Sustainable Rural Livelihood Enhancement and Poverty Reduction Through the Establishment of Perennial Fruit Tree Crops - Ghana Best Practices and Innovation (BPI) Initiative-Interaction
Area of Intervention 9 out of 10 regions 52 districts 600+ communities 30,000 farmer households (300,000 beneficiaries)
Main Constraints and Challenges High level of food insecurity and rural poverty affecting majority of rural dwellers Average of 4 months of household food shortage Over exploitation of natural resources resulting in reduced stock of trees, low rainfall and declining soil fertility Use of low-output traditional farming methods
Main Constraints and Challenges, cont. Lack of access to agricultural inputs Limited access to improved technologies Overdependence on annual food crops Lack of a tree crop safety net Poor access to markets Increased rural-urban migration
Program Approach Farmer Group Formation and Training Agro- Input Credit to Farmer Groups Agro-forestry (Tree crop intercropped with annual Crops) Technology Adoption Increased Crop Yields Business Training and Marketing Linkages Increased income Improved Food Security Poverty Reduction
Critical Factors for Success Favorable land tenure system Appropriate choice of marketable and ecologically adapted fruit/woody trees
Critical Factors for Success, cont. Farmer group formation and use of solidarity groups Training of beneficiaries and community based volunteer extension workers Provision of input credit hardware
Critical Factors for Success, cont. Marketing training and linkages between farmers, buyers and processing industries Tree and annual crops system providing short and long term food security and income Use of video documentaries, radio, demonstration farms, field days, crop event and Best Farmer Award Days Close project Monitoring and support of beneficiaries by strategically located Field Staff.
NUMBER OF MONTHS Evidence of Success Months of Food Shortage 5 4 3 4 3 2 1 1.34 0 2002 2004 2006 YEARS
Evidence of Success, cont. Increased yields of promoted crops: Citrus: 354 kg/acre to 18,213 Maize: 400 kg/acre to 1,114 kg/acre Mango: 700 kg/acre to 3,213 kg/acre Soybean: 200 kg/acre to 600 kg/acre Increased beneficiary income
YIELD IN KILOGRAMS Increase in Yield: Citrus 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 0 CITRUS INCREASE IN YIELD: 2002 VS. 2006
YIELD IN KILOGRAMS Increase in Yield: Non-Citrus 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 MAIZE MANGO SOYBEAN INCREASE IN YIELD: 2002 VS. 2006
Evidence of Success, cont. Creation of fruit tree belts (9,118acres citrus, 3,000 acres of mango and 9,000 acres cashew) Mangos exports to Europe
Evidence of Success, cont. Two large scale factories processing 450 MT of fruits/day. Companies established in the heart of the citrus belt in the Eastern and Central Regions 2006, 2009);
Evidence of Success, cont. Storage losses reduced from 40% at baseline (2002) to 5% in 2006 Improved living standards, better housing, household assets, ability to pay children s school fees, and health care.
Evidence of Success, cont. Income increased through off-season selling Credit repayment rate of 75-80% achieved as against agricultural lending repayment in industry of below 50% Diversification into other ventures Reduced rural-urban migration
Evidence of Success, cont. Adoption of natural resource management practices by 93% of beneficiaries compared with 12.7% adoption by Non-project clients Farm size expansion: acreages increased from the initial 1-2 supported acres, to between 5-26 acres
HECTARES NRM Practices 2006 11,459 12,000 10,000 2004 7,562 8,000 2002 5,790 6,000 4,000 2002 10 2004 69 2006 93 % FARMERS USING NRM HECTARES UNDER NRM 0 2,000
Evidence of Success, cont. Over 40 project farmers have won Best Farmer awards during Ghana s annual National Farmers Days between 2002-2010 Based on impacts of this USAID-funded Food Security Project, ADRA Ghana has won two awards: International Development Partner Category; Millennium Excellence Award 2005: Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMIG) Award as Non-Governmental Organization of the Year 2007
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