Promoting Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Through Sustainable Urban Agriculture. Case Study: Dzorwulu- Ghana

ESD Field Trip Report 2009 1

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Promoting Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Through Sustainable Urban AgricultureCase Study: Dzorwulu, Ghana

ESD Field Trip Report

ESD Field Trip Report 2009

A Student Report by:

Laura BeckwithKuldeep ChawareFederika CollLizzie CowanBahia EgehKarimi Gitonga Augustin Guilbert-BilletdouxSofia MusiDiana Salazar Alexandra Valerio Tina Ziegler

June 2009

UCL Development Planning Unit34 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9EZ, United KingdomTel: +44 (0)20 7679 1111 Fax:+44 (0)20 7679 [email protected] www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu

ESD Field Trip Report 2009

CONTENTS

Abbreviations 1

Executive Summary 2

Acknowledgements 4

Research Objectives 5

Definition and Criteria 6

Methodology 7

Limitations 8

Theoretical Framework 9

Site History 11

Current Situation 13

Hypothesis 1 14

Strategy 1: Community Led Composting 15

Hypothesis 2 20

Strategy 2: Vegetable Box Pilot Project 21

Hypothesis 3 26

Strategy 3: Knowledge Sharing Networks for Partcipatory Research 27

Hypothesis 4 32

Conclusions 34

Recommendations 37

References 38

Appendix A: Monitoring and Impact Assessment 39

Appendix B: Methodology Schedule 45

Appendix C: Limitations 48

Appendix D: Webs of Institutionalization 49

Appendix E: Focus Group Transcripts 52

Appendix F: Transect Walk Report 68

Appendix G: Questionnaires 70

Appendix H: Interview Transcripts 76


AWGUPA Accra Working Group on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture

DANIDA Danish International Development Agency

DPU Development Planning Unit

FDB Food and Drug Board

FSTT From Seed To Table

GWCL Ghana Water Commission Ltd

IPM Integral Pest Management

IWMI International Water Management Institute

MoFA Ministry of Food and Agriculture

NGO Non-governmental Organization

RUAF Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security

SUA Sustainable Urban Agriculture

SUL Sustainable Urban Livelihoods

VRA Volta River Authority

WMD Waste Management Department

AbbREviATiONS


The aim of this research project was to understand and analyze the practice of urban agriculture in Dzorwulu as well as the broader institutional context in Accra. If properly supported, urban farming has the potential to make a significant contribution to urban sustainability and food security. Besides providing income and employment, urban agricultural sites such as Dzorwulu preserve green spaces which are habitats for birds, animals and insects, help to manage water and waste as well as reduce the need for transportation and storage of vegetables allowing consumers to access nutritious food quickly and easily.

With the goal of making recommendations for strategic interventions, the research team identified existing strengths and opportunities to build on, in order to help the farmers move towards sustainable urban agriculture (SUA).In order to achieve this goal, a set of criteria was developed by the research team, which represented the ideals of sustainable urban agriculture. These were based on the four pillars of sustainability: economic, social, environmental and political. Through a review of secondary literature as well as a two-week visit to Accra to interview farmers and other relevant institutional stakeholders, the 11-member team evaluated the reality of the Dzorwulu site based on the SUA criteria to determine to what extent practices and procedures are currently sustainable.

The following report details the research findings and goes on to suggest a number of ways current practices at the Dzorwulu site can be made more sustainable. The research used the Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Framework to facilitate the analysis. This framework sees poverty as a situation of insecurity not as a lack of material wealth and shows how the urban poor use a wide variety of assets (financial, social, human, natural, physical and political) to decrease their vulnerability. As such, in the framework and in the proposed interventions, the farmers themselves are not passive recipients but key actors.

ExECUTivE SUmmARy

Meeting of Dzorwulu Farmers’ Association


The three proposed strategies use the assets that already exist on the Dzorwulu site and build on them to address some of the challenges currently being faced. The strategies are:

1. Community Composting

This project would see waste collected from neighbouring communities being used as an input on the Dzorwulu site. Providing compost to the farmers at a low price would solve the problems they are currently experiencing due to the increasing cost and difficulty in acquiring poultry manure as well as the depletion of the soil which is resulting from the overuse of chemical fertilizers. It would also contribute to a reduction in the amount of uncollected waste thereby improving the health and sanitation conditions of the low-income neighbourhoods in the area.

2. Vegetable Box Pilot Project

This project would help farmers sell their produce directly to high-income consumers thereby increasing their income. Consumers would be encouraged to participate in this delivery program because farmers would receive a certification that their vegetables are produced safely thus they could be assured of receiving healthy, high-quality food.

3. Knowledge Sharing Networks of Participatory Research

This strategy relates directly to the need for improved knowledge sharing between farmers and institutions in order to study and promote techniques such as increasing biodiversity. It builds on pre-existing relationships between the farmers and research bodies such as IWMI and the University of Ghana but emphasises the role of the farmer in producing and transmitting knowledge as well as focusing on sustainable practices.

By implementing these three strategies, farmers will be able to increase their level of security and make their practices more sustainable. This will be positive not only for the individual farmers but also for the whole city of Accra, which benefits in many ways from the practice of urban agriculture.


This work would not have been possible without the support of numerous individuals and organizations. First and foremost, we are indebted to IWMI, our partners and hosts, who did so much for us in terms of logistical support as well as providing insight and guidance. A special thank you is also extended to Sowah, our very capable facilitator and translator.

Similarly, the staff at the DPU were invaluable in providing academic advice and of course, the organization of the field work.

Furthermore, we are grateful to all of the many representatives of institutions in Accra who gave their time and energy to contribute to this research. Without these perspectives our findings would have been limited and much less relevant.

Last but not least, we thank the Dzorwulu farmers who welcomed us onto their site and taught us many things, not only about urban agriculture but also about becoming development practitioners.

ACkNOwLEDGEmENTS


The research team was given the task of assessing the current practices of urban agriculture in the Dzorwulu area of Accra, Ghana and recommending strategic interventions that could help the farmers make a transition to “sustainable urban agriculture” (See Definition and Criteria on page 6).

In order to effectively complete this assignment, the team understood their primary objective to be the following:

Support Sustainable Urban Livelihoods through promoting and enhancing Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Dzorwulu and Accra by recommending appropriate strategic interventions

To do this, five objectives were defined to guide the research. The objectives, listed below, provided the structure by which the information in the following report was collected and analysed.

RESEARCh ObjECTivES

1. Understand the context and current urban agriculture practices in Dzorwulu

2. Identify key stakeholders in the area, their internal and external relationships and to what degree they benefit from and participate in urban agriculture in Dzorwulu

3. Analyse the actual and perceived threats, opportunities, resources and interests of key stakeholders in relation to the future of urban agriculture practices in the area

4. Identify strategic interventions and recommendations in the management of land, water, solid and liquid waste in order to promote sustainable urban agriculture

5. Analyse the methods of implementation and possible implications of the proposed interventions to prioritise those which are most appropriate to the study site


The research team aimed to suggest interventions to use and expand the farmers’ assets to help them transition to sustainable urban agriculture. For the purposes of this research, sustainable urban agriculture was defined as:

Farming (crop cultivation, animal rearing, fish farming, etc.) within urban and peri-urban areas based on equal consideration of four pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, political and social), which is appropriate to the local context and guarantees urban food security in the long-term.

The following criteria, based on the four pillars, were identified and used to assess the existing situation in Dzorwulu as well as the proposed strategies:

DEFiNiTiON AND CRiTERiA

Environmental Economic Political SocialClosed loop system (recycling and reusing)

Organic (no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or GMOs)

Biodiversity of crops to ensure resilience

Appropriate management of water, waste and soil

Generates long term employment

Provides sufficient and stable income to meet basic needs

Secures sources of financial support and access to credit

Legal framework and resources provided to promote sustainable urban agriculture

Urban agriculture should be mainstreamed into all the relevant bodies directly or indirectly involved

Multi-stakeholder approach

Strengthens the democratic process of decision making both amongst the farmers and with external stakeholders

Fair political voice in the decisions affecting their livelihoods and UA

Food is equitably distributed so no-one has hunger

A socially inclusive activity

Promoting networks for knowledge sharing, emphasising local knowledge

Low input of labour

Fair labour relations

Improves the quality of nutrition

Minimizes health risks


The research was undertaken in two phases: Pre-field Visit which consisted mainly of an analysis of secondary data and a two-week Field Visit to Accra, where the team met directly with the farmers and other relevant stakeholders.

Pre-field Visit:

During the first phase a systematic review of secondary data to determine a diagnosis of the current situation and context was carried out. It was followed by causal and context analyses in order to construct hypotheses in accordance with the Research Objectives. Several tools were used, such as:

• Fishbone analysis: to define sustainable urban agriculture• Stakeholder analysis and mapping: to identify actors and understand their relationships. • Web of institutionalisation (main analysis tool): to identify opportunities and constraints, and entry points for the design of strategic interventions.

Field visit:

After developing a preliminary diagnosis of the current situation at Dzorwulu, a series of tools were chosen in order to collect the necessary data. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with farmers while question and answer sessions were the primary form of engaging institutional stakeholders. Table 1 on page 8 details the tools used.

A more detailed list of the methods and instruments used for the study are presented in Appendix B.

mEThODOLOGy

Relational Analysis

Fishbone Analysis

Stakeholder Analysis


LimiTATiONS

Limitations

The main limitation of the research was the short time spent in the field in Accra. Although it is impossible to understand the complexities of relationships in only two weeks, the team has attempted to confirm as much as possible their findings through secondary literature and by soliciting feedback from individuals and institutions well-versed in the intricacies of the Dzorwulu site. Despite this shortcoming, it is hoped that this work will bring a fresh perspective to this case study.

Another important limitation was that most of the Dzorwulu farmers did not speak English. This limited the number of interviews we were able to carry out due to the need for a translator. It also had a negative influence on the realization of focus groups, since the farmers that did speak English sometimes monopolised the activity and might have altered the responses of others.

Furthermore, every effort has been made to understand the perspectives of all stakeholders however the group is aware that the presenters at the Question and Answer sessions may not have always accurately communicated the interests of the institutions they represent. A full analysis of the project’s limitations can be found in Appendix C.

Table 1: Fieldtrip MethodologySemi-structured interviews 36Focus groups 6Meetings with relevant stakeholders: presentation and Q&A

14

Transect walk 1Participatory mapping 2Direct observation 1Participatory observation 2

Market Interviews

Transect Walks


ThEORETiCAL FRAmEwORk

This project viewed the promotion of sustainable urban agriculture through the lens of the Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Framework (Meikle, et al., 2001) in order to highlight how urban agriculture is a being used by the urban poor to meet their short and long-term objectives and how this strategy can be supported and strengthened. The Sustainable Livelihoods model approaches poverty as not just being a lack of wealth but also as a position of insecurity in many aspects. The poorest members of society are especially vulnerable to external shocks and stresses and call on a number of different strategies to be able to cope with these pressures. (See Figure 2 on page 10 for an analysis of the current situation in Dzorwulu from a SUL perspective).

The framework views the urban poor as having a number of assets on which they use to improve their security and sustain their livelihoods. Thus, a successful livelihoods strategy should be seen as a way to expand these assets. The strategic interventions which will be outlined in this report will expand the assets of the Dzorwulu farmers in order to increase their ability to withstand external shocks and stresses and decrease their vulnerability. See Figure 1 below.

For the purpose of this study the category of political assets was added, as the circumstances at Dzorwulu provided the farmers with a number of key political benefits. Specifically, farmers were able to access political representation and have a political voice through their Farmers’ Association. The Association is also a member of AWGUPA which provides them with an even wider political voice.

A sustainable urban livelihoods approach places importance on the fact that any strategy is viewed within the specific context of the Dzorwulu area and to acknowledge that assets and livelihood strategies face a number of unique opportunities and constraints. It is also of great importance that any strategy be centred on the farmers’ own priorities and abilities and on the fact that they are valuable actors within the process. Although the SUL Framework focuses on farmers, it will also reveal some of the positive contributions urban agriculture and in particular, a transition towards sustainable urban agriculture, can make to urban sustainability.

Figure 1: Farmers’ Assets


Figure 2: Urban A

griculture as a Sustainable Urban Livelihood


Dzorwulu is located in the central northern part of central Accra. It is an area of around 15 hectares situated on government-owned (VRA/GRIDCO) land next to the Dzorwulu substation and cultivation occurs underneath the high-tension electric cables.

1970s

The site first began at the end of the 1970s as a Ministry of Food and Agriculture model farm. After the project was terminated some of the MoFA employees remained and continued to farm the land while outsiders also came and occupied vacant land for farming. Some of the original MoFA employees continue to farm on the site today. During the 1970s only organic fertilizer such as poultry manure was used. The soil quality was good and the stream was cleaner, partly due to fewer residential housing in the area.

1980s

In the 1980s, the influx of new farmers continued through recruitment of farming helpers who arrived through family/social connections and worked under the people occupying the land. The 1980s saw the introduction of chemical fertilizers to the site and the construction of the ponds now used to store both stream and piped water.

SiTE hiSTORy

Location of Dzorwulu in Accra

Cultivation next to Dzorwulu substation


1990s

In the 1990s some land was subdivided amongst the helpers that had been hired as their employers left the site. To this day this is the main route through which people access land in Dzorwulu. This means that a gradual densification and intensification has occurred with newer arrivals farming smaller plots than the original ones. As the same amount of land is being shared amongst more people it has led to the need to increase the productivity and output of the land to make it a viable livelihood option. Land is not left to fallow and farmers must use more chemical fertilizers in order to increase and maintain yields but the same fertilizers are depleting the soil quality. In addition, due to increasing urbanization in the Dzorwulu area coinciding with inefficient waste management the water quality of the stream has deteriorated. It should be noted that since other than the original MoFA employees, no new female farmers have joined.

