Women farmers in the drylands of Ghana are overcoming harsh conditions to build a future for themselves and their families.

Drylands cover almost half of Ghana and 47 per cent of the surface of the earth. Despite harsh conditions, they are productive areas; 30 percent of the crops that are cultivated and consumed in every corner of the world originate from dry lands. Yet drylands also have some of the highest levels of poverty.

Graphic Online carries a story about subsistence farming communities in the Lawra and Nandom districts in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Here, large numbers of men have migrated to cities in search of work. The women are tackling the harsh climatic, economic and social conditions, land degradation and marginalization head on.

Thanks to interventions from the Environmental Protection Agency, which introduced the No Burn policy in 1986 and the National Action Plan to combat desertification and drought in 2005 (funded by Canada), the women have received training and support to improve their livelihoods.

The women have learnt how to grow and manage trees and prepare fertilizers from crop residues and cow dung. They are improving the soil and increasing productivity which has seen them benefit from herbal medicines and natural fruits such as the black and yellow berry, ebony, shea, dawadawa and moringa.

The women say they are “benefiting in energy and water availability, food security and nutrition, agroforestry, animal husbandry, improvements in our livelihoods and prosperity”. They are able to send their children to school and be involved in leadership and governance.

Read the full story: Dry lands have a woman’s face