TITLE: IMPROVING LIVELIHOODS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN NORTHERN GHANA; THE IMPACT OF THE PRESBYTERIAN COMMUNITY BASED REHABILITATION CENTRE IN GARU.
Background Context
In the late sixties and early seventies, some communities in Northern Ghana were beset with the influx of the blackfly insect. The occurrence of these insects in Garu and its satellite villages wreaked havoc. The repeated bites by these blackflies inflicted pains on the skins of people resulting in skin diseases. The worst part was that these blackfly insects served as the vectors for the transmission of the onchocerca volvulus, the main parasitic organism/worm that causes the river blindness disease. Thus, there was an upsurge in the incidence of river blindness/onchocerciasis among the populace. The majority of people became blind and many more people were helplessly becoming blind in various communities as they became susceptible to the blackfly whilst working on their farms to produce food. The communities are essentially rural settlements with subsistence farming as the mainstay of the local economy. Thus, the livelihoods of the inhabitants were severely disrupted through the activities of these insects.
The situation was so dire; over 60% of the active labour force who engaged in farming as their main occupation became blind whilst many other victims were at various stages of the progression of onchocerciaisis and debilitated. People who lived and worked in fields around the banks of rivers were more hardest-hit by this obnoxious phenomenon. It was firmly established that the black fly bred in fast-flowing rivers and then infested the communities. People who worked in fields such as farmers were more exposed to the risk of sight disability caused principally by the notorious simulium damnosum. Obviously, the situation adversely affected food production, supply and access; most households, families and communities had to starve whilst others depended on wild fruits to survive. A surviving victim had this to say, “The situation was damning, we were caught watching helplessly whilst the black fly wreaked havoc in our communities. The young energetic farmers who worked hard with their rudimentary tools to produce food for our communities were becoming blind and livelihoods were destroyed”.
In a quest to address the situation, the Presbyterian Church of Ghana (PCG) in partnership with the Christian Blind Mission (CBM) established the Agricultural Rehabilitation Centre for the Blind (ARB) in Garu which later metamorphosed into Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Centre in the nineties. The CBR at birth had a single-disability focus of addressing the challenges imposed by onchocerciaisis on the blind. The CBR programme with funding from CBM worked collaboratively with government and healthcare providers to tackle blindness prevention by organizing community based health outreaches where victims of onchocerciaisis received medical supplies to treat and prevent blindness. Concerted efforts were also made to carry out mass spraying exercises in oncho-prune communities to destroy the black fly and to curtail the spread of onchocerciaisis. Additionally, adult blind persons received training in orientation and mobility skills and this ensured they could move independently and lived normal lives within their communities. To improve livelihoods for victims of onchocerciaisis and their families and communities, the blind received training in agricultural production skills and vocational skills and this brought about a remarkable change in their lives. Though blind, they could cultivate crops, keep livestock and produce crafts and soap to enhance their livelihoods. One of the beneficiaries had this to say: “CBR came timely and was the genesis of the restoration of hope for the hopeless. The blind became productive and their lives changed significantly when they came into contact with the CBR”.
Current Context
Northern Ghana, particularly the working Districts of the CBR are incessantly fraught with myriad of challenges of poverty, climate change, diseases and disability issues. Thus, although river blindness has been drastically controlled and no longer a critical issue of concern, the issues of high incidence of poverty, the adverse impact of climate change on agricultural production and the prevalence of diseases continue to result in increased disability cases in the area. The situation of the area has in recent times been compounded by the global pandemic of Covid-19 which left in its wake disastrous consequences in the lives over 40,000 people with disabilities extrapolated to be living in these areas (PCBR-Garu Field Reports, 2020). The aftermath of Covid-19 is particularly worrying as people with disabilities and their families/communities have lost their sources of livelihoods amidst high cost of living. This has been exacerbated by the cascading effects of climate change on food production and the rippling effects of the Russian war in Ukraine leading to untold economic hardship in the area. Besides, there are negative social attitudes such as stereotypes, discrimination, stigmatization and marginalization of handicapped persons which makes their situation more precarious. They are mostly excluded from the economic, social and political life of their families/communities and left to suffer the worst form of neglect and impoverishment. These negative social attitudes and discriminatory practices which are perpetrated against people with disabilities are generally embedded in the beliefs and value systems of the heterogeneous groups of people living in the area and continue to contribute in widening the gap/disparities between people with disabilities and non-disabled persons.