2000s

In 2000 the Dzorwulu Vegetable Farmer’s Association was formed and registered with the Department of Cooperatives in 2002. In Dzorwulu today there are around thirty males and three females, with all but three males part of the Association.

Original MoFA employees and some of the most long standing Dzorwulu farmers

Mapping of Dzorwulu site history with farmers


Vegetables are cultivated under intensive irrigation and there is a high degree of seasonality to produce. An informal agreement with the VRA to use the land exists but farmers do not have any legal agreement to secure their presence in the area. Nevertheless, a perception of secure land tenure is shared by both the farmers and government institutions such as MoFA and the Ministry of Lands, Forestry and Mines.

This site also benefits from the strength of the aforementioned Farmers’ Association, which helps the farmers coordinate their efforts, access training and services and collectively purchase equipment and inputs. The farmers have also participated in numerous research projects with IWMI, the University of Ghana and others which has helped improve their knowledge and practices. Although these relationships are valuable there is still opportunity to improve the positive impact they may have (See Strategy 3 on page 27).

Some of the challenges which face the Dzorwulu farmers are a lack of reliable, affordable, and clean water sources, increasing difficulty in accessing fertilizers and limited means to expand their production either through acquiring more land or improving their terms of trade. These concerns will be further elaborated in the following section and some possible strategies to address them will be offered.

Hypotheses

Based on the preliminary diagnosis generated from the review of secondary literature, four hypotheses were developed prior to the field visit. These fell loosely into the categories of land, water and waste. The information gathered while in Accra led to the development of intervention strategies based on three of the four hypotheses while the fourth, although there were many interesting findings did not reach the strategy stage. The detailed strategies as well as a summary of the findings from the fourth hypothesis are found in the following section.

CURRENT SiTUATiON

A farmer applies chemical fertilizer to his crops


Findings and Diagnosis

This hypothesis examined the potential for using waste as a productive input on the Dzorwulu site. The findings from this research show problems and opportunities in two main areas: solid waste management and access to fertilizer. (See Appendix D for complete findings)

From the review of secondary data, it was found that the waste management system in Accra is unable to remove all of the waste that is currently generated. This was confirmed by the Waste Management Department (WMD) as well as Zoomlion, the private contractor responsible for waste collection in the neighbourhoods around the study site. The WMD added that approximately 25% of waste remains uncollected or is disposed of informally by dumping in drains and streams or by burning. Waste management is very expensive for the city but if it is neglected can cause extensive health problems. From the farmer’s perspective the main issue is access to an affordable and reliable source of fertilizer. Where poultry manure used to fill this requirement, farmers are currently struggling because poultry farms have been relocated to the peri-urban area increasing its cost and causing difficulties in transportation to the site.

The farmers also use chemical fertilizers which help to make the crops grow more quickly and appear larger but they acknowledge that it is doing damage to the quality of the soil. However, very few farmers have experimented with compost and even crop waste is only reused to a limited degree. Those farmers who have some knowledge of and experience with compost have had positive results although these have sometimes been only in the long-term.

Studies of compost schemes in West Africa have shown that composting is not viable economically but can be a benefit for other environmental and social benefits (IWMI, 2004). Some of the characteristics of the more successful schemes which also run with the least need for financial input and subsidies are shown in Table 2 on page 15.

hyPOThESiS 1

Implementing a composting program can transform solid waste into a productive input for sustainable urban agriculture. If this is done at the community level it will provide additional benefits in terms of income

and community building.

Waste dumping in Accra


Problem

Given the findings discussed above, the challenge is to design a program which would create an affordable source of fertilizer for farmers, help to rehabilitate the land while taking into account the need for institutional support for the farmers to provide training and resources to help them integrate compost into their farming practices. If implemented in the surrounding low-income communities (such as Kotobabi) with the participation of the community-members, a composting program could have positive social and environmental impacts such as creating jobs, removing uncollected waste and decreasing transportation costs for waste diverted from landfill.

Explanation of Strategy

A community composting initiative would require a multi-stakeholder partnership to oversee the collection of organic waste from households and its transformation into compost to be used by the Dzorwulu farmers. Roles and motivations for each partner are detailed below. For the project to be successful, community members will need to sort the biodegradable waste from other trash. Participation will be voluntary but will be encouraged by charging less for picking up organic waste thereby providing a savings for households. Waste will then be transferred either to a site within the community where compost will be made and sold to the farmers or directly to the farm site where the farmers themselves will be responsible for producing the compost. The decision will depend on the availability of land within the community which will be determined during the first phase of the initiative (See Action Plan on page 17).

STRATEGy 1: COmmUNiTy LED COmPOSTiNG

Table 2: Characteristics of Successful Composting Projects in West Africa. (Source IWMI, 2004)

High input of labour rather than capital makes projects more sustainable with lower financial deficits

Partnerships with research institutions result in higher quality compost and an improved ability to build human capacity. When local communities have ownership over the project, they receive more community buy-in and show better resultsHouse-to-house waste collection for a small fee plus compost selling have been able to cover necessary financial costs when the local community is actively involved in the project

Discussing community composting with farmers


Figure 3: Proposed Comm

unity Compost Strategy


Action Plan

This strategy has the potential to be implemented immediately as it is based in the current context of the farm and the community. It will take up to 2 to 3 years to be fully implemented. If successful, it has the potential to be replicated in other areas. Please note that in the following Action Plan, Case 1 refers to composting done in the community and Case 2 to composting done on the farm site.

Stage Timeframe Actor Role Resources

Feasibility Study 3 months

AWGUPA/IWMI Assess:Economic viabilityAmount of waste that would be neededAvailability of landPolicy and regulatory framework

Staff timeFinancial Resources

Linking waste management with urban agriculture

AWGUPA/IWMIWMD

AWGUPA to invite WMD to be a member of AWGUPA or increase co-ordination

Staff time

Community Consultation

1 month AWGUPA/IWMI Assess:Willingness to separate wasteLevel of interest in community of running the program


Planning and Preparation

Up to 6 months

WMDAWGUPA/IWMIMoFASub-MetroZoomlionCommunity RepresentativesFarmers’ Association

Multi-stakeholder negotiations to define roles and commitments

Staff time



Pilot Project 1-2 years AWGUPA/IWMI Community capacity building and training


Community Representatives

Waste collectionProducing Compost (Case 1)

Labour

Farmers Transporting Compost (Case 1)Producing Compost (Case 2)

Labour

WMD Technical supportAdvocacy at the municipal level

Staff time

Zoomlion Technical support and provision of bins

Staff expertise for advice and small financial contribution to provide bins

Sub-metro Advocacy at the municipal levelSupport with community education

Small financial contribution through the Sub-metro budget to support start-up costs (vehicle, tools etc)

MoFA Review and update compost training for extension officers Teach farmers in use and production of compost

Staff time


Monitoring and Impact Assessment

A number of the criteria mentioned at the beginning of the report will be used to assess the success of the strategy in contributing to the transition to sustainable urban agriculture. Different stakeholders will be responsible for collecting data relevant to their role in the project and reporting their findings back to the multi-stakeholder group that will be formed in the planning and preparation phase. A complete description of the criteria chosen, the associated indicators and the stakeholder responsible for collecting data can be found in Appendix A.

STAKEHOLDER MOTIVATIONSAWGUPA/IWMI Helps to promote sustainable urban agriculture in AccraCommunity Saves money, improves the environment, creates

employmentFarmers Saving money, increased soil fertility, accessible input,

members of communityWMD Improves waste management in Accra, potentially low-cost

solution, want to encourage recycling and reduction of wasteZoomlion Improves waste management in Accra, potentially low-cost

solution, want to encourage recycling and reduction of wasteMoFA Helps to promote sustainable urban agriculture in AccraSub-metro Improves waste management, improves the communities

environment, political pressure of community, creates employment

One of the wide variety of crops grown in Dzorwulu



It was hypothesized that increased knowledge and awareness about appropriate wastewater use for irrigation for farmers and local governments and pressuring for improvement of piped water is crucial to promote SUA. Unfortunately, field findings in Accra revealed not only that wastewater use for irrigation is illegal, but piped-water is also discouraged as the city faces chronic water shortages. During stakeholder and individual meetings, MoFA officials and an extension officer, as well as IWMI staff indicated the by-law regarding wastewater is currently being reviewed, and is to be changed by the end of 2009.

A focus group and a meeting with a representative from DANIDA revealed negative views about wastewater use in farming from the media has led to farmers’ experiencing low market demand. The focus group also disclosed farmers’ perceptions of IWMI training programmes as unhelpful because the education “does not reflect in the public.” (see Appendix E)

Regarding the use of piped-water, a group interview revealed GWCL wants to use Accra’s scarce water for domestic and industrial use. This was confirmed by IWMI staff who cautioned that although this is the case, the cuts experienced by farmers were not targeted as the farmers thought but simply a result of GWCL’s city-wide rotational water cuts.

Through transect walks, individual interviews and focus groups, many constraints were identified in the farmers’ access to both wastewater and piped-water. For instance, ponds were identified as a coping strategy for water cuts; new pipes were found not to be installed due to farmers’ lack of legal framework and financial assets; water bills are charged at a fixed rate subject to meter-reader/farmer negotiations, and paid according to proximity of pipes to individual farmers (see Appendix D for detailed findings).Alternative water sources such as rainwater and groundwater proved to be impractical for many reasons such as the absence of roofs to collect rainwater and the salinity of groundwater which caused an attempt by MoFA to drill a borehole to fail.

hyPOThESiS 2

Increased knowledge and awareness about appropriate wastewater use for irrigation for farmers and local governments and pressuring for improvement of piped water is crucial to promote Sustainable Urban

Agriculture

“Due to several TV programmes about the use of wastewater for irrigation, people don’t eat vegetables in restaurants or they try to buy vegetables grown outside of Accra,”

- DANIDA Water and Urban Governance Specialist


Problem

The following strategy is based on the problem, as identified by farmers, of a negative perception amongst consumers about their produce due to wastewater use for irrigation. Although farmers on site use safe wastewater handling methods, market women claimed it would not be possible to promote or raise prices for safely grown products, because of a lack proof.


During a Question and Answer session, officials from MoFA mentioned the idea of implementing a certification scheme based on safe water use to tackle the negative perceptions of consumers. The proposed strategy expands on MoFA’s idea by creating a marketing pilot project, guaranteeing safe and healthy produce.

The Vegetable Box Pilot Project (see Figure 4 on page 22) would consist of a reusable box including a variety of vegetables and herbs, that would be delivered regularly to consumers. The farmers’ prior certification ensures that the vegetables are free of contamination thereby gaining consumer trust. The project will be targeted at high-income residents in the Dzorwulu area who will hopefully be willing to pay a slightly higher price for the convenience of delivery and the security of clean vegetables. The delivery of the programme will depend on several stakeholders. FDB, MoFA and a third party inspector will be responsible for the realisation and continuation of the certification scheme, which is shown in detail in the Action Plan below. IWMI would continue to provide their safe wastewater handling training programmes; an initial financial input is required from MoFA; and the Farmers Association needs to build upon their already existing social capabilities to create a Business Cooperative that will receive initial logistics and accounting support and training from Enterprise Works.

STRATEGy 2: vEGETAbLE bOx PiLOT PROjECT

Aquatic plants used to clean wastewater

Watering cans are a commonly used irrigation method


Figure 4: Vegetable Box Pilot Project


Action Plan

The next steps in the proposed strategy are threefold . Firstly, feasibility studies need to be undertaken to assess the willingness and acceptability of the Vegetable Box Pilot Project amongst the farmers, to assess the viability of the certification scheme and to provide a multi-stakeholder platform to discuss responsibilities and roles within institutions for certification. Secondly, the certification program must be implemented and finally the Vegetable Box Pilot Project can be put in place. (See Appendix A for Risk Assessment)


Feasibility Study 1: Certification scheme

3 months MoFAIWMI

Economic feasibilityRequired educational & technical inputWillingness of farmersFinancial capacity of farmers

Financial input, Human resources

Feasibility Study 2: Farmers perception on Vegetable Box

3 months Enterprise WorksFarmers’ Association

AcceptabilityRequired financial input (boxes, transport, additional hired labour, etc)Capacity to create business cooperative


Create platform for discussion on certification scheme

4 months EPAMoFAFDBIWMIDistrict Assembly

Discuss and delegate responsibilitiesSet standards and pricesDiscuss process of quality control

Political commitment, Human resources, Neutral location for platform meeting

Implementation Certification Stage 1: Institutions

6 months FDB+Other stakeholders

FDB – create certification (e.g. train staff, technical equipment for quality control, contract Third Party Inspector)

Financial input, Human resources, Technical equipment



Implementation Certification Stage 2: Farmers Training

3 months Farmers’ AssociationIWMISchools

IWMI – train farmers in safe wastewater handling + train educators in creating education programmes about wastewater Farmers Association (to agree on time and space for learning to take place) Networking between IWMI and schools

Human resources, Small financial input

Implementation Certification Stage 3: Promotion

3 months FDBMoFAMedia

Promote certification within departmentDisaggregating & targeting consumersPromoting certification & vegetable boxesAddressing healthy production & holistic advantages of UA


Implementation Certification Stage 4: Monitoring

Regularly and continuous

Media MoFA – Third party inspectors carry out monitoring of veg Media – watchdog

Financial input, Human resources, Technical equipment

Implementation Veggie Box Pilot:Stage 1

3 months Farmers’ AssociationEnterprise Works

Create business cooperative, discuss prices and distribution & diversity of vegetable growing, purchase equipmentWorks – support process

Financial input for start-up


24 months Farmers’ AssociationEnterprise Works

Farmers – taking orders, growing veg/hiring labour to help them grow veg and deliverWorks – supporting farmers in marketing & logistics of veg boxes

Financial input, Community farm labourers


12 months Farmers’ AssociationMedia

Farmers – extend target clients (ordering, delivering) to low-income communities for affordable prices (eg. schools)

Finance for media campaign, community farm labourers


Monitoring & Impact Assessment

The impacts of this strategy will be monitored using a number of indicators which relate to the relevant SUA criteria mentioned earlier in this report. These criteria and indicators can be found in Appendix A.

