The farmers were trained on bee keeping and soap making (round, bar and liquid) as alternative livelihoods to their peasant farming from October to December, 2015.
They were also trained on how to manage the skills acquired to establish thriving businesses. The training is in line with the C4C’s attempt at mitigating practices injurious to the environment especially in the dry season when farmers hustle for survival and to create alternative livelihoods for people to adapt in the medium to long term.
Practices like bush burning for hunting, tapping of wild honey, charcoal burning and unsustainable agricultural practices are widely practiced in most communities of the region with both men and women engaging in them, hence necessitating the training. In giving her closing remarks the executive director of C4C miss Rubelyn Yap remarked “It is our hope that whilst we implement campaigns against these, we also find alternative means to empower people to move away from such practices,”.
She also thanked UK charity organization Ghana Outlook (GO) which funded the project.
“We expressed gratitude to our donor, Ghana Outlook-UK for believing in our cause in protecting the environment at the same time building the livelihood capacities of our rural farmers. There are still so many farmer groups we need to train but we are taking one step at a time,” Ms. Yap added.
The farmers were not only given the training but in addition were given the capital materials and ingredients to start their business ventures.
The project initially was aimed to support underprivileged women in beekeeping and soap making for increased household income and food security as alternative to environmental degradation practices but was extended to include some few men due to their appeals.
C4C executive director Ruby Yap reiterated their commitment to the partnership with GO which will go a long way in touching the lives of the marginalized in the areas they served. She also expressed her gratitude to the farmers for their exuberance which contributed to the success of the project. G.O. previously sponsored three key projects in the Nimbare/Kampoare communities which included the construction of one new borehole and rehabilitation of one borehole and KVIP for the Nimbare school and community.
The goal of the G.O. is to assist rural communities to enhance their future through self-help programmes, including helping improve agricultural and educational infrastructure.
About Coalition for Change (C4C): it is a non-governmental organization which aims to raise secured families using ecologically sustainable local farm base strategies, adaptable income generating activities and available forms of educations as means of closing poverty gap in Ghana.
Thus the C4C team up with poor households within deprived communities to eliminate identified forms of obstruction to the full attainment of basic human stateliness through participatory approaches to reduce poverty using gender mainstreaming, self-help communal spirit and promoting quality education.
