Water Deficiency and Agricultural Development in the Keta District of Ghana

Abstract

Agriculture is the backbone of most African countries. In Ghana it contributes immensely to the gross domestic product and it employs about 60% of the Country’s labour force, however the agricultural sector in the country is underdeveloped and mainly rain fed. Hence variability of rainfall affects crop production in the country. In spite of the variability of rainfall in the country and as a matter of fact, in the Keta District, farmers have resorted to some coping and adaptive strategies to overcome this problem. This study determined the nature of rainfall in the Keta District and its effect on agricultural production. The results obtained revealed that rainfall in the Keta District is scanty and variable and this has a great influence on production. For this problem to be solved, mechanized irrigation must be used by the mass though this technology has its accompanying problems. It was therefore recommended that future research should focus on the feasibility of extensive irrigation in the Keta District