Improving Daily Life in Ghana
UMCOR and Agricultural Missions

Prayer: God of life, we pray for our sisters and brothers in Dambai, and for all rural people who seek a better life for themelves, their families, and their communities. Bless the work of Agricultural Missions and the efforts of rural people to earn an income, to till the earth, to tend animals, to improve their lives while conserving the environment. Help us to be faithful stewards of our own resources, sharing what we have, and working so that all may have a full life. In Christ we pray. Amen.

Esther works hard; very hard. She is up before dawn and goes to bed long after sunset. She begins her day when the roosters, who serve as alarm clocks for Esther and her neighbors, awaken her before the sun peeks over the hills. By the light of a kerosene lamp, Esther prepares breakfast for her five children and husband. On Tuesdays, market day in the town of Dambai, Esther is up before the local alarm clocks begin to crow. The economic life of her village of Anyabor in the Volta Region of Ghana depends on market day, when Esther and her neighbors exchange the fruits of their labor-- cassava, yams, and maize, for cash and other needed items.

The rising sun finds Esther and her husband, the two small girls and baby, in their cassava field, three kilometers from home. The two girls play under the shade tree. Esther, with the baby strapped to her back, collects the cassava in a large head pan as her husband digs the cassava from the red earth. By early afternoon the family is back home and the two older children return from school. After a quick lunch of roasted yams, Esther leaves for the cassava processing facility with the head pan stacked high with cassava on her head and the baby on her back. Her husband goes back to the field to harvest more cassava while the two older children tend their younger sisters.

Anyabor Women's Group Purchases a Cassava Mill

Members of the Anyabor Women's Group have acquired their own cassava mill with the help of funds from UMCOR's Women in Rural Mission Advance. Photo courtesy of Agricultural Missions. Click here for more pictures.

Until recently, the cassava mill in Dambai was the only mill in the area and served several villages. Esther would arrive at the mill, after walking five kilometers, to find a long line of women ahead of her. She would wait several hours to have her cassava processed and walk home after dark. By the time she cooked dinner for her family, sent her children off to bed, and prepared her produce for the market, it would be almost time for the alarm clocks to begin crowing again.

Esther was not alone; other women in her village faced the same predicament. Esther and fourteen others, including one man, formed the Anyabor Women's Group with the goal of acquiring their own cassava mill, located in their village, under their ownership and management. From their meager earnings they each contributed to a common fund. They used their savings and a loan from a local agricultural extension project to grow and market one acre of soybeans. Their net income was 180,000 cedis-- the equivalent of $68. But the mill and engine cost eight million cedis-- about $3022. At this rate it would take them decades to achieve the dream of having their own mill.

When Agricultural Missions (AM) learned of their situation, they provided a loan that the women used to purchase a cassava and a maize mill. The grant for the women of Anyabor came from the Women in Rural Mission Advance, #982917. The women used their own resources to buy materials for a building to house the mill and engine. The men and boys of the village provided the labor to construct the shed.

Esther and her neighbors no longer have to walk five kilometers, wait for hours, and pay an exorbitant fee to have their cassava processed. Not only do the women of Anyabor Village process their own cassava, but women from other villages use the mill as well. Everyone pays a fee for the service, and the women are repaying their loan on schedule. Life is still hard, but a bit easier because of the mill. Their incomes are also a little higher.

Dambai Farmers Tend Rabbits, Bees, & Snails

A man from Dambai shows his snail farming project, which received support from UMCOR's Appropriate Technology and Technical Services Advance. Photo courtesy of Agricultural Missions. Click here for more pictures.

Agricultural Missions has four ministries that are supported by UMCOR Advance giving. The people of Dambai have also benefited from another ministry of Agricultural Missions-- Appropriate Technology and Technical Services, Advance #982130. Dambai is an isolated and impoverished area in the Volta Region of Ghana with little infrastructure or government services. There is no electricity, telephone service, or post office. Sanitation and health conditions are very poor. Dambai is home to 8,000 people who were displaced when the Akosombo Dam was built in 1962. As the waters of the lake rose and people lost their homes and farms they were resettled as tenant farmers. They received very little support in reestablishing their farms and no assistance in long-term sustainable development.

Since the isolation of the area restricts their options, the local farmers decided to focus on three activities: rabbit rearing, bee keeping, and snail farming. These projects will provide income and increase the amount of protein that is available locally. The farmers have received training in these activities as well as in ecological agriculture and sustainable production. Funds from the Appropriate Technology and Technical Services program have enabled the farmers to establish a revolving loan fund which is used to purchase necessary materials and supplies.

How to Participate in This Program

Agricultural Missions is a longtime UMCOR partner. It is an ecumenical organization that accompanies rural people around the world in their efforts to address the root causes of poverty and injustice in their communities. Throughout its history AM has addressed cutting edge issues such as land and agrarian reform, the rights of indigenous peoples, the rights of small and minority farmers in the United States, gender equity, sustainable use of natural resources, globalization and trade and the use of biotechnology in agriculture. By supporting Agricultural Missions, you can join in the work to end injustice and poverty for rural peoples while protecting the wholeness of God's creation for future generations. Please give to the following AM and UMCOR Advance ministries:

Agricultural Missions, Advance #982065
Provides technical services, rural leadership training, and program development aimed at enabling rural people to increase their food production and self-reliance.

Appropriate Technology and Technical Services, Advance #982130
Assists partner organizations in defining their technological needs and in accessing technologies and information that are appropriate for their circumstances. Emphasis is placed on the identification and use of indigenous and local knowledge and material resources in addressing challenges in the community. The goal is to develop technologies that are appropriate and sustainable for a specific community and environment.

Rural Training, Advance #982747
Facilitates training that provides skills and knowledge which enable rural people to identify and address the constraints they face. Training is related to food production, water and land use, nutrition, preventive medicine, credit, and marketing.

Women in Rural Mission, Advance #982917
Supports initiatives of women in low-income communities to carry out self-development projects. Activities include health projects (primary health care, nutrition, sanitation, and access to potable water), small-scale industries, credit programs, marketing, training, and appropriate technologies.

For local church and annual conference credit, give your gift through your local United Methodist Church. Be sure that the project name and Advance code number appear on the memo line of your check. Gifts may also be sent directly to: UMCOR, 475 Riverside Dr., Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit card gifts may be made by calling (800) 554-8583.