Success Story: Video Viewing Club Helps Family to Achieve their Dreams
Mrs. Victoria Boadi is a 53 year old cocoa farmer from Bedemase in the Afigya Sekyere District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Operating a productive cocoa farm has long been a dream of her and her husband. Although the path to their goal has been difficult, training through a video viewing club is helping them to make their dream a reality.
In 1988, she and her husband pooled their resources together to establish a 3-acre cocoa farm in her hometown. When their farm was destroyed in a bush fire four years later, the family worked to reestablish the farm. Sadly, just as the farm was beginning to revive in 2000, a bush fire once again destroyed the farm. To support the family, Mr. Boadi left for a job with a cocoa licensed buying company in another district. Mrs. Boadi and the couple’s five children remained in the village.
Despite these setbacks, Mrs. Boadi did not give up on the family’s dream. “That is my husband’s share of his family land and it is the only cocoa land we have,” she explained. She replanted the farm and was able to harvest 50 kg for the first time in the 2005/2006 cocoa season.
In 2007, she joined a video viewing club to learn about integrated crop and pest management. She learned to remove chupons (non-productive shoots which compete with the cocoa tree for water and nutrients), weed effectively and spray fungicide correctly.
At the end of the 2006/2007 cocoa season, she had nearly tripled her yields with the harvesting of 128 kg of cocoa. During this 2007/2008 season, she has already harvested 160 kg of cocoa.
Through the video viewing club, Mrs. Boadi also learned about intercropping and income diversification. As a result, she has planted a few citrus, avocado, oil palm and banana trees to serve as shade trees and a source of alternative income. Environmentally, these trees serve as good habitat for red ants which kill some of the pests that damage cocoa.
Mr. and Mrs. Boadi are pleased with the results of the video viewing club training. Her husband has asked her to continue maintaining their farm.
In addition, Mrs. Boadi has already shared her new knowledge with four other members of her community and looks forward to helping others.
After many setbacks, the family is now well on their way to achieving their dream of having the most productive cocoa farm in the village.
Success Story: Kwabena Antwi-Boasiako
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