The Need
We are pleased to share our collaborative work in Ghana. Thanks to your generosity we have been able to provide food for 800 children and their family members in OBRAKYERE, a village town in the Awutu Senya District in the Central Region of Ghana which is about 40 miles from the Capital City of Accra.
OBRAKYERE, has a population of approximately 4,200, and is mainly a farming community with most of the village residents struggling.
The village residents generally grow food crops such as cassava, corn, peppers and tomatoes with a few of them participating in coconut farming. It takes about 8 to 12 months to realize yields from the Cassava farming, one of the predominant crops grown there. Most of the other produce are perishable vegetables which are difficult to sell due to market demand.
Given the complex and expensive nature of land acquisition in Ghana and the OBRAKYERE area in particular, it is difficult for a poor farmer to do any sizable farming. Secondly, farming in the area is weather dependent, and when drought conditions are prevalent, this also adversely affects the ability of farmers to have a good harvest. Finally, many buyers know that farmers face these challenges so they take undue advantage of this precarious situation of the farmer’s and manipulate them by purchasing their produce for very cheap.
The people in OBRAKYERE previously sold the cassava harvested from their farms to a cassava processing factory located approximately 3 miles from the village. However, for several years, this factory has been shut down which means that farmers who were relying on most of their household incomes from the sale of cassava, to this factory, were left desperate. Without a ready market demand these farmers are left with no choice but to sell to manipulative buyers who buy their produce for cheap, knowing that the farmers don’t have many options.
Given the above circumstances coupled with the significant slowdown in economic activity due to the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic in Ghana, people in such situations are suffering.
Thanks to your generosity we have been able to provide some relief to these struggling families and strive to provide a sustainable solution to their struggles.
