|
Communities plant trees along the
Volta Basin
Bolgatanga, Dec. 19, Ghanadot/GNA - Communities along the
Volta River Basin in Ghana and Burkina Faso are planting
trees along the banks of the River to discourage farming
activities and prevent siltation, Mr Kwame Odame-Ababio,
Project Coordinator of the Water Governance Project has
said.
He said the people were being supported by the Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM), to undertake alternative
farming activities from the river banks like measures to
improve soil fertility, dry season gardening, using water
from wells and dams that the project rehabilitated and fruit
tree grafting.
Mr Odame-Ababio said this at the Ghana-Burkina Faso Joint
Technical Committee meeting on Integrated Water Resources
Management held in Bolgatanga on Wednesday.
He explained that since the Volta River run through Ghana
and Burkina Faso, they needed a strong collaboration to be
able to work towards protecting the River and deriving the
maximum benefits from it.
The Project Coordinator said a Decision Support System (DSS)
was being developed to quantitatively define the water
resources of the part of the basin shared by the two
countries at various flow scales. It would also serve as a
tool for conflict resolution in relation to in-stream flows
downstream.
Mrs Agnes Chigabatia, Deputy Upper East Regional Minister,
lauded the collaboration and said it would prevent
unnecessary conflict between the two countries as frequent
dialogue would enable them to work together and understand
each other and enable them to take measures that would be
agreeable to both countries.
"We must strive to make the Joint Technical Committee (JTC)
our platform and our opportunity to raise awareness on the
importance accorded to water issues from the community level
to the trans-national level. We must use our knowledge to
inform our citizens about global warming, conscious
utilization of water resources and the need for water and
energy saving", she said.
She asked JTC to look beyond water resources management and
to implement programmes related to climate change and
improved trade sharing and good governance, saying that the
partnership should help the two countries to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals.
GNA.
|
