After ten days of activities, the time came to look back on our field work and on the outcomes of our cooperation with the Ghana Permaculture Institute. To this end, we gathered at the NGO’s headquarters with their management team and the staff working on the project. Each member of both teams had the opportunity to share their feelings regarding the programme and the activities conducted, the general environment of the project, as well as the cooperation between SABA and GPI. It was not only a work-related meeting, but also the occasion to recall all of the good moments we spent together during these ten days, and the joyful atmosphere was a perfect representation of the cohesion of the group throughout the project. It was also the chance to take a few group pictures with the team!

 

Overall, both the SABA and the GPI teams are very satisfied with the outcomes of the project, and the success of the collaboration. We feel that our presence on the field enabled to strengthen GPI’s voice on the necessity to transition towards sustainable agricultural practices, in order to preserve farmers’ health and the environment, and to increase their income and ability to resist to climate change. The presence at the workshops of all the smallholders who were invited and many guest speakers from official institutions and universities, as well as the radio coverage of the events, shows how relevant the issues discussed are and reveal the general eagerness to foster change. We are very pleased that the exchanges that took place were not only from the guest speakers to the farmers, but also emanated from the farmers, and information was shared between all the stakeholders who attended. Finally, discussions about potential partnerships between the institutions present and the Ghana Permaculture Institute are a sign that another objective of the project has been reached: the creation of a network of stakeholders for an improved cooperation.

 

On 29th March, we left Techiman, as our activities on field came to an end. But our memories of this stay, the results of our action, and the friendships we made will remain, and hopefully, going back to Paris does not mean that the SABA Project is over...