It began with building trust with MoFA staff, identifying areas to work in to have greater impact on “Dorothy”, and strengthening extension and monitoring & evaluation systems primarily in the Northern Region offices. Then a new era dawned in 2007 as the partnership extended into the Upper East Region and the Agriculture as a Business strategy really started to grow. Now the Upper West Region is involved, and the strategy is undergoing further development.
The Agriculture as a Business vision: Farmers’ incomes are increased on a sustainable basis through the agriculture as a business program that strengthens farmers’ capacity and creates an environment that enables farmers to take a business approach to farming.
In other words: increasing household well-being by helping farmers put more money into their pockets; and when looking at the well being of Ghanaians in the northern zone[1] one immediately turns to agriculture which provides employment, either directly or indirectly, for some 70% of Ghanaians[2].
Through discussions with MoFA staff and understanding of rural livelihoods, it has been recognized that there is a need for farmers to become more integrated into agricultural markets. From a farmer perspective this requires additional skills and knowledge, as well as a shift in attitude from subsistence agriculture to agriculture as a business. It also requires an agricultural sector that provides an enabling environment for small scale rural farmers to develop their businesses.
Last year long-term volunteer Sarah Lewis developed a tool known as the Farmer Group Development Program. The program is a series of 3 meetings with topics focusing on the importance of good group meetings, the benefits of working together, and improving finances – the building blocks of a strong group. This summer, long-term volunteer Shea Loewen and Junior Fellows Bevan Harlton and I have been putting this tool to the test around the Upper East Region. We’ve been working with Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) from MoFA to deliver the program to farmer groups while also focusing on approach by training AEAs in facilitation techniques so they can get the farmer groups not just to participate, but to own their own group development, and take positive action for their own advancement. I’ve been working with 7 AEAs and 14 farmer groups, and by August a total of 17 AEAs and 33 farmer groups will have completed the program! Check out photos of the candidates so far…
Of course it is only the beginning, the groundwork laid before the real Agriculture as a Business fun starts. Meanwhile, other awesome long-term EWB volunteers Sarah Grant and Josephine Tsui are developing curriculum to promote profit analysis and record keeping and to change farmer’s behaviours in ways other than farmer group functioning, respectively. We’re still not sure what will happen after August, but it will likely involve working more intensely with the most motivated people, possibly on some kind of project, which might mean getting involved in loans – a huge minefield of good and bad development practices
The biggest problem with the loan business, as well as other NGO offers of support to farmer groups, is that pesky culture of dependency that can develop, until very few farmer groups believe that they can accomplish anything without outside help…which leads to many farmer groups lying dormant until the next NGO blows through town, escorted by their local extension agent.
So, while trying to avoid being “that next NGO”, how can we as outsiders help a farmer group learn that it can stand on its own, and then help it to do so?
What do you think? What would you ask a farmer group? How might you work with them and on what? How would you envision a dynamic farmer group moving forward?
…and try to imagine yourself in the midst of the rainy season with busy, hungry farmers all around.
[1] The northern zone is considered to be the three regions that make up the north of Ghana. This consists of the Northern, Upper East, and Upper West Regions.
[2] Source: DFID, Support to Agricultural Sector Harmonisation (SASH) Report, September 2005
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