Impact of PWS&D Partnership Work
In the face of these aforementioned challenges, the Presbyterian World Service and Development (PWS&D) in partnership with the CBR centre in Garu has been carrying out programme interventions to improve the lives of people with disabilities and their families/communities in the area. This partnership is particularly cardinal and relevant following the phasing out of CBM after 4 decades of work in the area. Besides, with the current mandate of the CBR Centre in Garu being multi-disability focus, it calls for more resources and strategic partnerships and collaborations with relevant agencies to adequately address the varied needs of people with disabilities and their families/communities in fulfilment of the mandate. Through the partnership with PWS&D, the CBR has been given the enablement to remain functional and has over years been able to undertake multi-faceted interventions to promote inclusive livelihoods for people with disabilities and their families/communities. These include the use of community based development approaches and operational philosophies to identify, assess and register people with disabilities of diverse kinds such as people with physical, visual, hearing, mental and multiple disabilities for life-changing interventions. These interventions include the training of farmers with disabilities in climate resilient techniques and new methods of agricultural production, integrated vocational skills training, value-addition/agro-processing and facilitating access to financial services.
Improving livelihoods through Climate Resilient Agricultural Production
The CBR programme undertakes the training of people with disabilities and their families/communities in improved agricultural practices such as climate resilient skills and techniques of farming to enable them increase food production in the face of increasing effects of climate change. This includes the training of farmers with disabilities improved techniques such as the production and application of compost/organic fertilizer to improve soil fertility, mulching application to maintain soil moisture during drought, practicing early planting and the cultivation of drought tolerant and early maturing varieties of crops, mostly cereal and legumes. The project has also been training project participants to engage in dry season gardening through the use of aforementioned climate resilient techniques and skills to produce vegetables for consumption and for income. The strategy in respect of dry season gardening has been the provision of water pumping machines to some project participants to enhance their work; with the water pumping machines, project participants are able to tap water from existing government constructed dams and rivers for gardening in communities where such water bodies are available. The advantage of the water pumping machines is that they help to reduced drudgery and enable farmers to expand the acreage of farm lands to increase yields. In some communities however, the water bodies needed to support dry season gardening hardly exist and the project team has been using the “survival yards” irrigation technologies. The “survival yards” irrigation technologies entails the digging /construction of wells and reservoirs in the gardening fields of project participants. Galvanized steel pipes are used to connect the wells to the reservoirs whilst hand pumps are fitted on top of the wells. Water is then pumped into the reservoirs and tapped for irrigation. These irrigation systems also include the provision of fencing materials such as galvanized chain links and pipes which are usually constructed around the gardening fields to help protect the crops from destruction by livestock. There is a free-range system of keeping livestock in the area during the dry season and where fencing is not provided, the beneficiary farmers have to devote time to stay in the gardening fields to chase away livestock.
Besides, project participants also receives training in improved livestock production skills such as feed preparation and storage, husbandry practices such as the promoting ventilated pens and facilitating access to veterinary services to treat and prevent livestock diseases and raising improved livestock breeds.
