Category: Togo

November Project Roundup: New Businesses in Bauya, Selling Shoes in Honduras, VSLAs Saving Members Money

AFRICA Ghana We are now working with 98 people through VSLA groups, 34 of them women.We are finding it slightly harder to involve women than men, because most women farmers see themselves too busy at home, in the field and in their trading businesses to commit to a weekly meeting. However, we are hearing about… continue reading

October Project Roundup: Exiting Pineapple Project, Boots on the Ground in Panama, Corn Harvest in Ghana

AFRICA Ghana We now have six established VSLA groups plus several pending. We look forward to sharing more information about those with you soon. The first plot of corn from the demonstration site has been harvested. As a reminder, this was the crop the cows attacked early and had poor germination. The team is conducting… continue reading

September Project Roundup: Pineapples Harvested for Fresh Market, New Cases of Ebola in Sierra Leone, Ghana Team Adds Another Advocate

AFRICA Ghana We are excited to announce another new hire in Ghana, Joseph Appiah, who will join Collins as a farmer advocate! Peter Mueller, our project manager, and Joshua Fiagbedzi, our advocate manager, have been spending a great deal of time with Joseph in training and orientation. Joseph has a background in agriculture and will… continue reading

August 2015 Project Roundup: First VSLA Group Launches, Pineapples Approach Harvest, Mulch Proves Its Worth

AFRICA Ghana VSLAs Our first VSLA group has been launched! The group is called Sesa Mu VSLA, and it consists of nine women and nine men, who are mostly pineapple and corn farmers in the area around the town of Berekuso. Demonstration Plots at Sesa Mu Since our last report, four additional demonstration plots have… continue reading

July 2015 Project Roundup: Planting in Ghana, Selling Ambulances, Preparing for Panama

AFRICA Ghana We are delighted to report that our first demonstration plot in Ghana has been planted! David Reeves recently returned from a successful training trip to an area outside of Accra, where we are partnering with Sesa Mu, a local university student group committed to assisting farmers with improved techniques. Peter Mueller and his… continue reading

Togo test plots show promise, deliver learning opportunities

The demonstration plot in Jesse’s yard in Togo (above) looks strong and healthy. Frederic is reporting some pest issues on the beans, and David and Jesse are working with Frederic to test different homemade insecticides to see what works best. We reported a couple of weeks ago that termites had destroyed the corn crop at… continue reading

Termites!

We were disappointed to learn recently that termites have invaded the larger demonstration plot in Togo, destroying about 80 percent of the test crop. However, it wasn’t especially surprising, according to David Reeves, agricultural technical advisor. “Termites aren’t necessarily an enemy,” he said. “Actually they can be fantastic processors of soil, as long as they… continue reading

Togolese farmers learn conservation agriculture, see solutions to problems  

During a recent two-week trip to the West African country of Togo, a Just Hope project team worked with a group of Togolese farmers, exploring the methods of conservation agriculture according to a plan developed by Just Hope project manager Peter Mueller. Accompanying Peter on the trip were David Reeves, agricultural technical advisor, and Bob… continue reading