Agro-Pastoral Dams in Northern Ghana
By R.V. Weesie
Study area: The Nadowli-Kaleo district
This study on agro-pastoral dams took place in a rural area comprising roughly 450 square kilometres, within the recently merged Nadowli-Kaleo district in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Multiple agricultural and agro-pastoral communities live here, as well as a pastoral minority group belonging to the Fulani ethnic group. Subsistence farming is the main economic activity, and the major crops are yam, maize, cassava, legumes and vegetables. Most households keep small numbers of animals such as poultry, small ruminants and in some cases cattle The Nadowli-Kaleo region is situated in the Upper West Region of Ghana, and is among the poorest and most sparsely populated areas of the country; on average, the land is populated by 31 people per square kilometre and up to 70% of these people live below the poverty line of 1 dollar a day. The rain water drains rapidly into the Black Volta river, leaving the area without standing water bodies in the dry season. In these conditions, the region increasingly faces water stress for domestic and agricultural activities during the 7-month dry season. Since the 1990s, in order to improve water access during the dry season, the Government of Ghana and several NGOs have been constructing agro-pastoral dams throughout Northern Ghana to promote dry season farming, animal watering and domestic uses. Agro-pastoral dams are are basically dugouts open for public use, in order to provide water for both livestock and agricultural activities for one or several villages. In this study, 6 villages have been studied in early 2017 that all host an agro-pastoral dam. The dams are mainly used for irrigation of crops, livestock, and fishing. In the studied region, all of the dams are constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s by externally funded projects, mostly by NGOs and a few by the Ghanaian government.
Agro-pastoral dams
From the 1990s up to today, agro-pastoral dams have become more popular to provide rural communities in northern Ghana with water, to use for irrigated farming livestock production during the dry season. Irrigated agriculture and livestock production have been heavily promoted through the widespread construction of agro-pastoral dams and irrigation schemes in the rural areas funded by the Ghanaian government and international donors. Newly elected Ghanaian President Akufo Addo launched a new flagship project in early 2017 called the ‘One Village, One Dam’ which aims to construct a large number of dams throughout Northern Ghana. The dams are meant to boost agricultural production, for which an equivalent of 20 million USD has been allocated in the 2017 budget statement (Ghanaian Times 2017). Other dams are planned to be constructed and rehabilitated by the Adaptation Fund (AF), an international fund that finances adaptation interventions set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as part of the 2005 Kyoto Protocol. Rehabilitation and reconstruction of new dams in northern Ghana are scheduled over the course of 2017.
Research objectives
The research had three objectives: it sought to identify to what extent the studied agro-pastoral dams are being used and managed sustainably, to what extent different groups of farmers and pastoralists were able to utilise the water of the dams, and around what dams conflict takes place between farmers and pastoralists. The sustainability of each studied dam has been analysed using collective action theory concerning common-pool resources. The extent to which different user groups of the agro-pastoral dams were included in usage and management of dams has been labelled the ‘inclusivity’ of a dam, and has been analysed using the concepts of equity and justice in climate change adaptation activities. By doing so, the research sought to identify possible relationships between sustainability and inclusivity for the studied dams – hence whether more sustainable agro-pastoral dams allow more or less diverse groups of pastoralists and farmers to use the dams. The most important indicator for inclusivity of each dam was determined by where and how often conflict takes place between farmers and pastoralists around the dams. By identifying these relationships, the research aimed to contribute to common-pool resource theory and the practice of adaptation projects affecting such resources. The research aimed contribute to common-pool resource theory that fits the West African context of culturally heterogeneous resource user groups.
Research Findings
- The well-intended projects that established agro-pastoral dams have given rise to new conflicts between farmers, livestock owners and pastoralists. Where local elites and Fulani pastoralists cooperate in livestock production, cattle numbers increase due to increasing availability of water and low-cost Fulani pastoralists to rear the Ghanaian cattle. Dry season farms are often damaged by cattle moving between pasture and the dams, sometimes leading to the collapse of dry season farming altogether.
- Sustainability of agro-pastoral dams with productive dry season farms impose negative externalities in the region they are located. Sustainable use of agro-pastoral dams in some villages was managed by evicting Fulani pastoralists from their territories. The Fulani pastoralists then resort to using other agro-pastoral dams in the area, leading to overuse and conflict in these places.