Nine women are joining ONE this week on a listening and learning tour through Ghana and Sierra Leone. Maura Keefe reports back:
These women work hard, and their spirit amazes me. They come here because this farm is the key to a better future for themselves and their families. The transformation that is taking place in Ghana is not unlike the changes we have seen in the States. Women get a job and make money. They are able to invest this money, make small profits, and bit by bit, they gain greater control of their lives.
With greater productivity on these farms, the women are less vulnerable to the whims of the weather, not to mention changes in their government and personal lives. These women prove that they are successful in business, garner respect from their neighbors, and become leaders with the power to make improvements in their communities.
Interestingly, statistics show that women working on farms like these are likely to invest their profits well. Some studies estimate that women invest up to 90% of their extra income in their families, compared to only 30-40% for men.
On a national scale, women are key drivers of economic growth, particularly in the agricultural sector. The farm we saw today is funded through Technoserve, an organization that focuses on providing people living in poverty with access to productivity-enhancing tools like seed and fertilizer. Technoserve also works with these people to develop entrepreneurs and institute good business practices. Technoserve works with public and private-sector partners, including U.S. Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The rice farm we visited this morning is one of those projects. This partnership is enabling women with greater access to high-quality seeds, fertilizer, and training for their farms. Women actually produce up to 80% of the food produced in the developing world, where agriculture is the backbone of most economies. That means that these women, by showing up to farm every day, are not just feeding their families for the day. They are helping to pull their countries out of poverty and feed entire nations.
Studies show that if women were just given equal access to agricultural products like seeds, fertilizer, and training, agriculture yields could grow by over 20%. By investing in women in agriculture, the United States is stretching its dollars to fund sustainable development that is giving these people ground to stand on in the long term. With more funding for projects like this one, more women and their children would be going to school, receiving better health care, and, critically, would be helping their local economy grow—possibly the most important pathway out of poverty.
We also visited a school that is being funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation and USAID in Nyanyano. There we were able to visit a few classrooms and met a wonderful group of committed teachers and administrators who were proud to show off their new facilities. Under very trying circumstances, these men and women are working everyday to ensure that young girls have the same access to education as young boys. In our classroom visits, it was clear that young girls are attentive students and active participants in their lessons.
Before we departed the village, we were treated to memorable performances by the students. First, the children entertained us with a four-act musical drama that told the story of the importance of educating young girls. The story revolves around a mother, father, son and daughter, all played by the children, and narrated by a student choir. The father refuses to allow the mother to pay for education for their daughter and throws the mother and daughter from his home, his decision has long-term consequences. He stays with his son who does not take care of the father in his old age, while his daughter continues her education and goes on to become a doctor. When the father becomes ill as an old man, he goes to the hospital only to be treated by his daughter. When the daughter recognizes it is her father she refuses to treat him and he begs for her forgiveness. It is only when the mother reappears that she brings the family back together again. The ONE delegation was delighted by the creativity and spirit of our young theatre troop and roared our approval!
An additional part of our send off was a poem read by a young girl names Joyce. Joyce, wrote a poem about the importance of empowering women. And, I have to say, it made me tear up. You cannot help but be inspired by the changes that are happening for women in Africa. I cannot do our young poet justice, but you can see her presentation in this video:
From education to agriculture, women’s economic participation is critical to long-term poverty reduction. I’m convinced that if all Americans witnessed what I saw today, they’d be moved to even greater action to make sure that the U.S. continues to invest in the women I met here at the Technoserve Rice Farmers Cooperative and through the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
As part of the Living Proof Project, which we’ve covered extensively here on the ONE Blog, the Gates Foundation has posted this photo gallery following women at the Osu Maternity Home in Accra, Ghana. It’s part of a larger discussion about the benefits and techniques of breastfeeding, which were also examined in this infographic.
