I was born here in this part of Ghana. I was able to go to school, but my parents did not let us attend to a very high level. 

I became a farmer and planted crops like maize, cowpeas, peanuts, and yams. Most of the food that I grew was for our own consumption, but we sold some in the market to have a little money to raise our children.  We had enough to pay school fees for our children.

In 1992, ADRA came to work in our village with a project of reforestation. Our region had suffered from the indiscriminate cutting of trees for farmland. Our area had become quite baron. There was a concern of our land becoming too dry for farming. 

ADRA encouraged us to plant trees on our land.  They provided the seedlings and paid us in to plant the trees in a “food for work” program.   We planted mango, acacia, teak  and cashew trees.  The plan was to not only bring back trees for ground cover, but to provide wood for building, food, firewood and income. 

Unfortunately, when the cashew trees started producing a few years later, there was no one who came to buy our new crop. Ghana was not known as a country that grew cashews.  Some farmers cut down their trees for charcoal, others maintained some in hope that buyers would eventually come.

In 2012, some cashew buyers began to show up in Ghana, and they have kept coming every year since. However, because there was no competition, they offered a price that was hardly worth the effort.  I had 30 acres planted in cashews and after expenses, the amount I was making each year from these buyers was only about 1000 Ghana CDs (About $90 CAD)    

This was very difficult for me and many of my neighbors. We had all of these beautiful cashew trees and we were making nothing from them. All of the years we had waited for the dream of good income from our trees were now shattered. The buyers had finally come, but were still making nothing. What made things worse was the fact that because most of our land was tied up in the cashew trees, we were not able to grow short-term food crops lake maize and yams. We were living in poor shelters, hardly able to feed our children, let alone send them to school.

People started cutting down their trees, to grow annual crops.  These short-term crops provided food for the family as well as income every year.

Then, a few years ago, our community re-connected with ADRA. When they learned about our market problem, they devised a solution where ADRA would arrange with Hope Harvest, a Canadian company, for us to receive a fair price for our cashews!  Now, with the competition all of the other buyers are offering a fair price.

This was a real Godsend for us!  My income has increased 10-fold! I have been able to build a much better house for my family, We have been able to send our children to school and we are all eating well!

On behalf of myself, my family and other families here in my village, I want to thank Hope Harvest for what they have done for us.