm implement to farmers at a total cost of ¢88,357,350

2.     On-going construction of Guri Dam.

Conclusions

Agriculture is the main economic activity of the Jirapa/Lambussie District.  About 80% of the population is engaged in Agriculture.  The core problems identified as affecting agricultural development include low crop and livestock production, low volumes of processed agricultural products, high post harvest losses, low market prices, inadequate transport services and soya utilization.

The potentials for agricultural development in the district are in the area of available farm lands, irrigation facilities, technologies, labour, project (CDP, LDP, AgSSIP, and FABS), NGOs, and traction animals.  There is a strong collaboration between DADU and the various stakeholders in the district to avoid duplication of programmes and projects.

The collaborating stakeholders will help address agricultural development needs of the target beneficiaries who are farmers, processors and traders. The agricultural development needs of women, the physically challenged as well as people living with HIV/AIDS have also been considered in agricultural service delivery in the district.

Resources for the implementation of the agricultural development plan will be sourced from the Government of Ghana, Donor Agencies such as CIDA, AGSSIP and the private sector.

To help track implementation of the plan a monitoring system will be put in place at DADU level.  At the same time the agricultural development plan will be reviewed annually with all stakeholders.