Climate change is having devastating consequences on fish farming in the Sunyani Municipality, with many women engaged in aqua-culture gradually losing their economic livelihoods.
That is largely due to climate impacts of erratic rains and unpredictable weather patterns and thereby drying up fishponds of most of the women farmers.
During a visit to the Farm Life, a fish farm in the Sunyani Municipality, Madam Joyce Soronzo Salia, the owner, and the 2023 Bono Regional overall best fish farmer told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that her farm had virtually collapsed.
The GNA was at the area to assess the operation of the farm in line with implementation of the Post COVID-19 Skills Development and Productivity Enhancement Project (PSDPEP).
Madam Salia said all her fishponds had dried up, adding that, “as we speak now, I don’t have any fish because of the bad rains we experienced last year.”
The GNA is a beneficiary, and implementer of the government’s PSDPEP project seeks to build health-related skills in higher education, restore livelihoods, strengthen communication and create jobs among the youth and women in the country.
Under the implementation of the African Development Bank (AfDB) $30 million project where $4 million is expected to be given to Small and Medium Enterprises as loans at a reduced rate to enable them to withstand the shock of the pandemic.
Madam Salia said her other fellow farmers were also going through similar predicament and appealed to the government to come to their aid and to revive and sustain their economic activities.
She said the fish farmers required both financial and logistical support and called on the government and development partners to construct dams and dugout wells for them.
GNA
Edited by Dennis Peprah/Benjamin Mensah