STAKEHOLDER MOTIVATIONSMOFA Intention to change the negative perception about UA

District assembly Represent their constituency, develop good relationship w/ constituency (ensure votes)

EPA Part of their mandate, defend the environmental aspect in certification creation

FDB Intention to ensure healthy food products for end users

Schools Hands-on education about their local environment, sustainable lunches, educated/enlightened children, low-cost field trips

Media Ethics, tell the truth

Enterprise Works Part of their mandate to increase the profit of farmers

Dzorwulu Farmers Association and Farmers Increase profit

Stream water used by Dzorwulu farmers for irrigation



The initial hypothesis proposed that the resilience of the Dzorwulu area would be enhanced by increasing and promoting biodiversity through exchange of existing knowledge and skills, and the promotion of knowledge sharing networks. In this research, biodiversity was understood as the use of intercropping as a way to control pests and maintain the quality of the soil; to ensure some level of production even during extreme weather and the growing of plants for self-consumption to enhance farmers’ food security.

While in Dzorwulu, it was observed that the area represents an island of biodiversity in Accra, with many species of amphibians, reptiles, fish, insects and birds. This finding supported the hypothesis, since these organisms have a role to play in pest control, pollination and preservation of the soil structure. In the wider context of the city, it was known that Dzorwulu also represents a green area that improves the air quality of the city and its organisms such as frogs help control malaria mosquitos (Baker, 2009).

The diversification of crops, intercropping and planting for self-consumption is already in place. However, during a focus group, the team learned that it is generally used to maximize land use, with little awareness of its use for pest control. This led to an exchange of knowledge between the farmers and the researchers, combining the practical experience of the farmers in agriculture and the need to improve the use of the scarce land; and the team’s scientific knowledge about intercropping for pest control. Farmers showed willingness to experiment with new ways of intercropping to better control pests and expand the area of self-consuming crops within the border of their beds, as well as to share successful findings with other farmers. (See complete Findings in Appendix D)

hyPOThESiS 3

The resilience of the Dzorwulu area will be enhanced by increasing and promoting biodiversity through exchange of existing knowledge and

skills and promotion of knowledge sharing networks.

A diverse range of species was found on the Dzorwulu site


Problem

From the late 70’s MoFA designated Dzorwulu as an experimental area to develop low-tech innovations in agriculture. An Integrated Pest Management program was implemented but the farmers received little follow-up advice or training. Other institutions such as IWMI have experimented with other improvements such as the use of ponds to improve the quality of stream water. Furthermore, the University of Ghana has organized student fieldtrips and a pilot microfinance project to set up a saving scheme among farmers.

Unfortunately, these programs had weak support from the institutions and low feedback from the farmers, who test the new techniques and their feasibility. Consequently, the programs did not last in the long-term and were not dynamic to meet new needs that appeared in the field.


The strategy attempts to establish a Knowledge Sharing Network of Participatory Research based on farmers needs to help them use biodiversity to cope with external pressures and stresses (See Figure 5 on page 28). The participatory research is the proposed way to bridge the dialogue between farmers’ knowledge and scientific knowledge. The starting point of the strategy is an inter-institutional agreement between the Dzorwulu Farmers Association, MoFA, University of Ghana and IWMI; since all these stakeholders are a part of AWGUPA, the inter-institutional agreement strengthens the action of this multi-stakeholder platform. Additionally the agreement ensures that:

• Farmers support participatory research in Dzorwulu and provide feedback to the Extension Officer, University and IWMI• The University contributes to the training of the Extension Officers• The University supports participatory research in Dzorwulu with courses in organic agriculture in its Department of Science• IWMI supports participatory research in Dzorwulu, with their PhD students, Internships and DPU students • Monitoring will be the responsibility of the stakeholders at different stages as shown in Appendix A.

The strategy will be see the creation and sharing of knowledge with other farmers such as the Plant Pool and Roman Ridge and in the international sphere with RUAF through learning from the Urban Agriculture Magazine and sharing by publishing the results of participatory research that takes place in Dzorwulu.

STRATEGy 3: kNOwLEDGE ShARiNG NETwORkS FOR PARTCiPATORy RESEARCh

Knowledge sharing with farmers on the potential of intercropping


Figure 5: Knowledge Sharing N

etworks for Participatory Research

Strategy Schematic


Action Plan

The next figure shows the stages, actors and resources needed for the implementation of this strategy. The stakeholders selected for the agreement and the network were chosen according to the findings of the focus group on Mapping Networks and because of their current work in the area (See Appendix E for a detailed description of the focus group findings).


Feasibility Study through multi-stakeholder platform

3 months IWMIFarmers’ AssociationAWGUPAMoFA

Establish an interest in the strategy; roles for each actor and level of involvementAWGUPA to play facilitating role for meetings


Pilot Project Stage 1: Planning and preparation - Inter-institutional agreement

6 months IWMIFarmers’AssociationFarmersAGWUPAMoFA

Agreement university and MoFA to train Extension OfficersAgreement university and MoFA to use participatory and applied reseach methods to their course on organic agriculture and work with Dzorwulu farmers Agreement IWMI and MoFA to use participatory and applied reseach methods in their PhD researchAgreement to establish the monitoring scheme among Farmers, University, IWMI and Mofa under the umbrella of AWGUPA.

UniversityCourses on organic agriculturePractices in the site alreadyIWMIResearch developed in the areaPhD students Ability to organise research projectsMoFAExtension officers Budget for trainingAWGUPAAll these stakeholders are part of the platform.



Pilot Project Stage 2:Implementation

12 months MoFA Training to the Extension Officers from University experts (practical and theoretic)

Budget for the Extension Officer training

Farmers Identify needs to tackleContribute to the participatory researchFeedback the researchers

Time, knowledge and willingness

University (students and teacher)IWMI (PhD students and researchers)

University & IWMI students using participatory method in their Dzorwulu researchFarmers feedback and reestablishing objectives according to their needs

Course on agriculture Students and teachers time, knowledge

Pilot Project Stage 3: Monitoring

12 months Farmers’ AssociationFarmers

Farmers share information and techniques they have been applying ; establish relevance and usefulness of it

Monthly meetings Time

University of Ghana

Monitoring Teacher-students Time


Monitoring and Impact Assessment

The Monitoring and Impact Assessment is based on the definition of SUA previously presented, the potential to meet the criteria and indicators to monitor it, with the actor responsible in each case. The details of the Monitoring and Impact Assessment are shown in Appendix A.

STAKEHOLDER MOTIVATIONSDzorwulu Farmers Association and Farmers Save money by not using chemical pesticides and time by

not having to spread them.Save money by harvesting crops for self-consumption instead of buying at market.Improve the productivity and quality of the soil. Strengthen their Association and relations with other actors

MoFA Receive training and advice from the University and IWMI to improve the technical support given to the farmers through the Extension Officer. Strengthen projects such as IPM with scientific follow up. An opportunity to support urban agriculture.

University of Ghana Income from training of the Extension Officer.Gain experience in participatory research methodsStrengthen relations with international research institutions. Strengthen their position in AWGUPA.

IWMI Continue experimenting in Dzorwulu. Receive farmers’ feedback into their research making the outcome-applied research.Strengthen relations with other actors. Support their aim to work for food security.

AWGUPA Strengthen their platform.Help to promote sustainable urban agriculture in Accra.

Dzorwulu farmers interact with a MoFA Extension Officer


This hypothesis originally implied that by increasing the ability of the farmers to access to credit and financial services, their livelihoods could be improved through expanding their financial assets. In the field, research was undertaken through semi-structured interviews with farmers including key members of the farmers’ association and focus groups specifically looking at financial aspects of the farmers’ lives. The research aimed to establish the requirements the farmers’ have for credit, and if credit were obtained what they would spend it on. Farmers identified that their main constraints financially are a lack of availability of land on which to extend their farming practices at Dzorwulu and that they require help with the expense of buying chemical inputs (fertilizers and pesticides). It was quickly established that there is no land available for the farmers to expand upon at Dzorwulu and that whilst increasing the money available to them to purchase chemicals might help them in the short term, in the long term it would increase their reliance on chemicals and deplete their natural assets, ultimately not being sustainable.

One main finding of the research was the fact the farmers have an irregular and unreliable income which led to the hypothesis being re-thought to address these financial difficulties. It was also mentioned by a number of stakeholders and the farmers themselves that they face exploitation in the market place by the market women. However, a small amount of research was done with market women in the field and it was established that the relationship between farmers and market women is complex and that any strategy to do with the farmers selling directly to consumers would need further research to be undertaken into the relationship with the market women so as not to negatively affect their livelihoods.

hyPOThESiS 4

By enhancing existing farmers social capital (in terms of the level of organisation and ability to negotiate) and strengthening existing

relationships (with NGO’s, government departments and other organisations) access to financial services and credit for the promotion

of sustainable urban agriculture could be improved.

Market women at Agbogbloshie market, a major destination for Dzorwulu produce


An analysis was undertaken in the field into the current flow of their financial resources. This was split into production and input costs for farming and personal expenses (See Figure 6 ). Nearly all farmers indicated that they spend a significant amount, if not the majority of their income on food for themselves and their families.

Through this analysis the conclusion was reached that the existing three strategies would beneficially affect the farmers income and that a separate financial strategy was not needed. The combined effects of the strategies on the farmers’ financial assets are detailed in the Conclusion section below but the following diagram shows how they improve the flow of money for the farmers and enable them to save money for the next season’s inputs and for their own personal security (See Figure 7).

Figure 6: Analysis of farmers’ financial flows

Figure 7: Analysis of impact of proposed strategies on farmers’ financial flows


Returning to the Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Framework, each of the proposed strategies will expand the assets of the Dzorwulu farmers, helping them become less vulnerable and more able to respond to external shocks and stresses. The expected impacts on each category of assets and the overall impact on the farmers’ security are outlined in Table 3 on pages 35-36.

This report has shown that urban agriculture has the potential to be a sustainable livelihood strategy for the farmers of Dzorwulu if certain vulnerabilities can be addressed. The farmers of Dzorwulu are fortunate to have a certain degree of land tenure security, which is an asset not available to all urban farmers but which may be necessary for the proposed strategies to be replicated in other areas. In order for urban agriculture to play its role in urban sustainability and food security, it is also necessary to build partnerships that will promote its long-term success. The Dzorwulu Farmers’ Association plays a central role in each of the suggested interventions in acknowledgement of what they have achieved so far for the site and the important contributions that they will no doubt make in the future. Farmers’ organizations create a platform for the exchange of information and resources both between farmers and with the institutions, which provide the framework for support for urban agriculture. Strengthening these associations and improving their relationships will ensure a positive and sustainable impact on farmers’ livelihoods as well as on Accra as a whole.

CONCLUSiONS

A farmer at work on the Dzorwulu site


Table 3: Impact of Strategic Interventions on Livelihood A

ssets


Table 3: Impact of Strategic Interventions on Livelihood A

ssets


This report has identified some specific ways that urban agriculture on the Dzorwulu site can be made more sustainable. However, there are also a number of ways that urban agriculture in general can be supported within Accra.

RECOmmENDATiONS

1. Increase commitment and participation of all AWGUPA stakeholders and extend it to include others as necessary

2. Promote public and institutional awareness of urban agriculture in general and organic produce more specifically

3. Recognize and protect urban agriculture as part of city’s plans

4. Improve mechanisms and procedures for securing land for potential farmers

5. Improve communication within and between institutions to provide support for farmers, including strengthening the role of Extension Officers to act as liaisons


Baker, P., 2009. Personal conversation on 12th May at Dzorwulu site.

IWMI, 2004. “Closing the rural-urban nutrient cycle: Options for municipal waste composting in Ghana”, IWMI, West Africa.

Meikle, S., Ramasut, T., and Walker, J., 2001. “Sustainable Urban Livelihoods: Concepts and Implications for Policy”, Working Paper Number 112, UCL Development Planning Unit.

