In 2011 we saw the end of the hungry season in our community. When we first arrived in the area, there was not a single tractor or any agricultural equipment in the whole district of about 62 villages. Almost all the people would call themselves farmers, owning a machete and a hoe. They cultivate about ¼ to an acre of land each.
Our vision
Our vision for the farming project is to help free the land from ownership disputes and help them develop it for agriculture purposes. Our area of focus is around the Adaklu District, which has about 62 villages with thousands of acres of very fertile land that is used mainly for cutting firewood, hunting and a little farming. If the Ghanaian people would develop their land they would not only have enough food for their country, but would be able to export produce and support other nations. Our goal is for the people to always have enough food to eat, and make some extra money to pay for their hospital bills and their children’s education.
To fulfill this goal, we…
Help secure land for farmers
Provide farming equipment
Provide training and help with land preparation for harvesting, storing and marketing
You might ask, “What has been accomplished so far?”
One of the most successful things in the quest of agriculture development has been providing the people access to modern agriculture equipment. When the people in the community saw the equipment, they gained courage and started clearing bigger plots so we could come and plow for them. Foster, a man from the community who works with us, said to me at the end of the dry season in 2011, “We still have maize in the community, and it is because we have all this farm equipment. If it was not for that, we would be out of maize and we would have to go to other places outside to look for it, and it would be expensive and difficult for us.” People from the city had also started coming to look for maize to buy in our community!
We have built a small shop and have many of the most needed tools.
We have bought a 60 acre plot of land and developed 24 acres of that for experiment purposes, job creation and revenue for the charity. Main crops are pineapple, maize and yam.
We have trained a number of tractor operators who also provide tractor services to about 17 villages in the surrounding area. In 2010 they ploughed for 146 farmers, making a total of 120 acres. In average each farmer has less than one acre of farmland.
We have a farm manager who looks after the ministry farm and also helps to advise the farmers in the community.
We have helped developed a 10 acre community farm in the village of Sikama.
We now have a bull dozer, 6 good working tractors and other equipment.
LOOKING AHEAD
For the next few years we plan to help the farmers develop more land and set up drying, processing and storage equipment/buildings to help the farmers become self-sustainable. Then we would expand to other communities. We also want to build a barn for all the equipment to protect it from theft and the hot sun.
What about the forest?
Adaklu district used to be a forest. Now they have what is called a bush land with elephant grass, shrubs and big stumps where the trees use to be. Any trees that grow are cut down for firewood. Our plan is to work with the “Ghana Government Reforestation” to preserve some areas and also plant trees where needed.
We always welcome donations, find out how to donate.
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