Boosting Yields, Changing Lives

By Ernestina Esinam Glikpo | Communications Manager

Your contributions are making a significant difference for 30 women in the Ullo traditional area of Ghana’s Upper West Region, helping them increase their crop yields. Thank you for your continuous support, which  is impacting many women like Zipoge.

Meet Zipoge, one of eight small-scale farmers who, with your support through Self-Help International (SHI), now owns a single-row push planter.

Zipoge is a hardworking farmer and a grain trader in the Kogri community. Before, she struggled to make ends meet, buying small quantities of grain to resell and farming less than an acre of land.

With the help of a single-row push planter, Zipoge’s farming became easier and more fulfilling. She also received a loan to cultivate an acre of sorghum and cowpea. The planter made planting more efficient compared to manual planting with sticks and machetes.

She shared, “I never dreamt of harvesting three bags of grains. But thanks to SHI’s support, I harvested five bags of sorghum, each weighing 50 kg (110 lbs), and 150 kg (331 lbs) of cowpeas. This was possible due to the good agronomic practices SHI taught us and the micro loans they gave to us to purchase seeds and fertilizers on time.”

Zipoge’s son with her single row planter.

With this yield, Zipoge can sell some and use the rest at home.

The income allows her to buy grains in larger quantities, store them, and resell them when prices are better, increasing her profits.

Thank you for your ongoing support, which makes this impact possible for Zipoge and 29 other women on the program. Your help provides these women with the resources and tools they need to increase crop yields and improve food security in the Ullo traditional area.