REFERENCES


APPENDix A: mONiTORiNG AND imPACT ASSESSmENT

Criteria Potential Impact Monitoring and Evaluation*All data to be reported to multi-stakeholder groupEconomicGenerates long term employment

Improving fertility of land Quality and quantity of produce Nutrient level of soil - MoFA/Farmers

Jobs created in the community collecting waste and producing compost

No of jobs created – AWGUPA to monitor

SocialA socially inclusive activity

Community actively involved in waste management

Level of community involvement shown through: No of households consulted No of households involved in waste separation – Submetro/AWGUPA/Zoomlion

Promoting networks for knowledge sharing, emphasizing local knowledge

Institutional recognition and support of informal waste separation which already exists in low-income communities

Active participation of all invited stakeholders in multi-stakeholder group - AWGUPA

Farmers would have improved training from extension officers, other farmers or other sources

No of farmers trained in compost use and production – MoFA Training quality and relevance – Farmers feedback

Low input of labour Case 1: No additional input of labour for farmers and benefits in increased soil fertility in the long term Case 2: More labour for farmers producing compost in the short term but benefits in increased soil fertility in the long term

Number of hours invested or saved due to strategy – Farmers feedback Perception of impact on labour - Farmers

MONITORING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT: STRATEGY 1


Criteria Potential Impact Monitoring and EvaluationEnvironmentalClosed loop system (recycling and reusing)

Organic kitchen/municipal waste turned into a productive input

Amount of organic waste recycled – AWGUPA, Zoomlion/WMD

Organic (no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or GMOs)

Less chemical fertilizers used Amount of chemical fertilizers used before and after - Farmers

PoliticalStrengthens the democratic process of decision making both amongst the farmers and with external stakeholders

Creates awareness of urban agriculture and multi-stakeholder platform between farmers, the community, and institutions

Formation of multi-stakeholder group - AWGUPA

MONITORING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT: STRATEGY 1 continued


Criteria Potential Impact Monitoring and EvaluationEconomicGenerates long term employment

Jobs created in implementation stage of veg pilot project for farm hand

No of jobs created - Enterprise Works to monitor

Provides sufficient and stable income to meet basic needs

Veg Box adds value to product, increases profitability, prices are set by farmers business cooperative

Additional income per farmer - Internal Auditing of pilot scheme by Farmers Business Cooperative

SocialMinimizes health risks Regular quality control through

certification Incentive through increased income by veggie box

Levels of contamination - Third Party Inspector

Promoting networks for knowledge sharing, emphasizing local knowledge

Increased and focused training for officials and farmers

Number of active participants in training - IWMI

EnvironmentalBiodiversity of crops to ensure resilience

Increases diversity of crops available in box at the same time

Number of different crops cultivated at the same time - Farmers Business Cooperative

PoliticalMulti-stakeholder approach Multiple stakeholder involvement

in certification schemeNumber of stakeholders recurrently involved in certification scheme - MoFA

Legal framework and resources provided to promote sustainable urban agriculture

Certification scheme provides added legitimacy and credibility to farmers practices

Increase of number of costumers - Farmers Business Cooperative Public opinion polls - Media



Risk Assessment/Pilot Project Limitations:

- Farmers need to be willing to implement the pilot programme- Farmers vegetable boxing schemes as company takes away the independence of individual farmers, therefore, it needs to be set up as a co-operative between farmers- Pilot Project depends on success of business cooperative created by farmers- Success of business cooperative depends on equal distribution of tasks and profit within the organisation- Initial financial support to kick start pilot project (boxes, transport, additional hired labour, etc)- Side effects/adverse risk of Pilot Project on Market Women- Land lease for farmers an advantage for Pilot Project- Price of certification for farmers’ too expensive

MONITORING AND IMPACT ASSESSMENT: STRATEGY 2 continued


Criteria Potential Impact Monitoring and EvaluationEconomicStable income Farmers would be able to invest in

the next season..Debts of the farmersFarmers/association secretary

SocialImproves the quality of nutrition

Farmers will secure a percentage of their food while ensuring the quality of their nutrition.

Number of health issues complaints among the farmers.Extension officers/association secretary

Knowledge sharing networks & local knowledge

Institutional recognition and support of informal waste separation which already exists in low-income communities

Minutes from Farmers’ Association meetings. Feedback reports from extension officers. Number of visits from university students. Extension officers/association secretary.

Minimises health risks Farmers won’t be exposed to chemicals

Number of health issues complaints among the farmers.Extension officers/association secretary

EnvironmentalBiodiversity Space allocated for self-

consumption. Farmer experimentation with intercropping.

No of bed with different crops, No of beds/crops for self-consumption; Extension officers/Farmers – Monitoring committee

Management of soil Improving fertility of land Quality and quantity of produceNutrient level of soilExtension officers/Farmers

Organic production No use of chemical pesticides or fertilizers

Expenses on chemical fertilizers and pesticidesExtension officers/Farmers – Monitoring committee

PoliticalMulti-stakeholder approach

Closer relationship of institutions, inside and outside AWGUPA.

Number of meetings from members of the institutional agreement.New members in the agreement. Monitoring committee.



Stage Date Method Stakeholder Purpose

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-01 Systematic review of secondary data - Critical appraisal of the literature and data extraction

N/A Determine a diagnosis of the current situation and context in order to construct hypothesis in accordance with the ToR.

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-01 Fishbone analysis N/A Understand casual relations within sustainable urban agriculture

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-01 Stakeholder analysis N/A Identify actors and their relations

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-01 Web of institutionalisation

N/A Identify actors and their relations

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-02 Stakeholder mapping N/A Identify actors and their relations

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-03 Reporting on findings - Pre-fieldtrip group presentation

N/A Analysis, interpretation and presentation of findings: hypothesis, linking to criteria, methodology

Pre-fieldtrip work Jan-16 to May-04 Individual coursework N/A To explore in further detail specific issues related to the hypothesis.

Fieldtrip May-04 1 Semi-structured interview

LOCAL FACILITATOR To discuss our provisional diagnosis and arrange field visits.

Fieldtrip May-05 3 Focus groups FARMERS_ASSOC To explore general issues and perceptions related to all four hypothesis.

Fieldtrip May-05 Transect walk (DZORWULU SITE) To have a general feeling of the site and look for any physical aspects and people’s behaviour.

Fieldtrip May-06 Presentation and Q&A session

WMD To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


NDPC To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


IWMI To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


DEP_COOP To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.

APPENDix b: mEThODOLOGy SChEDULE


Fieldtrip May-07 Direct observation FARMERS_ASSOC To asses the quality of relationship between the members of the Asso-ciation and the issues addressed in the meeting.

Fieldtrip May-07 Focus group FARMERS To explore issues and perceptions related to H1.


Fieldtrip May-07 Focus group FARMERS To explore issues and perceptions related to H3 and H4.

Fieldtrip May-07 Participatory obser-vation

FARMERS To understand current practices.


ENTERPRISEWORKS

To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


FARMERS - Chair-man of the associa-tion

To explore issues and perceptions.


FARMERS - Secre-tary of the associa-tion

To explore issues and perceptions.


PHD To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


DANIDA To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


IWMI To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.

Fieldtrip May-09 Participatory map-ping

FARMERS To understand the relationship of the farmers with other stakehold-ers.




SUBMETRO To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.

Fieldtrip May-09 7 Semi-structured interviews

FARMERS To explore issues and perceptions in relation to all hypothesis.


MARKET_WOMEN To explore issues and perceptions of the market women.


LAND_&_FOR-ESTRY



MOFA To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


ENTERPRISEWORKS


Fieldtrip May-12 Participatory map-ping

FARMERS To place events in time and how these have affected the farmers.

Fieldtrip May-12 Focus group FARMERS To explore the farmers’ perception of H1 strategy.


FACILITATOR To address final information needs related to all hypothesis.


FARMERS To address final information needs related to all hypothesis.

Fieldtrip May-12 Participatory obser-vation

FARMERS To understand current practices.


ZOOM_LION To have a general knowledge of the stakeholder’s position towards SUA, and to address specific questions in relation to the site.


TOWN_&_PLAN-NING



LOCAL_COMMU-NITY

To explore the local dwellers’ per-ception of H1 strategy.


Interviews

Language and time factors limited the number and quality of the interviews. Most farmers on the site did not speak English. This limited the number of interviews because there needed to be a translator for interviewing and there was not always one available. Although there were several field visits, farmers needed to go back to their daily chores which limited the time available for engaging with the study team. Since the interviews took place in the open, adverse weather sometimes prevented the group from continuing with the interviews.

Furthermore, some interviewers were not able to go through the whole questionnaire with the farmers because of the language and time issues mentioned above; therefore only partial responses were taken. Although it is important to be flexible and adaptable while interviewing someone, this sometimes directs the conversation to other issues that were not necessarily included in the questionnaire. As a result of these, the interview notes from the same semi-structured questionnaire may not be systematic or comprehensive but conversely they may also include interesting information that was unanticipated by the research team.

Focus Groups

Regarding the limitations of the focus group discussions, it is important to highlight that the people who did speak English at times monopolised the activity and might have altered the responses of the non-English participants. Also, the intention of the questions might have been lost in translation. General limitations of focus group discussions include the difficulty of making generalizations from the findings and that the efficiency of the activity depends on the skills of the facilitators to conduct the focus groups and the ability of note-takers.

Stakeholder Meetings

In the meetings with relevant stakeholders, lecturers’ sensibility towards certain issues or personal believes might have influenced their presentation and the Q&A session and therefore they did not necessarily represent fully their institution’s position. Since the presentation and Q&A sessions with key stakeholders were attended by members from all three groups (Tema, La and Dzorwulu) the group could not address all the questions that they intended and limited the time to go deep into relevant subjects for the group.

General Research

Perceptions and opinions are built when analysing secondary data. These affect the disposition of the researchers when going to the field. It is sometimes hard to identify and overcome those assumptions and therefore they might influence the researchers’ approach. Further, the hypotheses were formulated before going to the field, i.e. from a top-down approach. The group tried to overcome this by testing the relevance and accuracy of the hypothesis by interviewing the farmers on matters related to it and sometimes even addressing the hypothesis explicitly.

APPENDix C: LimiTATiONS


APPENDix D: wEbS OF iNSTiTUTiONALizATiON

Applied research

Wom

en and men

experience and their reflexive interpretation of

reality

Pressure on political constituencies

Resources

Political comm

itment

Policy planning

Mainstream

ing urban agriculture

Procedures

Staff development

Representative political structures

Theory building

Methodology

Delivery of programm

es and projects

+Previous experience with compost

+Comm

unity willing to separate waste+Com

munity has a good relationship with

farmers

+Space for compost at site

-Compost seen as sm

elly-Lack of knowledge on O

rganic Food-CF and PM

expensive-Short term

thinking+PhD research based on com

posting in Accra+Academ

ic research on quality of municipal com

posting+No long term

participatory research on compost

+Comm

unity Composting happening in

other places+RUAF/IW

MI doing research to link UA and

WM

-No comm

unity input into waste com

munity

+Comm

unity already cleaning the area

+Private waste collectors interested in education programs for

WM

+MO

FA trains farmers on how to com

post+Inform

al waste pickers recycling waste

-No space for composting in the com

munity

-No educ. prog on waste separation at home

-25% of waste uncollected/No com

post at municipal level

+AGW

UPA+Com

munity groups self organized

+Farmers organized as co-operatives

+WM

D looking at comm

unity composting

+Positive perception of farmers by sub-m

etro-W

aste is not being viewed as a productive input-W

MD not a m

ember of AG

WUPA+Sub-m

etro & Assembly wom

en aware of farm

ers at Dzorwulu

-Need for financial support+M

onthly dues of farmers

-No multi-sector approach linking waste and UA

-Compost is not m

ainstreamed at the institutional level

-Unknown what procedures are needed or perm

its to compost or provide land for

composting

+Large % of m

unicipal budget is spent on WM

+Policy for plastic recycling exist+Regulatory fram

ework for composting exists

Environmental Sanitation Policy 1999

-No policy for comm

unity composting or

organic waste separation

-Limited training on com

posting for M

OFA extensions officers

Waste: findings

WEB O

F INSTITU

TION

ALIZATIO

N: STRATEG

Y 1


Applied resources

Wom

en and men


reality


Resources

Political comm

itment

Policy planning

Mainstream


Procedures

Staff development


Theory building Methodology

+WH

O provides guidelines

for safe WW

use


es and projects

+Farmers are eager to increase

profits+C

onsumers as potential costum

ers-Farm

ers find hard to agree on business issues in group-C

onsumers have negative

perceptions

+Farmers Association as base

to create veg box pilot co-operative+M

edia as watch dog

+AWG

UPA provides m

ulti-stakeholder platform

-MO

FA lacks awareness on

UA at higher levels

+IWM

I conducts research and im

plementation on safe W

W handling

on site-N

o follow-up on applied research

+AWG

UPA identified w

ater as an issue in U

A-M

OFA im

plementation level

disconnected from other levels

of organisation-EPA lacks aw

areness on UA

+Media: changing consum

ers perception+Enterprise W

orks provides marketing training to

farmers

+Schools as means to change perceptions

+IWM

I willing to provide training on quality control

and safe WW

handling+M

OFA extension officer has strong relationship

with farm

ers

+AWG

UPA space for staff developm

ent and netw

orking+R

UAF provides training to senior and m

id-level staff+M

OFA already provides training courses for staff

-Only low

er officials participation-Training program

mes not efficient

+RU

AF organises work in

UA and provides access to

local stakeholders through m

agazine and website

+MO

FA pursuing draft for new W

W

use-AM

A has negative perception of UA

-By-laws prohibiting use of W

W &

piped-water

+MO

FA interested in certification-Lack of info on FD

B, not part of AW

GU

PA-G

WC

L/PUR

C/AVR

L is not part of AW

GU

PA

+MO

FA provides financial resources to pilot projects

Water: findings

WEB O

F INSTITU

TION

ALIZATIO

N: STRATEG

Y 2


Applied research

Wom

en and men


reality


Resources

Political comm

itment

Policy planning

Mainstream


Procedures

Staff development


Theory building

Methodology


es and projects

+Farmers willingness to try new techniques that

don’t comprom

ise their production.+Farm

ers are currently practicing some organic

techniques.+G

ood relationship between farmers from

Dzorwulu, Rom

an Ridge and Plant Pool.

University of Ghana have courses on organic agriculture.

Students are already doing research in the area as the farmers said.

University of Ghana research and program

mes focused on large-scale

production.IW

MI have good relationship with extension officers

Interestedin

foodsecurity

andim

provem

anagementofland.

IWM

Imainly

doingresearch

onwaterm

anagement.

RUAF run the Urban Agriculture Magazine.

RUAF have an extensive international network.RUAF internationally oriented.RUAF have no direct contact with farm

ers.

MoFA extension officers have close relationship with farm

ers.Extension officers not trainined in organic techniques. Extension officers do not report back farm

ers questions on certain

Farmer’s Association have a

meeting every two weeks.

At the AMA level, M

OFA is very sensitive

to farmers needs.

AWG

UPA acting as an appropriate platform

with the needed stakeholders for the strategy.

-Need for financial support+M

onthly dues of farmers

MoFA provides subsides for chem

ical fertilizers and pesticidesM

oFA plans for mechanising agriculture.

