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THE Assistant Director-General of the Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Dr Abebe Haile-Gabriel, has called for concerted effort in managing the country’s water resources.
According to him, even though water is life and the “unseen hero” of the world, its resources are been taken for granted thus depriving its profitable use.
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Dr. Abebe Haile-Gabriel(head of table) flanked by Dr. YurdiYasmi and Valera Nzeyimana addressing the media. Photo Godwin Ofosu-Acheampong
Dr Haile-Gabriel made these remarks at a media briefing on the celebrations of this year’s World Food Day which falls on October 16, 2023.
The event which is the 78th anniversary of the FAO is being organised under the theme: Water is life, Water is food: Leave no one behind”.
Other activities planned for the event include Global Food Forum, flag raising ceremonies, public forums on water and food sustainability as well as Youth in Science and Innovation Farms workshop.
The world food forum he explained, would offer the platform for experts to adopt strategies in promoting sustainable agricultural and food systems.
The Assistant Director General stated that since Ghana depends mainly on rain-fed agriculture, there is the need to support government’s actions aimed at promoting agriculture.
Dr Haile-Gabriel said the devastating effects of climate change and the growing demand for the responsible water management systems called for actions in rethinking effective and efficient use of water resources.
The Senior Water Development and Management Officer at the FAO, Valera Nzeyimana, said about 70 per cent of the world water resources are used in agriculture while 85 per cent of wetlands are lost faster than forests.
He indicated that even though about 600 million people earn a living from agriculture, not much was being done to protect the water resources or to the extent of having a reliable water data road maps.
Mr Nzeyimana urged countries suffering from galamsey activities to adopt a common platform to nib the practice in the bud.
He charged the private sector to have a data plan on water usage, reduce pollution, invest in drought and salt resistance seeds as well as support aquaculture systems.
Mr Valere charged the academia to foster innovation and the youth to use their music to raise awareness on water and its importance.
Water scarcity in the Sahel and Northern Ghana, he explained, called for measures that would adopt different irrigation systems to sustainable production of fresh foods.
“Fresh food is healthier and uses less water during production as compared to processed foods,” he added.
Mr Valera urged the media to write to local authorities in other to keep them informed on government’s strategies aimed towards prioritising water usage.
The FAO Representative to Ghana, and Deputy Regional Representative for Africa, Dr Yurdi Yasmi, said, time is running, urgent action was needed to protect the world’s water resources.
According to him, government cannot do it alone, volunteer services are needed from the communities to complement such actions implemented at the local levels.
Dr Yasmi stated that water usage is connected to other activities and must not be allowed to go waste or polluted that is why every year FAO organises programmes to raise awareness on adoption of sustainable and best practices in food production.
He said the organisation is in a process of introducing solar panels in the Northern Region to ensure efficient water conservation in crop and food production.
BY LAWRENCE VOMAFA-AKPALU & NII AYITEY BROWN
