Snapshots from Savelugu: Our work in pictures

by Holly Moore

We had a great day in Savelugu celebrating the Income Generating Groups (IGGs) we work with becoming fully registered cooperatives. The day also looked at what the next step is for the groups in their journey to create stable livelihoods.

All of our IGGs are already currently involved in rice production. As part of our research we have been looking at alternative ways they can produce rice to ensure a good quality for the products. These women work at the Lolandi Rice Processing Centre in Tamale and helped us with our research. Here they are looking for foreign objects, such as stones, in the rice. This is quite a common challenge in local rice production!

Rice consumption in Ghana is estimated at 861, 875 metric tonnes per year, and is constantly growing. As the demand for rice is so high the production of it is a relatively safe activity for our women to take part in, as there is always a market for it. Volunteers Shasha and Latifa are interviewing this rice seller to find out more about the rice market.

Whilst doing our research, volunteer Mohammed had the chance to meet British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, at a conference held by Made-Ghana. It was great for us to see this NGO working to bridge the gap between the north and south of Ghana by developing agriculture in the north. Geographical inequalities are never good for development!

As rice production is largely seasonal work, International Service and the NFED have been exploring alternative Income Generating Activities (IGAs) so that the women can continue to earn money all year. With the north’s single rainy season becoming shorter and more unpredictable, this is really important for our groups. The first one we looked at was batik and tie and dye production.

	Batik and tie and dye designs and patterns are always changing, making the demand for it relatively constant. We had a great time learning about the process and interviewing producers and sellers at Tamale cultural centre. Here volunteer Shasha is showing a typical batik print material.

Poverty in Ghana is highly concentrated in the rural areas with 37.9% of the rural population living below the national poverty level. Empowering the women in our IGGs to create sustainable livelihoods through alternative IGAs, such as producing tie and dye material for garments like these, is a step towards improving these poverty levels.

Something that most of us use in our everyday life and are probably taking for granted is soap. Not only the IGGs, but the rest of the people in their communities, have to travel a considerable distance to buy soap. Soap production as an IGA would be great for our women as the already have a ready market in their own communities. This man is producing soap to sell at Savelugu market.

Learning the process of soap production would not only help our IGGs to continue making successful livelihoods, but would improve their quality of life in different ways. As sanitation is so poor in the communities we work with, having soap to clean their clothes and body is important in preventing infection. This is Issah Rahi, a local soap seller, who helped us with our research.

Coming to Ghana I wasn't sure what to expect with regard to the work I would be involved in. It has been a pleasure to work with these women and be part of making a positive change in their lives. With the help from our research on these alternative IGAs, the IGGs are one step further in their journeys of creating successful, sustainable livelihoods.

References

Monitor Deloitte Analysis; Stakeholder Interviews 2016, MADE Northern Ghana Market Diagnostics, 2014; the market for Maize, Rice, Soy and Warehousing in Northern Ghana, USAID 2012; Developing the Rice Market in Africa: Ghana Assessment, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

www.ruralpoverty.org/country/statistics/tags/ghana