I really enjoyed catching up with Penny and Nicholas from Ashanti Development at the weekend for a chat about their progress.
Ashanti Development has been working in the Ashanti region of Ghana for approaching 20 years, engaging with an ever-expanding number of communities and providing support with water and sanitation, education, healthcare, tree planting and farming. Communities gain the knowledge to embed and support their own development.
I was fortunate enough to spend a memorable six months alongside Nicholas in 2011 supporting a range of projects. When we caught up at the weekend I was chuffed to hear about progress, particularly with tree planting and farm support. Thousands of trees have been established and farmers have seen increased crop yields through a range of interventions from support with equipment purchases to training.
Nicholas is working with farmers to reduce pesticide use while finding ways to address the issues caused by climate change and pests such as fall armyworm, which can devastate maize crops.
Photos from my visit to Ghana in 2011.