SHGO partners HOCAP to give loans to communities to expand their farming and small scale businesses
Instead of just providing for the needs of deprived communities which is not sustainable, it has become obvious communities need to be empowered with financial assistance to enable them enlarge their income generating activities.
Loans fro SHGO helped transform the lives of hundreds of families.
Community members can now take care of their children in school and also once they paid back their loan they were given higher amount to keep expanding their businesses.
Individual Farmers Receive Funds To Expand Farming Activities
Farmers in Okushibri aside receiving funds to farm collectively on the school farm, also received individual funds to expand their farms, this increased their income generated and helped them support their children in school.
This farmer processed and stored some of this pepper to sell during the lean season
Harvesting and Processing of Pepper from School Farm
Farmers within the Okushibri community were very happy to work together on the community school farm . They harvested the pepper together and processed it by cooking and drying to use it in feeding the children in school
Melissa's Poultry Farm Project
A law student from Virginia, USA upon her first visit in January decided to be with HOCAP again from September to November 2014 to carry out a pilot project in poultry to help provide an alternative farming for the peasant farmers in both okushibri and Kpoi-ete communities HOCAP started its poultry project as an alternative farming for the farmers and had training for the Okushibri and Kpoi-ete communities respectively Training was done by a veterinary doctor and the director for non formal education form Tema. The training was well attended by the community members .
Community members in Okushibri received birds and other poultry supports to start the poultry farming. This was very successful and though some birds were lost at the initial stage of the program the community members developed interest in looking at alternative means of farming.
HOCAP Livestock Project Initiative
HOCAP support community members to diversify from only farming to raise birds as an alternative income generating activity. Community embraces the project with excitement
Farmers Receive Micro Loans made possible by SHGO
HOCAP continued with its sustainable development program by giving out micro loans to farmers in the Okushibri community to help support their farming activities. HOCAP staff once again carried out routine visits on all farmers (loan beneficiaries) in the Okushibri community. It has always been our major priority to give our maximum support to the farmers in the communities we serve.
Vivian a very hard working farmer was among the women who HOCAP helped to market their tomatoes to make sure they got very good price. The plan is to eliminate middle men who bought the tomatoes at very low prices
SHGO Loan Recipients Harvesting Tomatoes and Pepper 2014
HOCAP supports farming in Nyitawuta
In Nyitawuta, HOCAP continue to engage farmers and give them support to expand their farming activities.
HOCAP established a demonstration farm to cultivate other product that the community does not cultivate, this is to help the community move away from their traditional farming and consider farming other products.
HOCAP introduced the farming of vegetables on the demonstration farm with the aim of attracting community members to go into such crops. The community willingly gave a 10 plots of land which was used for the demonstration farming.
HOCAP VISITS GEFIA
HOCAP visited Gefia a bigger community that is noted for the production of honey to assess the possibility of moving the bee hives form Nyitawuta community because it was not doing so well and bees had not come into the hives after a year New bee hives were purchased and placed in Gefia for the purpose of honey production HOCAP stationed one staff in the Gefia community. We are glad that Gefia honey making was successful.
Community mobilize to work on the land given by community leaders for alternative farming
Agricultural officer assist the farmers on new methods
Farmers in action planting new crops.
Harversting
Harvesting maize
Harvesting onion
GLOBAL GIVING FUND RAISE FOR HOCAP TO BUILD A DAM
Nyitawuta was blessed with the construction of dam for the community. Funding was mainly from Global giving ,WPC and SHGO.
The construction of the dam began by clearing the site for the dam and also clearing the land all the way from the entrance of the community to make the site ready and also the road accessible .
The good news is though the dam was constructed for Nyitawuta community neighboring communities are benefiting from it and we are very happy about that.
Excavator begins work on cleared land
Dam fully filled with rain water
Agriculture 2021
The Nyitawuta community and the neighboring communities are making use of the newly constructed dam. We look forward to have an irrigation in place during the dry season since the dam is one year and we have had water in the dam all year round. The community also were supplied with 200 seedlings of mango and they are being taken care of by the community farmers. HOCAP provided Maize seeds and other farming inputs to the community. The group in Nyitawuta who were supported during the major season have all harvested their maize and other product.
The HOCAP demonstrated farm were worked on by the community members and the agricultural extension officer in the district that was engaged in the district to support the farmers did his work very well and by God’s Grace the harvest yield was very good. the community have been supported with maize seed for the minor season.
The rest of the mango seedlings for the five archer land given by the community for demonstration farm was also planted. In total 400 mango seedlings were planted in September and plants are doing well
Community Members Working on Their Maize Farm
Gari Processing
Gari is a staple food in Ghana and is processed from cassava. HOCAP supported the community leaders to be part of the gari processing training program.
The target is to encourage the community to add value to their product, to get better price on the market. The women’s group after the training appealed to HOCAP to equip them with more training and set the gari processing factory in the community. This has been done.
Agriculture 2022
The harvesting of maize in the minor farming season was a successful one. The HOCAP demonstration farm had a successful harvest. Community members were supported with cassava sticks for their plantation. The aim of this activity is to encourage more individuals to farm cassava which is the raw material for the Gari processing.
In collaboration with the Agricultural office in the district, the community received a lot of cassava sticks for planting. This is to augment the efforts of HOCAP to make sure the entire community plants cassava which will serve as the raw material for the gari processing (corn flakes). A new shed has been constructed for the women and also a new brick smokeless oven.
Women trained in gari processing
Cassava Grater And Engine Fixed
Construction of Smokeless Stove For Gari Processing
Agriculture
The women group that was equipped to start processing cassava into gari have taken the project seriously and even though HOCAP’s presence was limited during the period under review the women them selves were able to keep the gari processing on going and went ahead to even make a gate for the facility so that goats and other animals are unable to come to the gari processing facility.
This brings us lots of joy because once the community begins to own the project there will be self sufficiency and when HOCAP pulls out to another community there will be sustainability.
Tree Planting
In the month of June HOCAP sent 300 tree seedlings to the community. All school going children, teachers and parents available received various plants and these were planted on the 1st of June 2022.
The children were also educated on the importance of planting trees and the need to take care of our environment
