"We will work together to help ourselves" - farmer group development
Sefwi Wiawso
Located in Sefwi Wiawso District of the Western Region of Ghana, Aboduam is a typical cocoa-producing village where farmers grow cocoa using techniques passed down for generations from parents to children. Farmers in Aboduam face many constraints including lack of access to improved planting materials and agrochemicals; there are no reliable agrochemical shops near the village. Furthermore, few farmers use fertilizer because of the widely held belief that fertilizer causes cocoa trees to die prematurely. As a result of these factors, farmers have relatively low yields.
In March 2009, the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) initiated farmer training on cocoa integrated crop and pest management, as well as cocoa replanting in the community. Thirty two farmers meet every two weeks to attend a Farmer Field School session. Between sessions, the same group works on a small plot every other week to learn about improved methods of planting cocoa, how to integrate food crops and forest trees with cocoa and manage a newly established cocoa farm.
During the course of the training, farmers were impressed by the results they saw on the plot where integrated crop and pest management techniques were applied together with fertilizer. Farmers also realized that if they applied the practices learned, they could use less fungicide. One farmer participating in the training indicated that, by September 2009, he had only applied one round of fungicide compared with six rounds at the same time last year. Some participants from the same community did not apply fungicide at all in 2009.
Encouraged by the spirit of self-reliance fostered by the Farmer Field School, and with support from the Ministry of Local Government, participants established a cocoa farmers’ self-help group. This group was the first of its kind involving cocoa farmers in Aboduam. The group is open to all but, so far, consists of only Farmer Field School participants. The group started collecting dues from each member and has opened a bank account. This money is lent out to members to address needs such as funeral costs and health issues. Upon learning that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture was willing to sell fertilizer to farmers if they organized themselves and paid for half of the cost, the Aboduam Farmer Field School participants raised 920 Ghana cedis (approximately US$665). With the assistance of Mr. Denis Ofori, the Farmer Field School facilitator, they rented a truck to transport 126 bags of fertilizer from the Ministry’s office in the district capital to Aboduam. Excited by this new found sense of empowerment, Mr. Ofori remarked “In the past, it was each for himself. Now we will work together to help ourselves.”
WCF thanks Robert Asugre and Sonii David of IITA/STCP for contributing this story.