AMA-M

oFA feedback is not institutionalised.Extension officers are required to have close contact with farm

ers.

AMA-M

oFA are currently lobbying to modify by-

laws in favour of the farmers.

-AMA-M

oFA have provided training on IPM.

-AMA-M

oFA have budget for trainning

Land: findingsW

EB OF IN

STITUTIO

NA

LIZATION

: STRATEGY 3


Compilation of general focus group discussions with farmers on May 05.

1.1 What are you growing?

Cabbage, lettuce, onion, cucumber, cauliflower, carrots, Chinese cabbage, sweet pepper, white radish, radish, beetroot, spinach, okra, basil, kibra, corianderWoman – cabbage, lettuce, onion, spinach, cauliflower, basil.

Different varieties in rainy seasons (More exotic vegetables: white radish, Chinese cabbage, carrots, sweet pepper) Local vegetables as well

Cauliflower, cabbage, cucumber, okra, beetroot, spinach and basil, spring onion and sweet pepper.They crop in all seasons

1.2 How much are you producing? (per cropping season)

Four seasons per year. 30 to 40 beds.

Dry season limits cropsClay is better in dry season because it retains more water, sandy does not do wellChoose crop according to soil typeJan to April is the dry season, rain the rest of the year

Why do you farm? (Interviewees of one focus group numbered 1-6 for note-taking purposes)6. Learned agriculture from parents, the only trade he knowsUsed to share plot with someone else but the other person left and now he has it to himself

5. Ex-MoFA employee, lost her job but let her use the landArea used to be a model farm for MoFAFamily sometimes helps her

4. Inherited practice of agriculture from father after elementary schoolCouldn’t find work in the city so had to start farming

2. Started as a vacation worker while at schoolAfter her finished he couldn’t find a job but was allocated some land by the man he had been working withGot more land from other people who left

3.Born in Ivory CoastWorked with an Israeli who left during conflict and then he had no workCame to Ghana and got into farming because his family was farming

1. Born in Gabon

APPENDix E: FOCUS GROUP TRANSCRiPTS


Came to see a relative in Ghana, relative was old but brought him to meet a man who used to farm at DzorwuluAlso works in security at nightMakes more as a farmer because he gets money faster (in 3 days)

Is this true for others?Can take a long time for crops to grown and that they can go months without income (2 or 3 months)

How much they make in a season? (3 months)200-300 in a good season but could go down to 100 if things don’t go wellSome might get more, depends on type of crop, demand, quality and size of land

1.3 Do you eat your vegetables or sell them?They eat some of the crops.All the produce is to sell and they eat some of the vegetables themselves.

1.4 How long have you been farming in Dzorwulu? How long are you planning on staying?18 to 20, 30, 15, 25. One translator and Angelina was there from the beginning. The young ones were there for two years, the other two for less than one year.

1.5 Were you farming before that somewhere else? How did you start farming? And why?No. They started as a part time basis (the translator said that he was a student) and know they are full time.

Some who used to go and learn farming techniques after school when they were younger.

1.6 How much time do you spend farming? (per day, per week)They start from 6 or 7 am to 7 pm. And they can do that because they can pray there.

They farm everyday and generally on a Sunday as well although sometimes they will take this off.

1.7 What are the benefits to farming?

They get food for themselves, for life, for everything, school fees, income, enjoy farming (woman nodded).

1.8 How did you get this land? Do you have enough land?Woman – from MOFA. She prefers how things are now.

Their fathers left it to them and before this it was the Ministry that gave it to them.

1.9 Seasonal practices: types of crops, irrigation, crop patternsIt is demand orientated most of the times (sometimes it depends of the season): they target scarcity in the market and they produce that. They target it individually.


Physical Site2.1Where does it flood?Where the soil in not leveled; where the land is low. High lands are no problem.

The Dzorwulu site floods the most and can totally devastate their crops. It happens roughly every 5 years.

2.2 Who has those sites?

2.3 Do you share plots?Everyone has their own plot.

2.4 Do you help/cooperate with each other? Sometimes we help each other with transplanting.

No not generally, they all work individually.

Not compulsory but will help if someone needs it and they are not too busy

When do you hire labour?Hire for difficult work like digging and watering Employ youth from outside that don’t have land

2.5 Do you have any other help on the site? (Ask women specifically)They hire labour for the harvest. A part of the income goes to the person helping.

Yes they will hire help when they need it, mostly at the tilling and digging stage, this is not the hardest stage but is when there is the most work to do. The machinery they use is hand hoes and knapsacks for spraying pesticides. They also have water pumps that they share per pond(?)

2.6 Do you use any equipment to keep you safe?Not all of them

Not all wear it even though they have the knowledgeLearned from parent’s that they didn’t need to: “Cultural practices inherited” – translatorNow that they are sensitized they are trying to start

2.7 Do you have any problems with theft?

Not anymore because there are people living in the site.

There is no problem with theft there used to be but then they became organized amongst themselves and it doesn’t happen anymore.

Was a problem in the 90s when commodities were scarce but since 2000 it is not a problem


They ambushed and arrested some of themHomeless youth sleep nearby and keep an eye on the site

Level of Organization3.1 Are you part of the Dzorwulu Vegetable Farmers Association?Why or why not? (Perceived benefits, is it useful)

Older farmers of one group were members, but the young were not because they were new but that they are ready join anytime. (Observation: we noticed the translator explaining to one of the youngsters what was the association and about the monthly dues.)“We share ideas and to take decision together. We get government assistance: office give training and sometimes mon-ey”They meet twice a month under the tree. They all agree on how to spend the money.

Not everybody is in the association, present at the interview were the chairman, organizer and members. They all pay their monthly dues and they said there was no more problem with collecting the dues.

3. Is member because he found a relative in the Association, to get information and inputs, government subsidizes fertil-izers and it is easier to access through the association, buy big bags together and share them, one person collects the money and buys it 3.2 What role do you play (if they are part of the organization)?What does that role do?The translator – treasurer. There were some executives, like a committee.

3.3 How are monthly dues used?Monthly dues are 1 ghana cedis and they are collected and deposited in the bank.They back the knapsacks and sprayers (but the pesticide and gloves, boots are bought individually.)

3.4 Is the fund working well? Why or why not?Some people don’t pay because they have no money but they always find the way to pay back, like when they are buy-ing the communal tools they chip in.

The relief support – works outside the association and money is given to help with wedding and funeral expenses.

3.5 Does the Association represent the farmers with the government or other groups?They have a close relationship with IWMI and MOFA. The relationship with MOFA is good because they have easy con-tact with them through the Extension Officer.

They used to go to the AMA offices for meetings which does not happen anymore. Officers will come to the site and they will talk to them then but it is not as regular as it used to be.

3.6 What is the relationship with AWGUPA? Do you think you have influence?


They said they work with FSTT, they said they contributed to the ‘working group’ but were unsure as to what AWGUPA was.

3.7 Do you have contact with other groups or farmers?Yes, but they meet very irregularly. The translator couldn’t remember when they met the last time. To share knowledge.

They meet with the Roman Ridge farmers association sometimes.

Share knowledge through the Association?Knowledge comes from researchers and outsidersThen the farmers gather together in meetings, learn and talk together (this discussion done through the Association)

3.8 Do you share tools? Do you share tools with people outside the Association?

Economics4.1 How well is business going?Different opinions: the translator started complaining but then the woman said it sometimes good sometimes bad. Ac-cording to the season. During the dry season the size of the beds are reduced because of crop damage. The price of the market are not fixed and because the sizes of the beds are different it makes it more difficult.

They said they make more money in the dry season and there are problems with flooding in the rainy season. The group were all full time farmers and had no other jobs.

4.2 How could you improve it?FSTT – programme between IWMI and Enterprise works that is just starting to improve business.

They have problems with not enough land, poor seeds that they also have to pay for, there is also a problem of market-ing.If everyone grows lettuce then the price of lettuce will crash. The market women dominate the pricing of vegetables as if they don’t buy from them the crops will go to waste, the farmers do not dictate the price. If an individuals crop fails they go to the association and they will help them out. Everyone pays the same amount in monthly dues.

4.3 Do you need loans?They use their own pocket money for investments.If they had the money they would buy pesticides and chemicals. To get more land because the family is growing.

4.4 Do you receive any support from the government?

4.5 Do you have any other funding/loans? For what?

Water5.1 Where do you get your water?Piped and stream water. In raining season is also needed because the soil dries up very quickly.


From the tap and from the stream. The pipe water is better but it is unreliable, then they will go to the stream. They only use water from the pipe and stream, no other water sources.

Only some have accessSome are using stream if they are close

Why?CostlyWater company wants to use the scarce water for domestic and industrial useAvailability of piped water is unreliable (some is stored)Stream is sometimes more reliable and closer

5.2 If they use wastewater, why? Do you see benefits?

5.3 Do you collect rainwater?Only through the ponds (unintentionally).

5.4 How did the site get access to piped water? How long have you had it?They get it from the Ghana Water and Sewerage. The access was there since the Ministry but they have gotten more. They pay for the installation.

It was already on the site when they started farming. They get a monthly bill and everyone who uses this water pays equally. They maintain the pipe themselves.

5.5 Is the water from the pipe reliable?Not very reliable

5.6 Is the piped water clean?

5.7 Who maintains the pipes?Among them they have plumbers that fix the pipes when it is needed.They mentioned that they use piped water to fill the ponds.

5.8 Do you want to have access to the piped water? Why?

5.9 Who pays for the water? How do you share the cost?They pay for the water monthly different rates and they have a meter.

5.10 What are the ponds for? How are they managed?The ponds are collective and depends on distance of plot from the pond. They are shared.

Level of Knowledge about Sustainable Techniques6.1 Do you grow certain crops together? Why? For what benefit?


They do not mix radish with the others because the leaves are to big. They do mix cabbage and lettuce. They plant the lettuce first and later they put the cabbage (so that they can maximize the use of the land.) They also do it with onion and lettuce.

They look at the market and decide which crops to plant. If there are a lot of certain types of pest they won’t plant certain crops.

6.2 Did you learn about pest control from the Farmer’s Field school? Are you still using any those techniques?In the farmer school they learned to use neem tree, but they don’t do it because it is very difficult to use and produce. The woman said that they sometimes they use pepper but they don’t produce it but buy it.The chemical is easy to get and easy to apply but it is more expensive.They buy pesticides for fungi in a shop in Medina.

FAO approached the association and they nominated a certain amount of farmers to take part in the scheme.They felt it was partly successful and that some of the things they learnt are good others are not practical for them. They learnt about the Nim Tree and not to kill frogs and spiders.

6.3 Is the soil fertile? What do you do to care for the soil?Chicken manure is good for the soil and the chemicals are not, but they are good to spray on the plants.

Some is better than others, the soil is constantly in use and some of the areas are salty. If the soil is not so good it is because it is used constantly. They have less land and therefore have to grow continuously. They use manure a lot as the fertilizer is expensive.

6.4 Are you experimenting with any new techniques?The Extension Officers teach them new techniques

6.5 Are there any animals or insects on the site? What do they do?Pests- snails, birds. fungi.There are frogs but they don’t bother.

Level of knowledge on fertilizers (bio and non) and use of compost7.1 What type of fertilizers do you use? And why? Where do you get it from?The fertilizers are expensive and they only receive a coupon once a year, the fertilizer they get from this lasts only about 2 months. They get 1 coupon per farmer, which MoFA come and give to them, it gives them half price for 1 bag. After this they have to buy more themselves

7.2 Do you have any problems with the fertilizer you are using? (observe for perceptions on health risks during applica-tion and consumption of vegetables, cost, easy to access)They have no problem with health problem with the manure.But the manure is now scarce. Before they used to bring it to the farm and give it for free, but now they are charging and this year it is scarce and expensive. They pay 1 cedis per pack.They don’t use safety measures but they are trying to change.


They know that when they use fertilizer it destroys the soil quality. They like to use manure but if it is not always avail-able they have to use fertilizer. Poultry farmers used to be nearby and then poultry farmers moved out of Accra. Manure is cheaper but is harder to access. Access to fertilizer is not regular, big farmers buy more fertiliser.The farmers are aware of the health risks of using the chemicals, none experience problems at the moment but they worry about the future. There is not enough gloves to go round (80% use no gloves) there is also a lack of education on safety techniques.

7.3 Why don’t you use compost? (Or why if they do?) Explain what compost is if they don’t knowIt is a waste of time because they are not ready to do it. Lack of vegetable waste and if this would be available they would do it.They have been taught how to do it.

Explain what compost is if they don’t knowThey said that they could use compost but that it is time consuming and that it takes up water

7.4 Would you be interested in using compost?If they have access to the inputs then they would do it.

Information about home communities8.1 Where do you live?They all lived closed by except the woman who is from La. She doesn’t have land there to farm.

Most of them live nearby and the travel time is between 10mins to 1 hour (1 farmer said he travelled for 2 hours)

6. Ebony, 10 - 15 minute walk5. Kotobai – 30 minutes walk4. Ebony – 10 minutes walk3. Mamobi – 15 minutes on bike2. Kotobai – 15 minutes walk1. 30 minutes on tro-tro from night job

8.2 How long does it take to get there?It takes her 30 minutes.

8.3 How do you get there?By tro tro.

They get a truck, cars (not clear if they are there own) or they walk.

8.4 Is there waste collection there? If not, what do you do with the waste?There is a dumping site in their neighbourhood and the government comes to collect it every three days.

They have waste collection and it is better than before but is still not good.


8.5 Are there other farmers in your community?Yes.

No one farms at home there is not enough space, sometimes they produce seedlings at home. Some people might have small areas but nothing substantial.

8.6 What do the women in your family do?Come of them sell the vegetables. Others do clothes and they sell them at their shops. They prefer their children to go to school where they also teach agriculture. They prefer that they work in the government but that if they liked to plant then they would give the land to them.The woman didn’t know if she was going to give the land to her sons.

