Hello everyone,
I hope that all are enjoying their study abroad or their classic summer at home in Canada. I have been in Cape Coast, Ghana since June 3rd, 2010, working with the Abusua Foundation on creating an organic youth-run demonstration farm, aka “The Farm Project”. The goal of our project is to encourage young women and men to remain in the Cape Coast area by showing that a sustainable economic living can be made through organic farming. The Abusua Foundation was founded in 2002 and its mission is to “Foster youth participation in governance and developmental issues in Ghana through capacity building”.
The “Farm Project” is in very early stages of development. Previous to my arrival, the Abusua Foundation had purchased 15 acres of land between the villages of Abrem and Agona in the KEEA district outside of Elmina, and they had developed the idea of creating the organic youth-run demonstration farm. Virtually nothing had been done with of the land, the land had not yet been cleared, no marketing research had been done and there was no outside funding for the project.
On my arrival, I joined a large project team consisting of one person who was the project coordinator. We had a tough task ahead of us of trying to figure out how to get this project off the ground and get it rolling considering the two of us were foreigners who had just recently arrived in Ghana for the first time. The project coordinator has a background in organic agriculture so once it comes time to tilling the land, planting the seeds, and maintaining the crops we will have the knowledge to be able to be successful. The difficulty came with the initial steps, like what crops should we grow? What crops will grow on our land? Which crops are in demand? Is our soil any good? Where can we get more funding? Where do we start? These were just a few of the initial problems that we ran into in the beginning. We started off by doing some basic research on the web to see if we could discover anyone who was undertaking the same sort of project that we wanted to create. We immediately ran into GOAN (Ghana Organic Agriculture Network) who has created multiple projects that were similar to our idea. We instantly scheduled an appointment in Accra with the director of GOAN, Mr. Samuel Adimado. Mr. Adimado gave us some great technical advice on how to begin and he also wanted us to remain in contact to become future members of GOAN.
Since the beginning of June and our first formal meeting in Accra with Mr. Adimado we have established numerous contacts, some being Mr. Wireko, the KEEA District Director of Agriculture in Elmina, Grace Vander Puije form the University of Cape Coast, Dept of Crop Sciences, Jacob, an agriculture extension Officer in the KEEA district, and Sophie Tadria, APO Food Security, Nutrition, and Food Safety-FAO of the United Nations, all who are willing to aid with the development and implementation of our project. We have also written up several formal proposals for outside funding, for example, a proposal was written to AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa). We have also had a formal meeting with the Head of the Department of Crop Science and three professors from the University of Cape Coast and wrote a proposal to Dr. John N. Buah the Head of the Department of Crop Science at UCC in order to establish a project team consisting of two or three professors from the department who would be able to help us with soil testing and insect management. I am a BBA student, so with some knowledge of marketing I also developed a survey that we administered to the surrounding population with questions pertaining to land management, local market usage, weather patterns, knowledge of organic farming, and crop assessment. The survey was a success, and not only did it allow us to get a good understanding of what crops we wanted to grow and what crops could grow in that area, but it also helped us establish a presence in the surrounding community.
At the present moment we are in the process of gathering all the technical information we need in order to start clearing our land and begin a small, one acre experimental garden. We are in contact with Jacob who is the agric extension officer in the KEEA region to try and get the exact cost of clearing and tilling the land, the cost of purchasing the seeds, and also where to purchase the seeds for the crops that we wish to grow.
My time in Ghana is coming to an end very shortly as I am only here for 3 months, so I hope that before I depart we can get something concrete done on the land so that I am able to witness some of the results of the effort that I have put into the launching of this project. If not, I am certain that I will keep a close eye on Abusua’s progress once I am back into my daily routine in Canada.
As well, as a side note, another intern and I took upon us a side project that is called “Opportunity News” that we plan to continue even when we arrive back in Canada. We have been putting together a flyer that is being posted every second week on Abusua’s website that keeps people informed and up to date on current issues in the developing world.
As to date, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time that I have spent in Cape Coast, Ghana. It is a great place to study abroad because the people here are very friendly and most importantly it is safe. Working with the Abusua Foundation has been nothing short of excellent; they have a great thing going here. They have multiple projects on the go and they make a vast impact in the neighbouring community. I feel that I have learnt a lot of the Ghanaian culture and also about myself. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to take part in some formal meetings and got to experience how people from another culture interact in a formal setting and not only on the day to day life that I took part in on a daily basis. Overall I feel that I am definitely going to bring more back with me then I was able to contribute. I am learning a lot here and I am also having an experience of a lifetime. This place is definitely an eye opener and reminds you of how spoiled we can be back in Canada. I am really going to enjoy all the little things a whole lot more when I get home, like running water!

Category: Ghana, On location // Add Comment »