Just Hope announces pilot project in Togo

January 13, 2015

Working in partnership with missionaries who share our beliefs about how to make an ‘impact that lasts,’ and who have deep-rooted relationships in local communities in the West African nation of Togo, we are excited to announce a pilot project outside the village of Kara, specifically with the Lamba people. This will be our first project in this French-speaking country, home to more than seven million people.

Togo is similar in size and climate to Sierra Leone. While its level of poverty is slightly better than Sierra Leone, Togo still ranks low on all human development indexes, often alongside Haiti. Age expectancy hovers in the mid-50s, and UNICEF estimates annual income to be around $2 per day for 80 percent of the population.

At the end of January, Just Hope will send Project Manager Peter Mueller and Agricultural Technical Advisor David Reeves to train our two partners in several techniques of conservation agriculture. Those partners will then provide the same technical training to a small group of Togolese farmers who have expressed a desire to achieve improved yields despite degraded soils and limited rainfall. The training empowers farmers by offering alternative practices for agricultural production and resource management to people who want to do their part to increase food security and household income for their families.

After six months, the project will be evaluated for effectiveness, and it will be determined if Just Hope will make a longer-term commitment to this project.