As mentioned in the previous post, Hope has cultivated 3 acres out of her 25 and is now planning with her team, to expand the cultivation to have the whole 25 acres under crop within the next two years.  She will have to clear the land and prepare it, but since it is flat, fertile, and with good access to water, then that will not be too much for them. Hope is currently cultivating tomatoes, groundnuts (peanuts), and corn with her team, on the three acres.   Her plans are to grow the area under cultivation and she would like to add [...]

We already met Ms. Belawu at Diva Farms, run by her and two of her friends.  As we learned last time the farm is already divided into two areas, the first of cash crops and the second of vegetables.  Later they will be adding a greenhouse for hydroponic farming.  At this point, I wanted to learn a bit more about their vegetable garden, their organic processes, and the challenges they have faced and are facing. “As I told you before, the vegetable garden is 5 acres, and maintaining it without chemicals is of course a challenge.  Our philosophy is to grow healthy [...]

We already met Hope and her team from Lungi City, Pewulay Village in the northern province of Sierra Leone. In my first post on them, I mentioned Hope is very much involved with Global Children Humanitarian Organization (Orphanage).  Since 22 years ago, Hope and her family have been supporting the orphanage, and since she started developing her own farm, her efforts there have been motivated by the orphanage.  “I wasn’t in the position to support the orphanage with direct financial assistance to the extent I would have liked to”, she tells me.  “But with the farm, there is so much more [...]

We are still in Western Africa but have jumped a bit north to visit a country we have not had stories from before, Sierra Leone.  Here we meet Isatu’s Hope or Hope as she likes to be called.  Hope is from Lungi City, Pewulay Village in the northern province of Sierra Leone.  Hope is cultivating Corn, Tomatoes, Groundnut/Peanut, Carrots, Rice, Yams, Sweet Potatoes, Cassava, Potatoes, Sorghum, Soybeans, and Wheat on 3 acres of land. I mentioned to her that this is a lot for 3 acres, and she clarified they are not cultivating all at the same time, since they practice [...]

We are back in Cameroon, where I have been so fortunate to find Emmaculate Ambe.  Still attending University, acquiring her diploma in Agriculture Science, and specializing in food Technology, she is the future of agriculture.  How often have we spoken here about the lack of new blood entering the field of agriculture?   And that those who do, do so only because they do not have other options.  Emmaculate hails from the Southwestern region of Cameroon and has already started building her farm, Emmaculate Farm, although still a student. Growing up on a farm, many people cannot wait to get away.  Not Emmaculate.  [...]

In the Northern region of Ghana, Tamale, more precisely, I came across Diva Farms.  A small farm run by Ms. Belawu and two of her friends.   Diva Farms are all about growing healthy and chemically-free vegetables. And as she described herself and her friends. “We’re active climate change advocates, so our farming methodologies are not harsh, and we’re ECOINCLUSIVE and ECOFRIENDLY”.  “Our processes may take a bit more time”, Ms. Belawu tells me. “But we do not use chemicals on our plants.  We remove weeds by hand in our vegetable garden and minimize weeds in our preparation for planting, precisely to [...]