Here’s another partner post for our Food Security in Focus series, this time from USAID’s West Africa Trade Hub. The West Africa Trade Hub works directly with West African companies, helping them become more competitive in the world market by linking them to buyers who assist in product development. The post below is from Paully Appea-Kubi , the founder of Ebenut, a company that produces dried fruit mixes in Accra, Ghana. With help from an American food distribution company, Ebenut will soon introduce dried jollof rice and dried gari foto dishes to U.S. supermarkets. Her story demonstrates the importance of market access and agricultural value chains in establishing food security.
-Kara Arsenault
I started Ebenut by myself in 1996. I have a food science background and I like to experiment with food. I asked a farmer if he could supply me with pineapples and it was a good match: he needed a market for the pineapples that he did not export or were rejected, but were still fine for drying. I had one dryer and I used my own money to start Ebenut. After six months, I added two people. Eight months later, I hired five more.
Today, I have 35 people. I’m getting mangoes from 15 farmers, pineapples from 12, papayas from 2 and I have four suppliers of coconuts. The farmers are expanding and their workers are better paid because they have a reliable market for their fruits—they know there’s a constant buyer.
Jollof rice is very common in Ghana—we use it at our parties, we eat it for lunch, we serve it at weddings and funerals. We use a spicy pepper, oil, tomato and local seasonings. We then mix it up with rice and cook it. I took the recipe from there, drying it in order to preserve it and make it easy to prepare. Gari foto is very much like jollof, but instead of rice we use gari, or cassava, that has been dried. It’s very convenient—you just add water and a prepared tomato sauce.
I’m working with a rice factory in the Volta Region. They buy from about 100 growers. So I work with those farmers indirectly, creating a market for their grain. I’m also working with rice growers in the north, where rice farming is done mostly by women.
Last year, I met Jim Thaller of Talier Trading Group. He told me that he wanted a locally prepared dish to go on to the U.S. market. I developed a dried jollof rice dish (reported in Tradewinds, the Trade Hub’s monthly newsletter) and a dried gari foto for supermarkets across the U.S. It was important to have Jim’s help. While we were telling his group about the local dish, they tasted it to see whether it would be suitable for the market. The names, the packaging design—these were all very important. He encouraged us. My fear was that we would spend all this money, invest all of this time and then it wouldn’t go very well. Jim had high hopes.
I know Americans like foods that are easy to prepare and are tasty. It’s very colorful and the fact that you can serve it with other foods makes it versatile. It takes about 5 minutes to make it and it’s very nutritious. I think they’ll really like it. It’s an exciting time for me.
Following up on President Obama’s time in Ghana, Thomas Awiapo, a Ghanaian from the country’s Upper East Region and CRS staff member, posted his personal reflection on the historic visit on the CRS blog. I’ve had the privilege to have known Thomas for over ten years and the pleasure to work with him during that time. This is cross-posted from the Catholic Relief Services blog
-Mark Brinkmoeller
Thanks for visiting my home country of Ghana. I really do hope that you enjoyed your visit and Ghanaian hospitality at its best.
I listened to your speech to the Ghanaian Parliament and the rest of Africa. I have read it over and over again; I can’t stop reading it.
I asked a friend what he thought about Obama’s speech and he had this to say: “His speech was a breakaway from the conventional master-servant oration. He spoke to us like one of us, like a brother and a friend. He spoke to us like a grandpa passing on words of wisdom to his grand children.”
I couldn’t agree more.
But President Obama, there is one thing you didn’t talk about that I know first hand…
That’s the great economic divide between the north and the south of my great country. Please do not forget that this regional and rural disparity still exists. Accra and Cape Coast where you visited and were treated to all its grandeur is only a tiny slice of the true story of Ghana.
