Samson's Farm

E-I-E-I-O.

Further down towards Bolgatanga, and past about five kilometers of side road, is the small community that Samson comes from. I went to meet him there early last week; he's starting a small project and wants me to help him make a short video to promote it.

Samson recently spent a year in the states, at an agriculture development workshop in Waco, Texas. There's a small plot of land behind his family home, where he's hoping to build a farm to demonstrate some basic techniques (transplantation, the care & feeding of rabbits) which should help fill some gaps in local agricultural practices. The will provide a rare source of protein, especially for children. The traditional view is that higher-value (and protein-rich) foods such as protein and eggs are too good for children, who are seen as easily spoiled by such luxuries. This leads to widespread malnutrition of younger children. A prevalent protein source could help change this attitude.

Right now there's just a couple rabbits, huddling in a cage in the store room of Samson's family's compound. The farm area itself is a bit of a mess - debris from the old rabbit enclosure covers about half of it. It blew down in a storm recently, and will need to be redesigned.

Samson's optimistic about the future of the farm though. There's possible funding through his US connections, and it's not much work to clear this small patch of land.