Demographic information9.1 AgeThey were 4 youngsters, and 4 older people.

9.2 Gender6 men and 1 woman.

9.3 Ethnicity

9.4 ReligionMost of them are Muslims.

9.5 Family: members of household

9.6 Level of Education

Conclusion10.1 What do you think is the main problem?The market systems and that the chemicals are not good and that they are damaging the crops.

Government support – the government does not support them at all. The support they need is more land and extra chemicals as they are expensive. In the rainy season some of the site is totally inaccessible. No aid for farming inputs and all of the government stores are now privatized. Roman Ridge started to replace farms with buildings.

10.2 What do you need to improve the site or your farming?They need assistances like equipment and machinery to make work less intensive and easier.

10.3 What do you like about being a farmer?It is good because it is about feeding the nation and people, and it helps in many ways because it is easy way of employ-ment because and it is they’re own business and that they are very happy. One youngster liked it because he could feed himself and buy clothes.


Farming is quick money and that there is no other work they can do. They feed their families and have independence, they are their own boss. Also they are helping to feed Accra and even Kumasi as well. 1 farmer had ambitions to be a big time farmer. People liked their products because they don’t use so much fertilizer. Although their vegetables are marketed the same as other vegetables, people wouldn’t believe that it is not grown without chemicals. There is com-petition from villages and from Togo.The water issue is talked about on the radio a lot, the farmers are told not to use piped water and waste water.They have no relationship with the local dwellers but there waste pollutes the stream.They don’t know what will happen with the farm tomorrow, feel insecure.People come to see the site and the farmers sometimes turn them away as they are sick of them.

Waste hypothesis focus group discussion with farmers on May 07.

Participation and Community GroupsPeace and Love Youth Group: watch dogs against crime, community clean up, they have an organizational structureAlso political and religious groups: one man said he was a member of a political group

Waste in CommunityZoomlion is supposed to pick up waste but they are not reliable and don’t clean the areaCome around once a weekPay 10 to 20 pesewas per bag dumped to AMATo solve waste problem:Thought there should be more and better paid employees One said that they need to take responsibility themselves because not all people are taking care of the garbage well“We all need to clean up, put the garbage where it goes and keep it clean”Don’t have anyone to complain to, the Assembly man and MP will tell you to talk to someone else

Different types of fertilizersEveryone uses NPK 15/15Use manure when it is available but now that the farms are far it’s hard to get (transportation is a problem)Spending more now on transport and getting lessWomen are the ones who go to get poultry manure and resell it to the farmers (buy at 50 and sell at 80)Chemical fertilizer makes the plants grow faster but manure is better for the soilManure for dry season and chemical for wetWaste from the farm is sometimes thrown into an informal compost heap and sometimes given to farmers with rabbits for feedDo compost their chicken manure (leave it for a month because it’s hot when it arrives)No one had used compost from the old plant because it was not availableSome know about compost, some don’tOnly one had experimented with compostingWould use compost if it was available but it doesn’t make the plants grow fast so they would still use chemical fertilizerCould use compost in the wet season but not in the dry season: takes too much water

(Interview with secretary: turn some grass back into the soil)


Community CompostingWould be good to have community composting as long as there was enough and at a good priceMight be able to stop using fertilizer if they could get good compost because fertilizer spoils the landMain problem is transport so if it could be made close and the price was the same as manure they would use itTransport from community would not be a problem, bring things to the site every dayCouldn’t speak to whether the community would be interested in composting, would need to go and speak to them directly: best to go through Assembly manDidn’t feel like they had enough influence to bring it to the community, would need someone else to implement itDo regular informal community clean upsCommunity would be willing to sort it but thought someone else should pick it up and transfer it to the composting plant

Water hypothesis focus group discussion with farmers on May 07.

Farmers present in the focus group: Mohammed Ali, Aruha, Margaret, Mununi, Yakoum, Karim, Ali Jousef, Bukari Fusaini.

Question: How do you feel about using piped water?Mununi: tap water is good, because he can use it during the nightFusaini: disadvantage, interruptions of water, rationalize the water because of insecurity, cannot utilize it as he wants, finds it expensiveMargaret: piped water is very good, because there are no problems with it on crops although it is expensiveYakoumi: piped water is good because of its cleanliness and purityKarim: its good because its fresh and clean as contrasted to the waste water which is dirtyMohammed Ali: it’s good because it doesn’t carry any diseases and because you only have to wash once after farming in contrast to washing twice when using waste water

Question: Is the high price of piped water worth its advantages?Margaret: even though it is costly it is advantages, because you can cause it at any time of the day and there is advan-tage when you compare it to rate and output.Munini: at a point in time you plant things and the output is not so good (interrupted), but you still have to pay for it, so the cost accumulates over time

Question: How are the interruptions in provision of piped water?Margaret: In times of shortages she has to go as far as to the stream to irrigate and normally interruptions come during dry season when water in the dam was low or when construction work occurs and these interruptions can last three days to one week. Question: Do you want improved access of piped water?Margaret: They usually complain to MOFA or NGOs who come to us and shortages happen on monthly basis twice or thrice.Question: Alternatives?Fusaini: one borehole at each end of the farms but has not been operated on because the water was salty, because they dug to deep. They connected it to electricity, but they didn’t put in the pipesQuestion: Do you have to pay for the connection?


Fusaini: No, it’s for free.Question: Who realized this project?Fusaini: The government set up the project, but each individual farmer has to install pipes to the farmQuestion: When did you start using the ponds?Margaret: The reason why it came into the place was when one person was using the tap no one else can use it, so they fill it during the night to be able to fetch water at any time. Fusaini: The waste settles with gravityQuestion: Do you mix piped water and stream water within one pond?Haruna, Margaret, Mununi: different ponds for both, no combining, keep them different, because they create the ponds close to the source (tap or stream)Question: What are the advantages and disadvantages of waste water?Haruna: his body looks bad, when he fetches the water and there are leaches, Margaret: only uses piped waterMununi: faster and nicerHaruna was agreeingYakoum: experiences good growth Others who use waste water agree, not Margaret, because she doesn’t use piped waterQuestion: How about awareness programmes?All of them agree that they have been educated in waste water handlingMargaret: how to fetch the water, put weeds in pondsMununi: stop watering three days before harvestingHanuna: only uses piped waterFusaini: stops watering two days before harvesting, the watering should not stir water, he uses pump to fetch water without stepping into itQuestion: What do you think about the policy regarding waste water?Fusaini: Policy is not favourable, is very harsh, because on one side they don’t support piped water except for domestic or industrial, mentiones GWC is not happy about farmers using piped water and urban farmers have no alternative, measures should be taken so farmers can use itMununi: it was harsh and trouble to urban farmers if the government doesn’t allow the useQuestion: In how far did you business was influenced by the negative media on the use of WW?Haruna: when they talk about it in the media it goes to the customers, the costumers become cautious and they don’t come and the market becomes minimalMargaret, Mununi: they experience a low demand in the market and that you have to lower the price because food becomes abundantQuestion: What do you think about the water situation in general? Is it a big problem?Haruna: if interventions can be taken in ww to purify it it would be helpfulFusaini: there is the need for alternative water, underground water, surface water, assess good water so we can use it, so the issue of piped water and waste water can be out, the issue of water is currently not addressedQuestion: Do you think the education programmes where helpful in addressing these issues?All agreed that they were not successful and that there wasn’t a major impact. Programmes should reflect in public, but has not yet convinced consumersQuestion: Did you ever try to use the media to let the consumers know that you use safe handling methods?Fusaini: they haven’t yet discussed the issue in the association, the media came here to ask about the general aspects of their work and the food security that it offers and they also ask about the contamination and programmes.


Biodiversity and credit focus group discussion with farmers on May 07.

Farmers present in the focus group: Andy, Issa, Fasaini, Alida, Ibrahim, Fasaini, Alhassan, Alidu, Angelina.

The proposal activity for farmers, Mapping networks, to identify groups and organisations that they relate with and characterize the relationship of the them with the farmers, how close or far is the relation. Strength of Collaboration.

The first groups that they mentioned were the Roman Ridge and Plant Pool. They mentioned that few years ago the three groups were in one big organisation but as it didn’t work so they separated. After pushing the information, they said that they are still very close and that they gather sometimes to discuss general issues like marketing and water. This happens once or twice a year. - In the map, they placed them really close to them.

After that, they mentioned IWMI. They said that they meet them every two months. They work with them but not so frequently.- In the map, they place IWMI close to them, but not as close as the farmers. (In the second circle).

Next, they mentioned Enterprise Works. They say they have a close relationship because they are across the street. Some of the farmers work with them on marketing issues. Selected members are working on FSTT programme.- They placed them closer than IWMI but farther than the other farmer groups.

They said that MoFA is very close to the group. They work with Delvyn. They said that they have contact with it every time they need. They appeared to be very excited about it. (OBSERVATION: during this, Delvyn (from MoFA) was present. So it might have influenced their answer.)- They almost put it under them. Closer than other farmers.

They said the market woman were very close. - They placed them almost as close as MoFA.

They mentioned that university students visited their farms for their own research but they didn’t identify any relation-ship with them. (OBSERVATION: they mentioned the university students after an intervention from Delvyn). They placed their card really far from them.

Next, they mentioned Cooperative Society (Department of Cooperatives). They said they have a distant relationship and that they meet twice a year, usually people from the Cooperative come to meet them. Similar observation was made for AWGUPA (OBSERVATION: Sofia asked if they had any relationship with AWGUPA. They didn’t recognize the name, and after Delvyn explained them who they were, they understood.)- They put them really far away.The Agricultural Development Bank was mentioned. They said they have their account there. That is as far as their rela-tionship went. (OBSERVATION: We asked them if they could give them credit or loan, they said no.)


Second part group interview:2.a they vote to decided how to spend the money. The use of the monthy fees, they use it to pay for arrangements that take big amounts of money. Observation: sometimes they collect money out of the fees, when they need to buy things like fertilizers and pesticides or to fixed any of the equipment they use.

2. c. Angelina: what happened when there are a proposal, she said that there is not money in the bank of the association so there is no point in propos.

3. They don’t put their individual savings in the community account; they use their individual ones. Note: they would want to increase the fees, but that is not possible.

4. the defaulters are a big problem, sometimes the people don’t pay for 3 or 4 months. They try to deal with that, encour-aging farmers to pay. Thought the treasure say that everybody can pay the fee amount. (Observarion: that is a contradiction to what they say on Tuesday, about people who can pay because of lack of money)

The main problem according to the treasure is that the people don’t want to pay,

6. they need more income, they could achive that by having better organisation and getting more land. About the land they have asked to government for more land, but there is no answer yet.

How that would change their life, they say they don’t have problem with working more, about where to have the new land is a government issue, since they are the once who can provide more land.

7. They do lend money among them. 8. because of lack of understanding into the group, they don’t want to start a savings groups. Low agreement on how to invest the money. Lack of understanding. Angelina: no everyone would like to have that, because they are afraid that it will be no repayment.

9. they say they are happy with the administration of the association. OBSERVATION the treasurer was answering the question.

10. FSTT do: encourage and motivate people to get organise on marketing system. Now it is aThey are exploring with them ideas about marking systems like packaging and selling direct to restaurant.

They would like to have loans to expand to buy chemicals and water pumping machine. They identify as the FSTT, cooperative society, IDB and IWMI as organisations that could give them credit.


Biodiversity hypothesis focus group discussion with farmers on May 09.

Which would you put together and why?Spring onion and lettuce - have more space to plant.Cauliflower and lettuce – plant the lettuce first get out more of the land.Cabbage and lettuce – to get out more of the land.

Where did you learn that?They needed to find a way around the fact that land is too small. They know different techniques from long time ago, sometimes from their fathers.

When you learn something new, how do you share it with other farmers?You go and tell another farmer “Try this”, and then he tells another. (Word of mouth, snowball strategy)

When you do intercropping, do the market women buy both vegetables? Can they only buy one? If so, who harvests them?They don’t need to buy the two vegetables. In this case, the farmers do the harvest themselves. The market women come from Kaneshi and Medina market.

How do you negotiate with the market women?Depending on the season. Dry season: lettuce, onions, carrots, beetroot, cucumber, white radish, coriander.Wet season: cauliflower, lettuce, cucumber, radish, coriander, beetroot.

Intercropping

When introduced to other biodiversity techniques, the farmers said that they wouldn’t mix the crops in one bed but they would be willing to plant around the bed or one bed – one bed, half – half, etc. They were very interested and will-ing to try.

QuestionsDid you already know that?Do you think this could be helpful?Would you consider trying it?

If it works, would you tell your friends?Yes, they would share it with their friends and that they will also go to other communities.

Food security

a. How much of your income do you spend on food?They all said that “A lot”. Their income is not fixed and they get it seasonally so it was hard to get an actual percent-age.


b. Which of the vegetables that you produce do you take home?Very little. Spring onion, carrots, cucumber, beetroot, cauliflower. They are not used to the rest of the crops.

c. Do you think it would be good to reserve a small space in your plot to plant crops for self-consumption? Crops like corn and beans.

They said it was better to buy because they had no more land.

d. Do you eat any fruits? Which fruits? Where do you get them?(They do eat the fruits from the trees in the bushes.)

e. What do you think of the bushes or trees there? They said they protected the water. The trees offer shade.

f. Would you like to plant bananas or papaya there so you could take fruit home?

g. Do you think this would be a way of using the unused space of the farm?

They buy their seeds from their Agroseed Company, and that sometimes they keep them fresh and they last for up to a year.


Topic CommentsDescription of Route

Along the stream to Roman Ridge, across the site to the railway tracks below the football pitch, across the bridge past the high white fence to the road.

