Implementing Agency:
Department For International Development (WNAD)

Project Code: 025-500-010	Start Date: 01/10/1992	End Date: 30/04/1995
Commitment: £788,000	Status: Completed	Type of Funding: Bilateral - TC

Project Background:
In many parts of Africa, there is increasing concern regarding environmental deterioration and with the inability of much modern agricultural technology to improve the lot of small-scale farmers. Along with greater concern for economic policies, increased efforts are now being made to identify more appropriate and sustainable farming systems and to use this knowledge as the basis for training selected farmers. It is recognised that much of the technology required will be very site-specific and that the ability of farmers to use the new information will depend on how well it meets their needs. Identifying sustainable farming systems which are productive and reasonably stable and equitable in the moist lowlands of countries like Ghana will pose very complex problems involving sociology and economics, as well as ecology. The task will necessitate close co-operation with farming communities and NGOs as well as with government agencies.

Project Objectives:
The wider objectives of the project are: To improve farmer incomes, household and regional food security To reduce environmental deterioration. The immediate objectives are: To establish local and national networks with farming and NGO groups To identify and establish locally productive and sustainable farming systems To identify and test appropriate communication packages and techniques for training small scale farmers To develop Wenchi Farm Institute (WFI) as a national centre of sustainable productive farming.

Intended Outputs:
Collaboration networks Reliable, broad-based local data Productive and sustainable systems under test Successful training packages available for small scale farmers Senior Wenchi WFI staff experienced in sustainable farming systems and demonstrating greater concern for sustainability at the WFI and in the training programmes.