The Chief Executive Officer of the Millennium Development Authority, Alex Mould, has raised serious concerns about neglected agricultural infrastructure across Ghana’s Middle Belt following a week-long field assessment of key farming zones.
Mr Mould made the remarks after a seven-day tour covering parts of the Ashanti, Bono, Ahafo, and Bono East Regions, where the MiDA team evaluated water resources, irrigation potential, agricultural value chains, and institutional coordination to identify areas for strategic investment.
During the exercise, the team engaged traditional authorities, regional and district officials, as well as private agribusiness operators, while conducting technical inspections of irrigation schemes, dams, inland valleys, markets, and agro-processing facilities.
Speaking during the tour, Mr Mould expressed concern about the deteriorating state of several irrigation facilities, attributing the situation to years of poor operations and maintenance practices.
“Going around the farming areas in this country has revealed that we have a lot of wasted assets. Investments have been made over the years, but there has been a lot of neglect in terms of operations and maintenance,” he said.
At the Subinja irrigation site, the MiDA team observed extensive damage, with critical infrastructure either stripped or vandalised.
According to Mr Mould, “the pump house originally contained four pumps and an electricity transformer, but these installations have since been stolen.”
He explained that restoring the facility would require a comprehensive feasibility assessment and coordinated intervention from the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
“To rehabilitate the dam, we will need GIDA to conduct a feasibility assessment on how to restore the equipment, dam and fields, rehabilitate the pump house, pumping and piping systems, and restore irrigation canals and reconnect electricity to the facility,” he said.
Beyond infrastructure decay, the MiDA CEO also highlighted significant underutilised irrigation potential in rice-growing areas, particularly within the Tano North and South Municipal Districts.
“We just left a rice irrigation field that has the capacity to cultivate about 1,000 acres but is currently producing only about 300 acres,” he revealed.
He further noted that although a dam was initiated in 2008, it was never fully completed, thereby limiting the effectiveness of the irrigation scheme.
According to him, completing the dam infrastructure and constructing a concrete canal distribution system could enable farmers to utilise the full acreage and harvest at least two cropping cycles annually.
“If we can supply water throughout the year, and provide improved agronomy practices, production could increase from about 1,000 tonnes of paddy rice annually to between 6,000 and 7,000 tonnes,” he said.
Mr. Mould described such sites as “brownfield opportunities,” where existing infrastructure can be rehabilitated to rapidly expand farming activities through targeted engineering and water management investments.
He added that scaling up production in these areas could support the establishment of agro-processing facilities, including rice mills, thereby strengthening agribusiness development and reducing Ghana’s reliance on imported food commodities.
