Cocoa is known as the main cash crop in Ghana - but cashews will soon surpass cocoa exports, Samuel Gyasi told me during my 6-month Kiva fellowship in Ghana. Samuel works for Advans Ghana, Kiva's Field Partner in the region. The organization provides microfinancing to micro, small and medium-sized businesses with an emphasis on agriculture.
I spent the first 2 months of my fellowship working with Samuel and Advans Ghana. On this particular day, we left the chaos of Accra for the rural beauty and peace of the Volta Region to introduce local farmers in Heikope...
Stories tagged with Ghana
Like so many others in Ghana, Abigail got a loan for her provisions shop. Like so many others, she wanted to buy products that increased her profit so she could make more money. She was trying to save enough money to enroll in university. Okay, so the last part is a bit different. But that’s just one of the many qualities that make Abigail unique.
Abigail's story involves broken homes, dreams of helping kids, perseverance, faith and unparalleled determination.
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Everyone who becomes a Kiva borrower through iDE Ghana’s Sama Sama Toilet program wants to buy a toilet structure - the very first toilet to ever grace their home. Amazingly, 100% of these borrowers have gotten funded by Kiva lenders, a fantastic statistic!
But have you ever given any thought to how the structure gets there? It isn’t magic, someone has to build it. The behind-the-scenes success of Sama Sama Toilet is its Toilet Business Owner program, or TBO. As the new-on-the-ground Kiva Fellow, I got to visit three TBOs today. TBOs are recruited early on in...
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I left the Advans Ghana's (Kiva's Field Partner) office, with Kofi, the Advans Loan Officer, to meet the nearest potential Kiva borrower, Elizabeth.
For the first leg of our journey, we had to take three different tro-tros, minibus share taxis, and we eventually ended up at a busy intersection with market stalls all around. Now the exciting and unexpected part of the trip began – getting on a motorcycle for the last 6 kilometers to Elizabeth's village.
In a recent report from the Oxford Business School, it was estimated that 66% of Ghana’s rice consumption was supported by imports. This figure might sound almost absurd when one considers the availability and fertility of soil suitable for rice crops or the dedication to hard work of Ghanaian farmers.
Part of the endeavour to restore better levels of local rice production - the government-driven irrigation project in the Volta region (East Ghana) - started around 4 years ago on an area extending over more than 5,000 hectares. With a willingness to provide land to a...
Meeting with Kiva borrowers is a privilege that I have had the opportunity to enjoy multiple times since I have landed in Africa. Oftentimes, their stories, professional or personal, have made me forget the initial reason for my visit. Every single story has something special, and you never know what to expect until you arrive at their home, sit on a wobbly seat and start listening. Whether they are touching, inspiring, heartbreaking or promising, stories always move me deeply.
My name is Victor, a Kiva fellow based in Cape Coast, Ghana, and I wish to introduce you...
At the moment, I am working with ID Ghana (a Microfinance institution that partners with Kiva) who mainly disburse group loans in Accra. Issuing a loan in a group... Continue Reading >>
As one of Africa’s best known teams there is tremendous support all around the world for the Black Stars. Ghanaians know the special place the Black Stars hold in world soccer and take a special pride in all things Black Star related. And, as the World... Continue Reading >>