Poverty alleviation fund managers, SEND-Ghana’s pro-poor project christened Food Security through Cooperatives in Northern Ghana (FOSTERING) is positively impacting on the livelihood of hundreds of people in the East Gonja District of the Northern Region.
The project focuses on four thematic areas of improving food security and sustainable economic growth for small-holder farmers, improving production, better marketing of products, expansion of household activities into off-season businesses and access to finance.
It covers 130 communities in eight (8) districts in the Northern region comprising East Gonja, Kpandai, Nanumba South, Nanumba North, Krachi-Nchumuru, Zabzugu, Tatale-Sangule and Chereponi.
East Gonja District- Gender Family Model (GMF)
As a social intervention, the Gender Model Family (GMF) component of the project has succeeded in gradually discarding socially constructed roles of reproduction, production and community management associated with women.
This practice as witnessed in the past excluded women from decision making particularly in the Kalande community of the East Gonja District.
Through the GMF component, some families in the Kalande community have appreciated the need to perform their roles simultaneously, thereby promoting gender equality.
During a field visit to the community, one of the proud beneficiaries, Sebewie Mohammed Lawal said SEND-Ghana’s interventions had improved his family’s livelihood.
With emphasis on the Gender Model Family component, he appreciated the fact that his family served as a catalyst of promoting gender equality.
According to him, all his nine children made up of five female and four male were in school.
Agriculture
With the objective of improving food security and sustainable economic growth for small-holder farmers, there are a total of 130 demonstration fields under the FOSTERING project.
Each demonstration field has 40 members with equal gender representation.
These are functional in the eight districts where the project is being up-scaled.
The beneficiary farmers are cultivating diversified soya beans in large quantities for domestic consumption and for export.
At the Kalande Npentem demonstration field, some of the beneficiaries including Esther Mensah and Mahama Fuseini touted the FOSTERING project as their hope of survival.
According to Esther Mensah, the soya bean is enhancing their dietary needs.
This she posited had reduced malnutrition which was characteristic of their children.
She said there was ready market for their produce which attracted fantastic profit margins.
Esther Mensah added that the demonstration farm improved the members’ interpersonal relationship.
Mahama Fuseini said the benefits he family continued to gain from the FOSTERING project were immeasurable.
He recalled that as a peasant farmer who was cultivating yam, access to micro finance to purchase farm inputs was a problem.
He said the Npentem demonstration field members were acquainted with modern farming techniques.
Mahama Fuseini confirmed that the introduction of the FOSTERING project solved some of challenges he encountered in the past such as post harvest loss, marketing and inadequate storage facilities.
Literacy education
Realizing that illiteracy rate is high in the beneficiary communities, evening literacy classes have been incorporated into the project.
The essence of it is to enlighten especially the women beneficiaries to be able to read, understand and effectively communicate with their business partners.
In the Kuwani community, a suburb of Salaga Township, forty registered women are attending the night literacy class.
SEND-Ghana is engaging and remunerating facilitators teaching the women with the organization’s staff serving as circuit supervisors.
At the Kuwani community, the facilitator, Bisom Joseph narrated that the class began on April 4, 2015.
He happily said the enthusiasm was high and that 25 out of the 40 women could read.
He commended SEND-Ghana for educating the women and equally supporting him financially as honorarium.
District Chief Executive
As a major stakeholder in the implementation of the FOSTERING project, the District Chief Executive for East Gonja, Mohammed Aminu Lukumanu extolled SEND-Ghana for adopting the downward accountability approach to meet the project’s appraisal.
He outlined the District Advisory Committee, Community Accountability Committee as well as a radio discussion program dubbed, “FOSTERING hour” as some of the factors which constituted the downward accountability approach.
The DCE disclosed that the FOSTERING project document was incorporated into the assembly’s medium term plan.
Mohammed Aminu Lukumanu added that the assembly signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SEND-Ghana to ensure a successful implementation of the project.
The five-year FOSTERING project is being implemented under SEND-Ghana’s Livelihood Security Programme and over 42,000 women and men are benefitting from it in eight districts along the Eastern Corridor of Northern Ghana.
The 8,032,149 Canadian Dollar project earmarked for five years is funded by Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) with contribution from Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA).
Over 331,800 individual food crop small holder farmers including family members from 5,400 households are expected to benefit from the project.
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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana