Working with the Root

This is the first in a five-part series of my visit with the Ecumenical Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development and the projects they support in southern Ghana. Cross posted from Worldwatch Institute’s Nourishing the Planet blog.

The Ecumenical Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (ECASARD), based in Accra, Ghana, is a unique organization. Not only has it brought together members of the Christian and Muslim faith-based communities to help improve the lives of farmers, it also collaborates with farmers groups, NGOs, policy-makers, and research institutions. “We can’t do it on our own,” says King David Amoah, which is why ECASARD works with these different stakeholders.

Established in 1991, ECASARD works with some 32,000 farmers in 7 regions of southern and central Ghana.

Their goal, says King David, is to both increase food production and reduce rural poverty. They do this by promoting innovations that are affordable, environmentally sustainable, socially just and culturally acceptable.

One of the most important things they do, according to King David, is the promotion of pilot projects. “Farmers can’t afford to experiment {with different technologies},” he says, “but ECASARD can fund pilot projects,” allowing farmers the freedom to try new things without taking on all the risk.

Their greatest success, says King David, has been “bringing farmers together to organize themselves” into associations and cooperatives, particularly for women. ECASARD “works with the root. We don’t go to big-time farmers,” according to King David, “we go to the villages.”

In addition, ECASARD helps farmers understand the business of farming by helping them connect to markets. Having a market, says King David, gives farmers the incentive to produce more. ECASARD is also making farming a more attractive option, particularly for youth. “If you take farming seriously,” according to King David, “it can be your livelihood and make you a rich man {or woman}.

Stay tuned for more about our visits with the farmers groups ECASARD works with on the ground, including palm oil processors, an association of rabbit and grasscutter farmers, a women’s dairy cooperative, and a women fishmongers association.

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