WEBVTT FILE

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Back in the days, we could literally figure out

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when it was about to rain

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by taking a sniff of the air or the soil.

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Since the climate has changed

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we farmers too have to change

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and flow with the system.

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In the southern
part of Ghana,

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we are really,
really blessed.

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We have a lot
of water bodies,

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but the problem arises when farmers

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do not live close to a stream or a river.

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They rely on rainfall

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and this is really unpredictable.

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Most of the time

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farmers overwater

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or underwater their crops.

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When human knowledge shows its limits, the cutting edge data technology plays a vital role.

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I used to underwater my crops.

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But since I have adopted the SOSIA irrigation system,

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things have changed.

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SOSIA+ is an advisory tool

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that enables farmers

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to use their irrigation systems

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effectively and efficiently.

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It is a dripping system

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that comes with a soil moisture meter

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that you use to determine the water content

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in your soil.

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It has a rain gauge

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that can help you to know

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whether the amount of rainfall

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that you have is enough for you to irrigate or not.

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So this project is part of the Partners for Water programme

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and we collaborate with TU Delft, Future Water

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and a local weather station called TAHMO.

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TAHMO gives us the right information

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to push farmers to either irrigate more or less

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and this has never been done before

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because in the past, the only available weather data we had

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we had was from the national grid.

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And these were not reliable for remote areas.

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SOSIA is important. This is because crops are supplied

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with the required amount of water, and therefore

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farmers avoid unnecessary expenses related to

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excess water usage, labour, and energy.

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I believe the farmers are more than beneficiaries.

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They are partners in this programme because

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they sacrifice their time, their effort and their energy.

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When you are estimating for future projects, it can help you

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to estimate if I am doing ten acres of cabbage

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or I am doing ten acres of pepper

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How much water do I need to complete

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the cropping season successfully?

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For us, it is
really important

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to help the farmers in managing their crops

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and to help them in adopting good farm practices.

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In this way, they can assure that their crops are healthy

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and this is something
we believe in.

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People here in Ghana are doers.

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They like talking about reducing wastewater,

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and they like to see results.

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This is the way that we can get our local people,

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young people, to go
into farming.

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Look at my farm now.
I am happy.