Plan Ghana Annual Progress Report 2010

A YEAR IN

GHANA

WESTERN SAHARA (OCCUPIED BY MOROCCO)

SUMMARY REPORT

ALGERIA

2010

Women prepare a meal for schoolchildren

MAURITANIA

3

GOOD REASONS

OUR PRIORITIES

why Plan works in Ghana

in Ghana

• About 15 per cent of children under five are underweight • Only six per cent of the rural population has access to proper sanitation

• Offering families opportunities to increase their household incomes

• A third of adults cannot read or write

• Ensuring children have access to good education

MALI

• Improving the standard of healthcare for poor families and making sure they have clean water Ni gerand decent sanitation • Promoting children’s rights and protecting them from harm

ENEGAL

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‘Families are committed to the project and take their management role seriously’

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NIGER

GUINEA

BURKINA FASO

A 13 year-old boy stands Niger next to a latrine he built as part of a community sanitation project

Volt a Wh ite

Economy: The domestic

economy continues to revolve around subsistence agriculture, which accounts for 50 per cent of GDP and employs 85 per cent of the work force – mainly small landholders. On the negative side, public sector wage increases and regional peacekeeping commitments have led to continued LIBERIA deficit financing, inflationary depreciation of the Cedi, and rising public discontent with Ghana’s austerity measures.

COTE D'IVOIRE

Tamale

Black Volta

plus many local languages.

Climate: The climate is tropical.

The eastern coastal belt is warm and comparatively dry, the southwest corner is hot and humid and the north is hot and dry.

BENIN

Wa

Ghana Facts Capital: Accra SIERRA LEONE Population: 23.8 million Languages: English (official)

Oti

Tumu

TOGO NIGERIA

Lake Volta

Kumasi Koforidua Mankessim

GHANA Country Office Program Units

Volta Asesewa

Accra Bawjiase

Focus on: access to education

Lack of food, poor health, inadequate education and low incomes – all these conspire to keep children out of school in Ghana. Plan works with communities to keep their children healthy and in school by boosting access to clean water, decent sanitation and basic healthcare. Our school feeding project is fighting malnutrition and

improving school attendance.

We are helping families to increase their incomes and meet the cost of schooling by offering access to savings and loans. We are also improving school facilities and promoting children’s rights.

Eating and Learning in Kupulima

When Klute played truant in Kupulima, a village in Sissala, northern Ghana, it wasn’t to skip boring lessons: it was to survive.

He spent his time foraging in the bush for fruit – nothing much, perhaps, but enough to stave off the relentless hunger for a few more hours.

From April to September, when food is scarce, most children in Sissala go to school without having eaten. Families here are subsistence farmers. When yields are low, there is not enough to eat and not enough money to buy food at the market.

Chronic lack of food makes children malnourished and weak. It leaves their bodies unable to fight even the slightest infection.

It destroys their concentration and makes learning almost impossible.

But without education, children like Klute may never have the skills to find employment that pays a decent wage and know a life without hunger.

Community-led action In Kupulima, though, Klute and his friends are back at school and learning, thanks to a school feeding program started by Plan and the local community.

The Chief and elders of Kupulima provided land where fruit and vegetables could be grown for the children and a large plot where Plan’s local partner, the Green Sahara Organisation, helped the community establish a wood lot, growing trees to replace the wood used for cooking.

The local Water-Users Association, a group that had already completed a successful irrigation project with Plan, offered fresh vegetables, grains and fish.

Families are committed to the project and take their management role seriously. A committee of local people buys the food and items they need for the program, and reports to community members every three months.

Another group ensures their dealings are transparent and accountable.

Widespread success The community’s dedication has produced amazing results. In November 2008, when the project started, 253 pupils were enrolled in school. By June 2009, the number had risen to 322 children. School attendance in the community now stands at 99 per cent.

Children’s weight is increasing and they are healthier. Across school, both pupils and teachers have noticed a marked difference in concentration levels and performance.

The program aims to make sure more children enrol and stay at school by offering them a nutritious meal every day. It relieves parents of the worry of finding food for their children and is helping to combat malnutrition in the area.

Klute explains: ‘We are very happy about the school feeding project because we now stay longer at school and study. We do not think of food to eat after school anymore and we do not go to the bush to search for fruit.’

Unlike the government’s school feeding scheme, this one is run entirely by local people.

Plan has trained local partners and community organisations on managing every aspect of the operation.

The effects of the program are being felt in the wider community too. It has created a market for farmers and families growing produce in the area, thus increasing their incomes.

Mothers are inspired to give their children a more nutritious diet, as Ajara Sumani, one of the school cooks, explains: ‘We now cook these types of food in our homes for our family members to eat.’

The community has responded enthusiastically.

Women from the local savings and loans groups offered to cook the meals for the children and were taught how to prepare a balanced diet.

Other community members volunteered to build the school kitchen, donating benches, cups and plates for pupils to use.

Even better, it may be adopted as a model by the government, giving more children across the poorest regions of Ghana the chance to eat, learn and enjoy a more prosperous future.

Some names have been changed for child protection and privacy reasons

Produced for Ghana by Plan International Australia.

This library was a popular part of a children’s club set up by children at a school

The Bigger Picture Plan is working with children, families and communities to find sustainable solutions to the challenges in Ghana. We have only given you a small insight into Plan’s work in Ghana with this report but over the past year we also: • Improved the quality of education for children by offering professional training to 695 teachers • Held demonstrations on how to prepare nutritious food and promote children’s growth, to help communities combat malnutrition • Supported 530 savings and loans associations, giving 13,546 members in Ghana’s Upper West region the chance to increase their incomes • Supported meetings in 32 communities to raise awareness of sexual exploitation of children and other children’s rights issues Your support as a sponsor is crucial to achieving these results. With the resources provided by sponsors, Plan expertise and the collaboration of communities and local partners we are making a big difference to the lives of people in Ghana.

Thank you for your involvement!

To learn more about Plan’s work in Ghana visit plan.org.au/ourwork/westafrica/ghana

‘The community’s dedication has produced amazing results ... school attendance in the community now stands at 99 per cent.’