FOCUS
Alleviating Hunger
Creating Economic Opportunities
Promoting Health and Fighting Disease
MDGs ADDRESSED
MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
MDG 7: Ensure environment sustainability
MDG 8: Create a global partnership for development
OVERVIEW
Natural resources have made Ghana more prosperous than many of its neighbors in West Africa. However, most Ghanaians are small landowners relying on subsistence farming to survive, with one-third living below the poverty line. The northern region of Ghana is particularly vulnerable to chronic poverty and food shortages due to erratic rainfall and a short harvest season. Subsequently, malnutrition and infant and child mortality rates are highest in northern Ghana.
Malaria claims the lives of 22% of children under five in Ghana per year, and close to half of all out-patient visits to health care facilities are malaria-related. Although Ghana has one of the lowest HIV/AIDS rates in Africa, people living with the disease face much discrimination.
Our PARTNER
Episcopal Relief and Development is partnering with the Anglican Diocese of Tamale in northern Ghana, a region marked by persistent hunger and ongoing malnutrition, along with endemic (widely transmitted) malaria. All development programs are consolidated in the Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Office (ADDRO), which has over 20 years of development experience with communities in northern Ghana.
Our CURRENT PROGRAMS
Episcopal Relief and Development is implementing integrated development programs to improve the food supply, create lasting opportunities for families to earn income, and fight preventable diseases including malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Episcopal Relief and Development is working in northern Ghana, where malaria is prevalent and where 90% of the population is dependent on farming to feed their families and earn a living. Poor growing conditions and out-dated farming practices result in low crop yields—often less than 25% of what the potential yield could be with better technology and methods. Consequently, many families go hungry because they run out of food between harvests.
Alleviating Hunger and Creating Economic Opportunities
Episcopal Relief and Development is helping families in northern Ghana increase their food production through agricultural training.
- Improved seeds, equipment, and training in effective farming techniques increase production of crops and food staples.
- New and diversified crops improve diet and nutrition while creating new products to be sold for income.
- Environmentally-sound land management training helps farmers improve the fertility of the soil for more productive crops.
Creating Economic Opportunities
Episcopal Relief and Development is assisting women and disabled individuals in northern Ghana to achieve long-term economic stability. Programs offer access to credit so that small farming businesses can be expanded.
- Micro-finance and income-generating activities provide women with opportunities to increase their household income.
- An integrated community-based rehabilitation program helps people disabled by River Blindness gain skills and start small individual and group businesses.
Promoting Health and Fighting Disease
Episcopal Relief and Development is teaching individuals to prevent malaria and HIV/AIDS in their communities, while working to ease discrimination against people affected by HIV/AIDS.
- Long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, along with training in the proper use of nets, ensure that the most vulnerable are protected from the Anopheles mosquitoes that transmit malaria.
- Trained malaria “agents” and volunteers instruct community members in malaria prevention and treatment methods.
- HIV/AIDS awareness workshops train clergy and community leaders to teach prevention methods in their communities, provide counseling to those affected by AIDS, and reduce stigma among church and community members.
Our PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In 2006-2007, Episcopal Relief and Development’s partnership with ADDRO in Ghana improved the lives of thousands of people.
- The NetsforLifeSM malaria prevention partnership distributed 22,756 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets. A total of 69,778 people were sensitized about malaria prevention, and 342 individuals were trained as malaria agents. This brings the total number of people protected to over 92,500.
- 1,000 farmers (men and women) received training on improved agricultural practices.
- 300 women were provided with seeds and initial capital to expand small scale farming and businesses.
