What we stand for

According to the Food and Agricultural Organization, the lives of people, communities, and civilizations have been marked by a permanent threat which is hunger, and escaping hunger has been one of the main common threads throughout history causing large-scale migration, wars, conflicts, and enormous sacrifices.

In an attempt to solve common problems with shared resources, member states of the United Nations approved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This agenda comprised of 17 goals, key among them, goal 2 which seeks to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture and goal 1, the eradication of poverty. 

In recent times, we have witnessed the increase in knowledge, technological development, innovation and some investments in agricultural production and the safeguarding of livelihoods. While it appears most agricultural production systems are under intensive management schemes in order to produce to feed the growing global population, changes in climate and the depletion of natural resources mean that it has become necessary to promote sustainable agricultural practices.

In Ghana, we have made investments in sustainable agriculture and alternative livelihood development by training farmers in good agricultural practices while equipping them with skills in snail rearing, mushroom, and honey production. The subsistence and rain-fed nature of farming mean that farmers are inactive during dry seasons when there are no rains. The well-being and livelihoods of these farmers are threatened without alternative livelihoods and incomes. This is why the work we do is important in ensuring that rural and underprivileged communities remain viable and robust during the off-seasons of food production. It is clear that rural farmers who fall into the poverty bracket do not have safeguards against the shocks associated with climate change, and resource scarcity. For example, while the rich may pay to have water delivered, and enough food stored in refrigerating systems during off-seasons, poor farmers and rural community dwellers may not have the resources to invest in such safeguards.