Physical SpaceDivision/size of plotsFacilities on siteActivitiesAreas which floodStorage of cropsStorage of fertilizers

Varied depending on each individual farmer, some have more land than others. The general observation of plot sizes are same and vary approx. in between 0.25 acre-0.75Some shelters and shade from trees, also places to sit and a shower.Fertilizer lying aroundNo crop storage but sheds to store toolsWalking pathsFootball pitch used by children from the areaWomen have half the size of the standard sizeDzorwulu and Roman Ridge divided by a palmFlooding happens every year during rainy season but only in the low areas

Tools and PracticesTypes of tools (shared or not)Marketing practicesAdditional helpersTechniques to reduce mosquitosTechniques to reduce health risks

Fork – saw many, made from bent rebar also using plow to remove the soil.Knapsacks to apply chemicals are sharedPumps, hoses and water cans to irrigate.Seems to be additional helpers at the fieldFarmers share equipment, mainly the fertilizer pumpSprayers – saw a few around, the one that was being used the man had boots, mask and rubber gloves, this is not the case for all farmers. Few men wearing boots and gloves to protect themselves when using fertilizers. Many farmers had help with their plots, mostly young boys, some family members but not allFarmers sell straight to buyers. Market women come in the night to harvest, don’t give advance warning, take to Agobloshie market to sell to other sellers.No such techniques to reduce risk are oserved to reduce risks, though all seem to be aware of the risk.

APPENDix F: TRANSECT wALk REPORT


LandEvidence of biodiversityEvidence of pestsInter-cropping

Birds, frogs, butterflies, other insects but don’t know if they were good or badSome farmers had mixed crops but not for pest control just for efficient use of spaceOne farmer said it gave the plants more room not to intercropSmall pits can be observed in sit.Intercropping lettuce with spring onions.There are corredors of plantane, palms and others different special around pounds and cannals of water between ponds.Frogs in the ponds and a general positive perception of the farmers of the farmers towards frogs and spiders as predators of insect.

WasteSpace for compostingUse of fertilizerTrash in the area

Compost heaps all over the site but not strategic, just piled waste or dirt that they use whenever they need soilSeems like there might be adequate space for some compostingPlastic waste on the ground and in the piles of manureObservation of pest on cauliflower , which has been said to be more vulnerable to pest by farmersManure being composted in some parts of the site. Bags of manure lying around.Impressively clean

WaterIdentify sources of waterIrrigation methodsAquatic plants# of ponds# of ponds with plantsRainwater harvesting

Moved with hoses and stored in ponds (even piped water sometimes stored)3 piped water connections with sprinklersAlso use watering cans for irrigationSeparation between ponds used as a filtering technique. Around 6 ponds in the area.They store piped water in pondsAquatic plants in many ponds and surrounding by trees to provide shade and prevent evaporationPonds are surrounded by many trees such as plantains, palm, maize and others acting as corridors


Semi-structured questionnaire for focus group with farmers on May 05.

Introduction1.1 What are you growing? 1.2 How much are you producing? (per cropping season)1.3 Do you eat your vegetables or sell them?1.4 How long have you been farming in Dzorwulu? How long are you planning on staying?1.5 Were you farming before that somewhere else? How did you start farming? And why?1.6 How much time do you spend farming? (per day, per week)1.7 What are the benefits to farming?1.8 How did you get this land? Do you have enough land?1.9 Seasonal practices: types of crops, irrigation, crop patterns

Physical Site2.1Where does it flood?2.2 Who has those sites?2.3 Do you share plots?2.4 Do you help/cooperate with each other? 2.5 Do you have any other help on the site? (Ask women specifically)2.6 Do you use any equipment to keep you safe?2.7 Do you have any problems with theft?

Level of Organization3.1 Are you part of the Dzorwulu Vegetable Farmers Association?Why or why not? (Perceived benefits, is it useful)3.2 What role do you play (if they are part of the organization)?What does that role do?3.3 How are monthly dues used?3.4 Is the fund working well? Why or why not?3.5 Does the Association represent the farmers with the government or other groups?3.6 What is the relationship with AWGUPA? Do you think you have influence?3.7 Do you have contact with other groups or farmers?3.8 Do you share tools? Do you share tools with people outside the Association?

Economics4.1 How well is business going?4.2 How could you improve it?4.3 Do you need loans?4.4 Do you receive any support from the government?4.5 Do you have any other funding/loans? For what?

Water5.1 Where do you get your water?5.2 If they use waste water, why? Do you see benefits?

APPENDix G: QUESTiONNAiRES


5.3 Do you collect rainwater?5.4 How did the site get access to piped water? How long have you had it?5.5 Is the water from the pipe reliable?5.6 Is the piped water clean?5.7 Who maintains the pipes?5.8 Do you want to have access to the piped water? Why?5.9 Who pays for the water? How do you share the cost?5.10 What are the ponds for? How are they managed?

Level of Knowledge about Sustainable Techniques6.1 Do you grow certain crops together? Why? For what benefit?6.2 Did you learn about pest control from the Farmer’s Field school? Are you still using any those techniques?6.3 Is the soil fertile? What do you do to care for the soil?6.4 Are you experimenting with any new techniques?6.5 Are there any animals or insects on the site? What do they do?

Level of knowledge on fertilizers (bio and non) and use of compost7.1 What type of fertilizers do you use? And why? Where do you get it from?7.2 Do you have any problems with the fertilizer you are using? (observe for perceptions on health risks during applica-tion and consumption of vegetables, cost, easy to access)7.3 Why don’t you use compost? (Or why if they do?) Explain what compost is if they don’t know7.4 Would you be interested in using compost?

Information about home communities8.1 Where do you live?8.2 How long does it take to get there?8.3 How do you get there?8.4 Is there waste collection there? If not, what do you do with the waste?8.5 Are there other farmers in your community?8.6 What do the women in your family do?

Demographic information9.1 Age9.2 Gender9.3 Ethnicity9.4 Religion9.5 Family: members of household9.6 Level of Education

Conclusion10.1 What do you think is the main problem?10.2 What do you need to improve the site or your farming?10.3 What do you like about being a farmer?


Semi-structured questionnaire for interviews with farmers on May 09.

Demographic information AgeGenderEthnicity/Where are you from?How did you first hear about the Dzorwulu site?ReligionFamily: members of householdLevel of Education

Changes that have taken place over timeWhat changes have occurred since you’ve been farming here? (people, practices, land, organization)

Land TenureHave you ever been evicted?Do you feel secure on this land?H3: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Perceptions of main problems and how they would solve themWhat do you think is the main problem?What do you need to improve the site or your farming?What do you like about being a farmer?

WasteExplain the idea to reduce waste and use it as an input for farming

1. Have you heard about compost from other people on the site?2. What are the benefits? (Do they see benefits to using less chemicals in terms of health?)3. Do you have space on site to compost?4. Would you mind making compost on the site?5. Do you see any problems with its production?6. If you had good compost, what other fertilizers would you use?7. Do you hire labour? For how many hours? How much are they paid?

Will introduction of compost have an effect on the income of the women farmers?

Land questions:1. Where do you get your seeds from?2. How much do the market women give you for 1 bed of lettuce and how much do you think the market

women will sell it for?3. Do you always sell the vegetables to the same market women?4. How long have you been selling to those people? (if they sell to the same people regularly)


5. Are they your family or your friends?6. Do you borrow money from them? Has this ever caused you a problem?7. Do you ever discuss the prices with other farmers and agree before you sell to the market women? Do you

think this would be a good thing to happen?8. Do you think Dzorwulu vegetables are of better quality than other places? If you think this do you think you

could get more money for them at the market by branding them differently?9. Do you ever think to keep a small part of the site to grow food just for yourselves? Such as corn, plantain,

papaya, okra, beans etc If they say no, ask them why not.10. How much of what you earn do you spend on food?

Water1. Do you know about the fertilizer character of using WW? If yes, do you think you need less chemical fertilizers

if you use WW?

2. For WW users: Do you wear rubber boots or gloves when handling WW? If not, why?

3. Do you have any expenses on treating your skin after using WW?

4. Have you ever participated in a Safe WW handling programme? Which? Was it useful?

5. Do you use any other methods to handle WW safely? (get it out of the pond, not putting it on vegs eaten raw, put it on vegs eaten raw in a careful way/ not splashing)

6. Did MoFA ask you to pay for electricity for the boreholes? Did they talk to you about the boreholes, before building them? How is the water quality in boreholes?

7. AWGUPA: have you heard of a group of NGOs, government and a farmer from Dzorwulu getting together for a meeting discussing the change of the policy on the use of WW?

8. Do you pay domestic or commercial rate for piped-water? How much do you pay per month and how do you split it up individually?

9. Is water shortage in the field the same as in your home?

10. Have you ever thought about the association meeting with market women and discussing the labeling of their products, since it has been grown with piped water?

11. What would you like to improve on the site?

Semi-structured questionnaire for interviews with market women on May 09.

1. Do you always sell in this market? a. Do you need to pay something to sell here?

2. How many days are you here?a. From what time to what time?

3. What do you like about selling vegetables in the market?


4. Do you sell any particular crop according to the dry or the rain season?5. Do you get higher prices in one season than the other for the same vegetable and in general?6. How do you negotiate the price of the vegetables?7. How do you pay for 1 bed of lettuce? On how much will you sell it?8. How do you bring the stuff to the market? How much does that cost?9. Do you need storage? How much do you pay for that?10. What are the main sites/farms you go to buy?

a. Do you always buy the vegetables from the same farmers/site?b. How long have you been buying from them?c. Are they your family or your friend?d. Do you trust them to lend them money?

11. How do you choose the area where you buy your vegetables?12. Do you see any difference in the vegetables depending on their source?13. Do you harvest the vegetables?

a. Does someone help with you with that? b. Do you pay for that?14. If you buy the vegetables from Dzorwulu, do you say they are from Dzorwulu?15. Do they sell better?Organization16. Is there a market women association?

a. Do you need to pay a monthly dues?b. How are these used? c. What benefits does it bring to be part of the association?

17. Have you got any loans?a. Where did you get them?b. What do you spend your loans on?c. Do you have problems with repayment?

Income18. Is your husband a farmer?

a. Do you sell your husbands’ vegetables?b. If so, how do they divide the income?c. Do you buy from other farmers in your husband’s sites?

19. Have you considered processing the food?20. How do you spend your income?Organic21. What do you do with the waste from the market?22. What things affect the quality of vegetables?

a. Does the use of fertilizer affect it?23. Could you get a better price for organic?24. Would you pay a higher rate for organic?25. Do you ever market any differences in vegetable quality? (e.g. Would you sell vegetables that were watered with

piped water (organic, fertilizer, etc.) higher than those that were watered with waste water (non-organic, chemicals, etc.)

26. If they make the price more expensive, does it justify the price?


Water27. Do you wash your vegetables before you sell them?

a. Why and what water do you use?28. Have you ever had problems with food contamination?29. Have you ever had programmes on how to reduce or avoid contamination of vegetables on the market? By whom?30. What do you think about the water used by farmers in general and in Dzorwulu in particular?31. Do you pay farmers who use piped-water more than farmers who use wastewater for irrigation?32. What did you hear about the water used by farmers in newspaper, radio and TV?33. What do you think about farmers using piped-water when there is a water shortage in the city?34. What do you think about the extension officers of the Public Health Ministry? (Do they provide any programmes?

How often do you see them? Are they useful?)

Semi-structured questionnaire for interviews with local dwellers on May 12.

1. How are they paying for waste? 2. How often do you dump a bag of garbage? How much per month?3. Would you be willing separate your waste if you could pay less to dump it? What would they be willing to pay?4. Where do they think there might be space in their community to compost?5. Assess feasibility of employing a local dweller to pick up the compost?6. What do you think of the farmers?7. What do they look for when buying vegetables? Do they eat them right away?


APPENDix h: iNTERviEw TRANSCRiPTS

Interviewee: Facilitator - DelvineDate: May 04Place: Paloma Hotel

Financial – farmers collect ‘monthly dues’ paid to the farmers association, which are used for • Common machinery for farming production specifically ‘knapsack spray machine’ (approx 25 cedis each)• Maintenance of any commonly purchased machinery• Used for social events – specifically mentioned funeralsWomen are members of the association and use the commonly purchased goods.Market women control the selling of produce in the market and it’s hard for farmers to sell their own produce. Women farmers use the same techniques as the male farmers and they only use piped water, because the stream is far away from their site. The market women will make more money than farmers. The prices are set by free market principles, and the farmers sell by the bed.Farmers are concerned with producing goods not with other business to do with agriculture.The association can help with arranging the price of crops i-e potentially raising the price to increase income.FSTT deals with the issues of marketing, pricing their products and the economic aspects of the whole agri-cultural process. This is a project being undertaken at the moment.Financing is needed to produce higher income crops, so that more profit can be made. IE cabbage is more profitable but needs more investment.The Department of Cooperatives helps with training in financial management for the Farmers AssociationAgricultural activities/material/landPumping machines for pumping water from the stream are owned and maintained individually.Each farmer has between 1.077ha and 0.02ha. Retirement depends on their health and how the individual farmer feels, there is no set age.There is no issue of theft as there are farmers 4 or 5 farmers that live on the site and guard it.Many of the farmers were working part-time and now many of them have changed to full-time. There is a potential for a large income from farming and this is why they have changed from part-time.MoFA and IWMI are trying to put by-laws in place about urban agriculture. MoFA cannot give land to farmers it can only assist them to obtain it. Land has to be given by the government.Plots are inherited by family or friends of the farmer who is leaving. If a farmer is ill and has to leave his plot he must designate someone to cultivate it for him, there is no fixed system in place for allocation.There is no formal agreement initially for farming on the site however the relationship is mutually beneficial as the VRA have easier access to the over head cables if agriculture is taking place on the site (it was previously very overgrown and inaccessible)MoFA originally set up the site to be used to raise seedlings that could be sold to other farms and was always thought of as a long term project. The female farmers were employees from MoFA, most other ex MoFA staff have left the site now partly due to a change in government party.There is no conflict between farmers and local dwellers; local dwellers go there to buy their vegetables.


