So What Does MoFA Do?

Before I jump into this question I want to take this time to display a somewhat incriminating photo of a fellow friend and EWB volunteer - Luke Brown. He is just completing 2 years in Ghana and was privileged to become a "cheif of friends" in Tamale. I observed the very elaborate and formal "cheifing" ceremony with some other EWB volunteers. So what does an EWB volunteer do after 2 years in Ghana...

Luke before he becomes a chief. The actual chief is sitting behind him. Note the small girl in the top-right corner, she's fanning Luke!

Me recording this momentous occasion on Luke's sound recorder.

So what does MoFA do? To answer this question, I went overseas… My first step to understanding what MoFA does brought me overseas with “Prince” an employee of MoFA. So I’m guilty of cheesy Ghanaian humour. “Overseas” is an area of the Northern Region that is accessible either via boat in 2 hours or via road which takes a 5 hour detour. Since we were in a truck we had to do the 5 hour detour.

The intention of Prince’s visit was to assess a farmer who had been nominated for the prestigious national award for “Best Farmer”. Every year, MoFA organises a one-day event called “National Farmers Day” that is intended to raise the profile of farming within Ghana. Even though National Farmers Day is over one month away, it is foremost in the minds of all MoFA staff. When I first heard of the event, I figured it was just a big PR thing and wasn’t really sure why MoFA was so excited about it.

I asked Prince what the big deal was and he explained to me that the day is also an opportunity for MoFA to explicitly thank the farmers that they work for – the people that MoFA are essentially accountable to, after all without farmers in Ghana the role of MoFA would be quite different. To me, the event was also a great opportunity to profile farmers who model best practices – whether those best practices be entrepreneurial in managing the farm as a business or perhaps responsible use of natural resources – these best practices are the messages that MoFA strives to share with farmers and highlighting farmers through National Farmers Day is just one approach to encouraging farmers to adopt best practices.

The farmer we met, Alhaji Imoro, had been farming for the past 30 years. This year he planted rice (100 acres) and maize (50 acres). Unfortunately, all of the maize was destroyed by the floods that affected a huge amount of people in Northern Ghana this year and received international attention (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6996584.stm). However, Alhaji with his keen knowledge of animal husbandry, and a critical understanding of market opportunities, will not suffer this year. Alhaji is smart to grow rice – a crop that actually thrived this year during the drought – the market opportunities for local rice are growing due to a combination of a government school feeding program and a growing popularity of rice as a starchy food by children!

Prince and Alhaji chat it up

Alhaji also rears cattle – an extremely profitable venture in Ghana, but an opportunity that is rarely exploited due to farmer’s attitude towards cattle. From what I learned from the farmers I lived with in Chayili village (recall groundnut picking adventure), cattle is viewed as a form of savings and is killed for a funeral or sold in desperate times to buy food. Alhaji was rearing over 500 cattle and was definitely looking at his cattle as a profitable venture, not a mooing, grass-chewing, form of saving.

Encouraging farmers to adopt the best practices that Alhaji exemplifies is a crucial component of MoFA’s work and arguably the most effective grassroots approach to making poverty history in Ghana. Encouraging farmers to adopt best practices is more than providing technical education on proper farming techniques – like the correct spacing for maize, or the proper amounts and timing of fertilizer application – it is encouraging a behaviour change that shifts farmers from viewing their cattle and crops as part of a business venture. That’s tricky stuff!

Alhaji is successful because he has solid technical knowledge of cattle rearing and rice and maize production but he also has the attitude of a businessman. When I asked how Alhaji learned cattle rearing and why he’s been successful with his farm, Alhaji answered that he learned from his father. At the end of our visit with Alhaji he asked Prince about growing mango trees, the market for mango fruit has been getting a lot of attention both internationally and locally and Alhaji wants to expand his business to mango production.

Prince was more than happy to share information. I watched as he reached above him to a tree that I noticed for the first time was a mango tree. Prince grabbed a branch and proceeded to demonstrate grafting – a technique that involves preparing and planting a branch from a live mango tree so that it will develop into another tree.

Grafting part 1 - remove a small branch and strip the leaves

Grafting part 2 - wrap the branch with a small piece of plastic and plant.

With farmers who aren’t as lucky as Alhaji who inherited not only a profitable farm but an approach and the practices that led to continuing prosperity, MoFA staff work towards changing farmer’s behaviour. Changing farmer’s behaviour is certainly not as easy as grafting a new mango tree from an existing one and so National Farmers Day is but one approach in the basket.