Poverty Eradication Program
Most rural families in Ghana depend on farming to survive. During drought years with little or no harvest, families can’t repay their seed loans and end up in debt.
EVCO Founder Seth Owusu was lucky that his parents could afford to keep him in school. His father supplemented his teaching salary and farm income by raising chickens. During drought years, money from selling eggs and chicken helped cover tuition for Owusu and his six siblings.
EVCO’s new venture, a farming institute, will train farmers to raise livestock with the hope of breaking the cycle of poverty. The program will provide innovation, training, and financial assistance in the form of micro-financing to deserving farmers who successfully complete the program.
Farming Programs
All village communities in rural Africa have a variety of animals, including goats, pigs, grass cutters, guinea fowls, turkeys, rabbits, chickens, ducks. Most farmers who raise them do not see their efforts as a great poverty reduction practice. Other than the few who raise livestock as their main jobs, such as goats and pigs, most farmers do not take time to learn the proper way of raising animals.
As we developed our program, we interviewed many rural farmers, and their main complaint focused on the absence of traditional training facilities that teach farmers sustainable, hands-on free range systems. EVCO’s program combines traditional training with modern technology in farming.