The District Agricultural Potential

Kpandai district is endowed with great potentials for agriculture development.  The soils here could be described as very fertile (as compared to other districts of Northern Ghana) for all kind of crop production.The district is endowed with three (3) big rivers, namely Oti, Daka and White Volta respectively, which can be used for small, medium to large irrigation schemes. Abundance of crop residue for livestock rearing, Receding floods vegetable and cereals cultivation. Fishing, Income generation, Viable markets.

Markets

The district is also endowed with viable markets; where buying and selling is effectively interacted. People from other districts and regions come to attend some of the markets in the district thus creating employment for our women in the district and suitable place for our farmers to display and sell their wares. Some of our markets come every six days while those to the western corridor come every seven days; thus they have fixed days to celebrate.

They are:-Loloto Market – Tuesdays, Gulbi-Quarters Market – Wednesdays, Lonto Market – Thursdays, Sabonjidah Market –Fridays, Kpadjai Market – Saturdays. The ones that come every six days are:-kpandai Market, kitare Market, Bladjai Market, Ekumidi Market, Ketejeili Market, Buya Market, Nkanchina Market

Livestock/Poultry:Type of livestock/poultry and pets:-

1.    Cattle             5. Local fowls                  9.Pigeons
2.    Sheep             6.Guinea fowls               10. Cats
3.    Goats              7.Turkeys                         11. Dogs
4.    Pigs                  8. Ducks

Estimated Livestock/Poultry Figures

Year     Cattle     Sheep     Goats     Poultry         Pigs     
2007    8900      5500       6500      1,005,065    3500    
2008    10500    6750       8650      1,634,458    5500    

Fisheries

Fishing is mainly done by the battoirs on rivers Oti, Daka, White Volta and its tributaries. Some of the types of fishing gears used include: Gill net, Cast net, Hook and Line.

More than 70% of the farmers in the district are peasant farmers. Some of the farming Systems practiced in the district include: Mono cropping, mixed cropping, Crop rotation, Crop/livestock integration, Inter planting and Sole cropping.

Farmers generally practice crop rotation in a yam or cassava based system. Yam is usually cropped first on a newly cleared land in the first year, then after harvest; maize is grown in the second year; then followed by soybeans or cowpea in the third year then an inter crop of sorghum and groundnuts in the fourth year on the same piece of land.

Storage Facilities

The commonest storage facilities used by the farmers in the district include: Jute sacks, Polythene sacks, Store Room, Silos

Situation of Tractor Services

The district can boost of only fifteen tractors; this puts a lot of stress on the tractors when it comes to ploughing season. A lot of tractors come into the district from other sister districts to mitigate the problem of peak demand (May-July) for tractor services. Tractor to farmer ratio in district for the 2008 cropping season stood at 1:5650. Establishment of a plant pool in the district will be having great relieve to farmers.

Fertilizer Supply Outlets

Most of the fertilizer supplies come from Tamale the Northern Regional Capital. Only one dealer can be found in the district; who cannot meet the demands of the ever growing population of farmers in the district. The fertilizer requirement for the 2009 cropping season stands at: - Compound fertilizer-4000bags of 50kg.wt. and 6000bags of 50kg.wt. of sulphate of ammonia. 

The trend is so because most farmers do not use the recommendation of 2bags N.P.K. and 1bag sulphate of ammonia. They choose to apply only N.P.K. or sulphate of ammonia and in most instances it is sulphate of ammonia they only apply as a top dresser.

Farmers alleged that millet taboos the soils of the Kpandai district whilst others alleged that when planted over grows without forming heads. The third school of thought also alleged that their gods taboo the growing of millet in the district.     

The district extension staffs have no immediate antidote to these beliefs. However, frantic efforts are being made to improve the cultivation of a variety of crops.

Collaboration with Other Stakeholders/ Development Partners 

There are three PVOs in the district Ssend foundation of West Africa, grassroots integrated development programme (GIDP) and Ghana Human Developing Communities Association (GDCA) respectively. Send foundation of West Africa assists women farmers in the production and utilization of soybeans. MOFA gives the farmer groups production guide and technical backstopping. Send foundation provides the Groups with the necessary inputs and some financial assistants for tractor services and labour charges. After harvest send foundation purchases the beans from the groups and then deduct the financial assistance they gave these groups without any interest. Send foundation also provides training in the utilization of soyabeans. 

They are into 13 communities of the district; namely Balia, Buya, Badulia, Camp, Leseni, Jama-Nkwanta, Katiejieli, Kabonwueli, Mbowura, Nchaponi, Nkanchina I&II, K/EC. Grassroots Integrated Dev’t Programme (GIDP) is a new PVO; just coming into the district but their core objective is to increase productivity significantly and also to tackle the issue of post production. Whilst GDCA is assisting to educate the cowboys, shepherds and school dropouts, they are also into Community Based Organizations (CBOs) Empowerment in the District.

Agricultural Projects/Programmes in District

The only programmes the district has are the Roots and Tubers Improvement and Marketing Programme (RTIMP)and the Northern Region Poverty Reduction Programme ( NORPREP).The RTIMP programme seeks to improve the quality of roots and tubers produced in the district and Ghana at large in order to meet demands on the international markets. The programme will also be looking at linkage amongst Yam producers, Yam traders, Transport owners and Exporters in the value chain in the District.

The second programme is the Northern Region Poverty Reduction  Programme (NORPREP). The Programme has so far constructed two dams in the district at Ekumidi and Nkanchina respectively; these dams are to serve the people of Ekumidi, Nkanchina and other surrounding communities close to the dams. Both dams are meant for domestic uses, irrigation purposes and for livestock watering.   

Challenges facing Agriculture in the District

1. Crop Intensification in the District.
2. Improvement on Receding Floods Cultivation.
3. Appropriate Means of Transport for Field Officers and Office Accommodation for DADU.
4. Perennial Persistent Bush Burning in the District.
5. Crop Diversification of the District
6. Weak Institutional Support to Farmers
7. Quality Extension Services Delivery
8. Low Farmer Managerial and Entrepreneurial Skills
9. Market Information