Bonsaaso, Ghana
Population |
30000 |
Villages |
6 |
Bonsaaso is located in the Amansie-West District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The area is characterized by hot, humid and tropical climate conditions. The Millennium Villages in this cluster are spread out and separated from one another by thick rainforest and diverse vegetation.
Most farmers must make do with small plots of land, relying on small-scale cash crop farming which results in low yields and limited production of food for consumption. Getting goods in and out of the isolated communities can be arduous due to travel on uneven dirt roads that were carved by gold mining and lumber companies years back. Infrastructure has slowly degraded since the decline of these two industries in the region.
Village Characteristics by Sector
Farm labor is mainly undertaken by older people because most of the youth prefer to work in illegal gold mining. Land preparation is laborious because of high rainfall and the inability of most farmers to afford herbicides. Additionally, most of the fertile lands close to the communities have been used for cocoa production, pushing food production to distant and small plots of land. Farmers sometimes have to walk more than five km to their farms.
The major food crops produced in the area are cassava, plantain, cocoyam, yams and maize—all carbohydrate-rich foods. There are no commercial poultry farms or fish farms and the rearing of livestock is limited to a few households. Some communities even forbid the rearing of sheep and goats.
Farmers have difficulty finding a ready market because of long distances to market centers and the poor conditions of roads. Additionally, the communities had never benefited from any form of agricultural extension services before the project. This has made it difficult for the farmers to adopt recommended agronomic practices, thereby slowing down the pace of food production in the area.
The main health problems as reported by local health clinics in order of importance are malaria, buruli ulcer, anemia, malnutrition, risk to women in pregnancy and delivery, hypertension, low tuberculosis (TB) detection rate and HIV/AIDS.
There are very few functional health facilities in the entire cluster and community members have to travel between 2 and 40km to access health care. Additionally, there is not enough medical staff in the district to handle the health-related problems of the communities. The poor condition of roads coupled with lack of sufficient vehicles make outreach health care delivery difficult. Similarly, the movement of sick people to health facilities is equally difficult, sometimes with fatal consequences.
There are not enough primary schools to support the population of the village cluster. This results in primary school pupils sometimes walking more than 5km to and from school. All children who have to travel to neighboring communities for school have to walk since most means of transport are completely absent. None of the schools in the cluster have an adequate number of qualified teachers.
In most of the schools, suitable furniture and teaching and learning materials are not available. In most of the communities there is only one toilet facility for both boys and girls. This is enough to make some people shy away from going to school. The project is addressing this challenge with the construction of separate latrines.
Water from boreholes in some of the communities is of questionable quality because of a high concentration of iron. A number of communities in the cluster do not have adequate water points.
The road network in the Bonsaaso cluster is untarred, lengthy and bad. When it rains, portions of the road become very slippery and dangerous. In the dry season the road becomes very dusty and provides potential health hazards to users without air-conditioned vehicles. The poor nature of the roads virtually cuts off the MV communities from the rest of the country.
Intervention Highlights
The Ghana cluster has made great progress in diversifying crops and increasing average yields, helping to decrease the prevalence of malnutrition. Significant improvements in the areas of health and education have also contributed to early yet dramatic changes in the quality of life for community members.
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Agriculture and Business Development |
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| Farmers participating in the project have been trained in improved agricultural techniques, including the cultivation of maize and cowpea, vegetable production, post-harvest handling and storage and cocoa establishment and management. To help improve nutrition, the MVP subsidizes Quality Protein Maize and improved varieties of cowpeas, neither of which were cultivated on a large scale prior to the project. In addition, the agriculture team has introduced rice farming and orange tree cultivation on a pilot basis. The project also established farmer field schools to support training that improves the management of cocoa plantations, the primary source of income for most cluster residents. |
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Health |
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| Having better access to health facilities is critical to the villages. The Bonsaaso MVP has now completed construction or rehabilitation on six of the seven clinics required to meet cluster needs and has helped staff the clinics. In addition, community health workers (CHWs) have been trained to service Bonsaaso’s households. Given the dispersed population, CHWs have greatly improved access to basic health care, especially malaria treatment and maternal health. |
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Education |
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MVP education interventions have focused on increasing student enrollment and improving the quality of education. Before the start of the project, none of the primary schools in the cluster offered school meals. Now, school meals reach roughly 1,700 children. To increase school meal coverage, the MVP has built additional environmentally-friendly school kitchens, which burn less firewood and produce little smoke. The project has also completed the construction of additional classrooms in the cluster.
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Infrastructure |
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Even though rain is consistent, improvements in the supply of drinking water are essential. Construction of boreholes is helping to reach more than half of the targeted population and construction of more water points is continuing. Furthermore, the project is planning to install an extensive piped water network that will further improve the availability of drinking water for over 15,000 residents. The project is also utilizing other methods to secure clean water, including rainwater harvesting.
Infrastructure activities have also focused on increasing electricity at cluster institutions and improving road networks. The local government has played an active role in supporting the maintenance of roads within the project area. In addition, the national power authority, in collaboration with foreign support, is helping to link communities to the national grid. |
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