The project data suggests that since 2021 up to date, a total of 2,015 farmers with disabilities (932 males, 1083 females) have so far been trained in climate resilient techniques and new methods of farming to engage in cereal, legumes and vegetable production whilst a total of 794 farmers with disabilities trained in improved livestock production skills to enhance livelihoods. There has been increases in crop yields and livestock produced by project participants and this has contributed in achieving household food security in face of climate change effects on productivity. For instance, cereal and leguminous crops produced by farmers such as maize, millet, sorghum and soya bean; and vegetables such as onion, cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes and pepper recorded an average increase of 19.5% of yield following the adoption of climate resilient techniques and new methods of farming taught to project participants. Similarly, the average production level of livestock breeds reared by project participants such as goats, sheep, fowls among others increased by about 9.7% as farmers adopt and practice improved livestock production strategies. Santos Amali, a project participant of the agricultural intervention had this to say: “In the past, I could not produce enough food to feed my family. The yields were poor due to poor rainfall patterns, high temperatures and droughts. It was becoming increasingly difficult for us to survive. I am however grateful to PWS&D and the CBR programme for coming to our aid with new farming methods and techniques that have been helpful in stemming the tide. I have been practicing the new methods of farming taught such as organic fertilizer production and application and mulching. Now my farm yields have increased. I am able to produce enough for my family and to sale for income”.
Improving Livelihoods through skills training and Self-employment
The programme has been engaged in building the capacity of persons with disabilities to ensure that they are equipped with relevant skills to enhance their employability. This takes the form of training and equipping them to engage in value addition/agro-processing, petty trading and vocational skills to generate income and boost alternative sustainable livelihoods through self-employment in the informal economy. Available project data indicates that from 2021 up to date, a total of 979 persons with disabilities (318male, 661female) have been trained to engage in myriad of economic activities in the value chain industry like malt processing, pito brewing, sheabutter extraction and groundnuts oil extraction and in the vocational skills industry like weaving, dressmaking, hairdressing and soap &pomade production. The trained project participants who are mostly young persons with disabilities are now self-employed and able to generate income for improved livelihoods. Abdul Razak Ayawin, one of the young beneficiaries of the project intervention pointed out: “I am so happy that PWS&D and CBR came to my aid. At first, I didn’t have any work to do and could not earn money to meet my needs. I am now self-employed in my tailoring job after going through training through the kind courtesy of PWS&D and CBR partnership. I sew dresses for people to earn money and it is so lucrative. Earning about GHS1500 per week, needless to mention that I have enough for my basic needs”.
Improving livelihoods through financial inclusion and access to financial services
A significant aspect of the CBR programme has to do with facilitating access to financial services to enable clientele have start-up capital to engage in economic production. There is a functional relationship between skills acquisition and start-up capital as start-up capital influences the utilization of skills acquired. The programme has been training disability groups into savings and loans associations; enabling them to mobilize their own resources through weekly savings and issue loans to members for business development. This concept under the programme has been christened “ Community Savings and Loans Associations (CSLAs) and has proven to be extremely beneficial as members can receive loans with no or little interest and can benefit from their own accumulated savings during share-outs for investment in economic production. A share out for typical CSLAs is usually done at the end of a cycle which is 12 months from the month of commencement.
Also, as part of the programme, persons with disabilities have been trained into Self-help Groups (SHGs) and Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs) who are engaged in advocacy against negative social attitudes and promoting the rights of people with disabilities. They also mobilize resources by contacting other organizations (like the District Assemblies, Civil Society Organizations etc.) to support their members for economic production. The programme team also works collaboratively with financial institutions to provide financial literacy skills and provide access to loans for enterprise development. The overall achievement of clientele who have had access to loans since 2021 to date stands at 9,752(3321male, 6431 female). Some of these beneficiaries are engaged in various livelihood strategies such as crop farming, livestock production, value addition, vocational trades and petty trades and generating income to improve their lives.
Conclusion
The partnership work of PWS&D in Northern Ghana has contributed tremendously in improving the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families/communities amidst daunting challenges of climate change and high poverty rates. The CBR programme continues to receive logistics, funds and technical support from PWS&D to improve its livelihoods programming like fashioning out strategies aimed at promoting inclusive livelihoods for people with disabilities. Even though some successes have been chalked, the majority of people with disabilities and their families remain unreached by the life-changing interventions run by the CBR centre in Garu due to inadequate resources in the face of the growing numbers of people with disabilities with varied unmet needs. This calls for PWS&D to continue to raise and channel more resources to support in strengthening the gains made and sustaining the much needed interventions
Written and Submitted By: Isaac Tiiga Project Coordinator Presbyterian Community Based Rehabilitation Centre, Garu