Working for Catholic Relief Services, I have traveled across the length and breath of Northern Ghana, to the most remote villages and communities you can possibly imagine. With deep sorrow I can tell you this – hundreds of thousands of children still sit under trees that serve as classrooms. The dusty ground they sit on is their desk. I have seen schools where 10 children have to fight over a single textbook. Water and food are basic human rights and yet there are millions of people in these rural communities who wake up every morning wondering where to get one meal a day. It is not uncommon in some of the rural communities to see human beings competing with animals to drink the same source of water from filthy ponds and rivers. I speak as an eye-witness to some of these situations and conditions which are disturbing and heartbreaking.
Sena Atoklo is a broadcast journalist and resident of Ghana who has worked with the BBC and ITV in the UK, and ETV South Africa. Over the next week, he’ll be sending in posts to the ONE Blog on Obama’s visit to Ghana and how Ghanaians are reacting to it.
Ghanaians are excited and waiting with baited breath for the arrival of U.S President Barack Obama at exactly 20:30GMT when Air force One touches down at the Kotoka International Airport today. The fever did not really grip Ghanaians until this week. A number of them were expectant but when the months and weeks became days, the reality hit them that the U.S President was indeed visiting.
The Ghanaian media is making sure that it is not left out of the whole frenzy of welcoming President Obama. Screaming headlines of President Obama’s visit greets everyone in the mornings. This week has seen a lot of coverage on the Obama visit. The debate in the media is whether it was the current NDC government that lobbied for his visit to the country or if the trip had been planned a while ago and that no matter the party in government he would be visiting Ghana anyway. Remember, Ghana had a closely fought general election last year, and it is not strange to see Ghanaians still divided along political lines. The media plays a part in influencing the thoughts and feelings of the ordinary Ghanaians. And since the big headlines about his visit has given Ghanaians something to talk about, the media at this point are still scrambling for accreditation. Trust me that they will have more than enough news stories to churn out for at least the next four weeks.
Sena Atoklo is a broadcast journalist and resident of Ghana who has worked with the BBC and ITV in the UK, and ETV South Africa. Over the next week, he’ll be sending in posts to the ONE Blog on Obama’s visit to Ghana and how Ghanaians are reacting to it.
Trust Ghanaians to find business opportunities in even the mundane things of life. That is exactly what the U.S President Barack Obama’s visit to the country (this Friday and Saturday) offers some Ghanaians.
Those who want to take advantage of the visit to make some cash are already in business. Miniature flags of Ghana and the United States of America are being produced, along with ceremonial cloth with the photographs of the two Presidents. People in the Arts and Entertainment sector are not being left out of this. Some musicians have composed songs welcoming the first Black President of the United States to our homeland Ghana. Francis Mensah sells Barack Obama souvenirs along Osu Oxford Street here in the city of Accra. I had a brief conversation with him:
Me: How long have you been in the business of selling paraphernalia and other souvenirs.
FRANCIS: I started selling on this street for the past ten years. I usually sell replica jerseys of Ghanaian football stars in Europe such as Michael Essien, Stephen Appiah
Me: So why have you emptied your stand of these replica Jerseys and are instead selling Obama souvenirs.
FRANCIS: This is a special occasion for Ghanaians and they will want to be part of it and they can feel a part of it by buying such items as the cloth, T-shirts and other souvenirs.
Me: Are people buying these items?
FRANCIS: You won’t believe it. The shelves were well stocked but within a week stock has depleted. A number of them are purchasing the T-Shirts.
Me: Do you have a manufacturer who supplies you with these items?
FRANCIS: Yes. There is a vendor from the Akosombo Textiles who supplies me with the cloth, whilst another person supplies me with the T-shirt.
Me: What can you tell us about sales then?
FRANCIS: As I said earlier, sales are good contrary to what I was dreading that people will not buy but they are buying
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I started Ebenut by myself in 1996. I have a food science background and I like to experiment with food. I asked a farmer if he could supply me with pineapples and it was a good match: he needed a market for the pineapples that he did not export or were rejected, but were still fine for drying. I had one dryer and I used my own money to start Ebenut. After six months, I added two people. Eight months later, I hired five more.
