By Richelle Matthews
In March, AdFarmers and representatives from partner organizations like Farmers Feeding the World traveled to Ghana. Here, AdFarmer Roger works in the Ghana field.
I often find myself asked one question about AdFarm’s farming initiatives: “Why does AdFarm have a farm in Ghana?” To many people it seems slightly odd, considering we are an agricultural marking and communications company in North America.
Here’s the tie: AdFarm’s mission is to be “a catalyst for the advancement of agriculture.” With an increasing globalized marketing place, and continual concerns about the growing demand for food, we can’t ignore developing economies. 40% of the world’s population (roughly 2.6 billion people) are small scale farmers (Greenpeace 2010) That is a lot of people!
AdFarm is digging in and farming alongside Ghanaians. In partnership with a local organization, Praxis Africa, we are farming 100 acres of rich, fertile land. So far 7 acres are clear and we have planted and harvested maize. The clearing process is going slow. The land is heavy with brush, and we are doing it by hand.
We plan to add some cassava (roots that are used to make gluten-free bread) and plantain. Our farm has some chickens, and livestock pens to add some goats and snails. Later this month we will be planting paw paw (a local fruit). AdFarm Ghana is full of opportunity!
There have been many ups and down on this adventure so far, and we are excited about the new friends we have in Ghana, the community we have become a part of, and the lessons we are learning!
If you’re curious about AdFarm Ghana, as well as our farms in North Dakota and Alberta, you can check out our AdFarm farms page here. Stay tuned for more updates from Ghana, and our other farms!
