Take Best Practices to Farmers in Rural Ghana

It has been a common practice to see children helping their parents on the farm during weekends and after school. Produce from these farms serve as the major source of food and income for the local market and families. One major challenge has been low yields, which could be attributed to lack of adherence to good agricultural and environmental practices.

Sometimes, it is difficult to teach adult rural farmers how to access new or best-practice information, so they do not always know that modified practices could positively impact their yield. Their children grow up and either migrate to the cities or take over the farming business, continuing to utilize the old farming practices they learned from their parents.

Equipping rural children with science-based, good agricultural and environmental practices plays a vital role in improving the quality of agriculture in these communities because they are directly involved in agriculture activities from a very young age.

To help, Self-Help International introduced the Youth in Agriculture Program through the Agriculture and Entrepreneur Program in 2018. Currently, eight schools are enrolled in the program, and membership is composed of students from the upper primary to Junior High School. The eight schools are located in rural communities in the Ashanti Region where SHI operates: Nkontomire, Nyamebekyere, Kyereyase, Timeabu, Bedabour, Beposo, Nkawkom and Kukuboso. These students are equipped with resources, knowledge in good agriculture practices and entrepreneurship skills training. Emphasis is placed in hands-on and experiential learning methods. Each club identifies and implements a field project to practice what they are learning throughout the year and to generate income to sustain the club.  Lessons learned during the club activities and field visits are carried on to their parents’ farms and communities. Some of the students have even started their own individual projects with support from SHI and their club advisors.

Knowing that the future of our country depends on the quality of agriculture, the training we are giving to the youth in partner communities will sustain the food chain in our local market.