There is a collaborative NGO working with the farmers, IMWI and other institutions called Enterprise Works working to promote reducing poverty and increase living standards.The government introduced the subsidies as they wanted to test the subsidy system with a smaller project before introducing it for larger infrastructure.The farmers have between 10 and 50 beds and invest about 50cedis per cropping season. They crop through-out the year and there can be up to 6 rotations/crops in a year.Water The groundwater is salty and would need to be treated before use, therefore could be expensive and not practical. Rain water is not collected because there is no means to collect in place and there would be economic impli-cations to introduce it. Rain patterns change and so they can’t depend on this.The farmers receive individual water bills per pipe (there are about 5 pipelines) and they arrange payment of the bill amongst the farmers that use each pipe. There can be a problem with collecting the money.The water ponds are a new technology not a traditional system. Nobody uses domestic waste water; they ei-ther collect it from the stream or use piped water. When piped water runs out they use water from the stream. Main pollutant in the stream is from domestic use (kitchen and bathroom water) black and grey.They have plants that clean the ponds; the farmers perceive them as a nuisance as they use a lot of water.Composting and fertilisingThe farmers think it takes too long and is a waste of time. No community in Accra has a composting scheme. Policy makers would need to be involved in any compost scheme.There is an IWMI project in the pipeline for collecting urine and compost on the site – this project still needs the backing of the farmers.The chicken manure is cheap but difficult to access, chemical fertilizers are subsidized and thus work out cheaper and easier in the long term, even though the farmers are aware that chemical fertilizer can weaken the soil. The chicken manure is obtained from many different areas and there is no cooperation amongst the chicken manure producers, they have to transport it back by commercial transport.The government has subsidies for fertilizer and ammonia. This comes in the form of a coupon which is given to each farmer; they can then take this coupon to a dealer and pay any extra amount that is needed. Extension officers give advice about the use of fertilizers.The IPM was a 2 way program, the farmers are expected to use natural means for pest management and made aware of other techniques other than using chemicals. The farmers are aware of the benefits of IPM and use some of the techniques. They don’t use all of them because the farmer’s mentality can be that they need a quick solution to their problems due to short cropping season. There is need for frequently changing tech-niques and the farmers perceive it as time consuming and not effective as they are continuously cropping.GenderFamily members will come and help farmers at the weekend and will occasionally hire farm hands to help them. Although female members of the family tend to not be included in this, female farmers don’t sell their own produce in the market. The farmers won’t let women be leaders due to their Muslim culture. Some of the farmers have come from Burkina Faso.


Conclusions In Dzorwulu there are problems with water, land and financial support. They have received some credit that a student helped them to access.

Interviewee: Chairman of the AssociationDate: May 07Place: Dzorwulu Site

There is area available for composting but the time taken for composting is too long. 1-1 ½ months. It also takes time to prepare the compost and time to turn it and add more water. It also takes a lot of time to get compost good for the soil.

Learn about the practice of composting. Had a site set aside on his site for experimenting with compost. Ben-efits to the soil was only seen about 2 years later with bigger lettuce. However farmers can’t afford to think in long terms. Farmers need money quickly.

If you do it you may not need fertilizer but can take a year.

Farmer’s need to see how it works in practice not just be told about benefits.

At the moment they are trying to pay back the loans they got through the students. The money/loan was given at a time when the costs of chemical fertilizers were high. It’s used to buy seeds and chemicals.

Interactions with government – At one point attempted to access part of over 200 acres of land which was available through the government. They didn’t get it. They want to work and want help to work but are not getting any help from the government.

The farmers make much better profits in the dry season. Also when there is a shortage of seeds farmers can make better profits.

Seeds at the moment are bought from places such as AgroCentral. Need education on how to save seeds. It is a very tricky process to harvest seeds effectively and many farmers do not know how. The education that is received from the extension officers can sometimes be questioned. The extension officers a lot of time don’t know enough about what the farmer’s do. They can end up educating the extension officer rather than the other way round. Many times the problems that they have such as with pests and the type of pests that need to be analysed on specific crops is not followed up by the relevant authorities.


Farmers need better education about how to keep chemicals as well and use them. Many years back there was a scare about farmer’s being killed from using a certain kind of fertilizer/ chemical which was eventually banned.

Previously farmers were in a big co-operative and it allowed more farmer to farmer interactions whereas now this doesn’t happen. Thinks the bigger co-operative had benefits that the smaller co-operative didn’t. Was able to go to other farmers’ sites in Accra and learn directly from other farmers. Hoping that the farmers can still learn collectively through the smaller co-operative.

Other organizations and institutions who come to the farmers with ideas are sometimes impractical. They feel that they do it in the school while the farmers do it in the field and they are very different. What works there doesn’t necessarily work on the farm. There is a need for farmer’s to practice and experiment first.

Interviewee: Secretary of the AssociationDate: May 07Place: Dzorwulu Site

The education received from the government to the co-operative and farmers were mainly on the formation of the co-operative through the department of co-operatives and they also received a subsidization of fertil-izers by the govt. Coupon system, one coupon for each sack.

Received funding/loan help from a lecturer at the University of Ghana who had been sending students there for a while and noticed that finances and access to credit were needed. Financed 19/26 which are used as in-dividual loans. Loans were spent on inputs. When inputs went high the farmers were unable to increase their produce to compensate. They also were unable to get fertilizers since the price of oil was also high.

He has never tried to use compost but would. He uses poultry manure and leaves it for one month after get-ting it to allow proper decomposition to happen. He normally incorporates farm waste back into the soil by leaving it on top of the bed to decompose.Inorganic fertilizer use – receives a good result in the very short term. 2-3 weeks to see a resultOrganic fertilizer use – keeps longer in the soil maintains benefits for a longer time

Poultry manure previously done in the areas very close to Dzorwulu. Then the AMA byelaws halted poultry rearing within the area due to complaints about the smell and it moved to the peri-urban area. Transportation is now a problem and there are very few people acting as intermediaries to assist this. Some of the women farmers on the site are acting as intermediaries and selling the compost to other farmers. Still though it’s dif-ficult to buy enough manure.

There is a problem with waste in the community he’s from. If garbage could be separated it could be a good


source of material for composting. Sorting of waste is a new concept for Ghanaians but it can work. At the mo-ment there are not separate bins. If another bin were provided for households to separate waste it would be easier. An intermediary could then come in and play the role needed to compost the waste.

Feels the system now with a smaller decentralized co-operative is better than before with the larger group, which covered the whole of Accra. The larger group had problems in getting people to meet at one location. It also had problems with sharing incomes received amongst people. Smaller organization is also easier to manage and works better because everybody knows each other.

Interviewee: Farmer - Malik AbdoulaiDate: May 09Place: Dzorwulu Site

MaleHe inherited his plot from his grandfatherMuslimDidn’t want to specify his age.

He has been in Dzorwulu for 5 years.He has never been evicted.He considers that the main problem is that chemicals are very expensive.He is from Burkina Faso and he goes there very often.He likes to farm. His parents were farmers too.He does some informal composting. He digs and puts his stuff. He leaves it for 5 or 6 months and then he uses it. He also uses chemicals but he knows they’re not good for the soil; he doesn’t like using them.He buys his seeds at Medina.He plants lettuce, onions, cucumber.He has sold to the same market women for the last 4 to 5 years. They are neither friends nor family.He bargains the price with the market women.When asked about the quality of the vegetables from Dzorwulu, he just replied that the quality of his products was better because he planted them.He does take some crops back home.He reckoned that he spent a lot in food.He also said that school fees are very expensive. They give food to his children at school.He only uses piped water because stream water is difficult for him to access.He thinks he has enough supply of piped water.He would like to cultivate maize and ground nuts.


Interviewee: Farmer - Alassa IdkissyDate: May 09Place: Dzorwulu Site

39 years old, from Boku (northern Ghana), Muslim, 7 people hh (including him), education: class 4, lives in MamobiFarms in Dzorwulu because he lives close and because his father did, during the raining season he is cultivat-ing maize in central Ghana (this is where he got experience on composting) Q Changes:Little changes over time, loans from organisations, govt coupons for fertilizersLand Tenure:1 No2 yes3 stop farming, able to have money to establish a small table top market (not vegetables), relaxing, land will be handed over to son or grandson, maybe livestock raisingPerceptions & main problems1 every business or job has problems, number one problem is marketing, market women pricing of products is bad, sometimes no buyers2 issue of marketing, improve purchase3 because he is farming he has access to vegs to eat, also cultivating maize for himself, is happy about itWaste1 he doesn’t compost and he didn’t see anybody doing it, has done it before in central Ghana on 2 acres land using cow dung, chicken manure and wood ash 2 there are benefits, they used waste from household for a year, but it was not enough so they used it only on half of the area, used compost and fertilizers on the same beds3 not enough space, other problems on the site are the polybags and all the plastic and the lack of time, but it is possible in homes or other places6 he would use no other fertilizers7 no labout currently, was employing labour 1 year ago for watering, paid 5 beds 1 GHc, now the son helpsLand1 from Agro import dealer2 1 bed for 30 GHc biggest bed, at least 50 or 60 GHc3 constant costumers, but he would sell to anybody who comes around doesn’t matter if short supply or not4 3 years (farming for 9 years)5 No6 no, because this would expose him to exploitation7 no need to consult anybody to sell product when the women come he is able to negotiate well, don’t tell actual prices to other farmers (secret market), not possible because of different sizes of beds8 better quality then other region because long life span, rural farmers produces get spoiled sooner, same quality within Accra. Yes branding would be better money


9 does this with maize for himself10 10 Ghc for food a day, earns 15 GHc but not always, wife has income as wellWater0 uses only piped water, because there is no other source, stream is too far away6 They were meeting 3 – 4 times before it was built and decided in discussion to be willing to use the borehole and paying the bills also agreed on how and when to use7 yes, in association group meeting8 fixed price, less than commercial and domestic rate, they are about 10+ people in the group and everybody pays 3 GHc per month9 more regular water supply on the field than in the stand pipe close to his home10 did not think of this, but he thinks that women are very busy and its not possible to talk to all of them. It is a good thing.

Interviewee: Farmer - TamaliDate: May 09Place: Dzorwulu Site

Age 22, has been farming for 2 years.- His brother was farming here and told him about the site.- 9 members in his family. Had no good grades at school, he left it 2 years ago when he started farming.- No eviction attempts, feels safe.- Hopes he will be somewhere else in ten years.- Perceives chemicals as too expensive, this is why according to him the main needs are chemicals and working tools.- Has never tried compost.- Has hired one person for 3 months.- Buys seeds from different places- 20 GHC for one bed given by women. Women can sell them 1 GHC per lettuce. These women are regu-lar customers. Has been frequenting them for 2 years.- No money borrowed from women.- Thinks that is would be good to negotiate prices between farmers.- Thinks that if people know these vegetables are from Dzorwulu they would pay more because higher quality.- Does not know how to cook vegetables.- Spends about 4-5 GHC per day for his food. Some of his revenues go to the food, some to buy fertilisers, some to an account to save money.- Stream water has benefits for the soil. No skin problems after using the water.- Does not use any protection. Would need boots and gloves but too expensive. 10 GHC for gloves. Would prefer to use machines like in Europe because hand-working results in women not willing to be touched


by him because of his spoiled hands.- He uses techniques to clean waste water, such as collecting only top water.- During the association working groups, they talk about marketing or water.- Has piped water at home, with shortage sometimes.- Has sometimes shortage of 3 days without water on the site.- Would gain more money with more piped water used.- There is unemployment issues in his community. These people would not know what compost is un-less they farm.

Interviewee: FarmerDate: May 09Place: Dzorwulu Site

40 years old, 50% from Ghana.

- Farming on Roman Ridge. Has never heard of the Dzorwulu association. - No idea of what compost is.- He started using chemical fertilisers since 1990.- Pays 15 GHC per month for piped water.- Mainly worried about pesticides and insects. Cannot apply by night when he leaves the site.


60 years old, Religion = Bissa

- Arrived on the site for the first time in 1979. Had no job so joined his brother.- Has been working for 35 years in the Land Commission in part time.- Has 6 children. Has never been to school and regret it. This is why he sent all his children. That has been the main benefit of farming for him.- Will be here until he dies. Children will succeed him.- He uses chemical fertilisers and chicken manure. The quantity has never changed over the last 35 years, even when they got the coupon for the chemicals.- Always had vegetables on the site, but the site has changed over time. Used to be bush.- The association dates back to 2006-2007- Has never been more women on the site.- Has experienced eviction attempts.



30 years old

- Has been farming for 15 years.- Originally from Burkina-Faso- At the beginning the site was a big bush.- His father was working here.- Has grown different crops : Lettuce, salad, green pepper 15 years ago. Now : Spring onion, cabbage.- People have never tried to evict him.- Farming is good because he is at ease with what he is doing.- Never heard of compost.- Buys manure from factory.- Spends 100 GHC a week to hire 5 people.


33 years old - Is farming alone. Husband is dead. Has been farming for 4 years.- Went to school. Likes farming, but thinks it is hard and thinks she will not be able to continue for a long time. She dos not see her farming in 10 years, this is why she is saving money on an account.- Does not hire people.- Lives 30mn walking from the site.- Uses mainly chemicals, not too much manure because attracts insects when it rains.- Producing lettuce, spring onion and cabbage.- She gets 15 GHG per bed of lettuce. No idea of how much women will sell it.- Pays 5 GHC a month for piped water.

Interviewee: Market Woman - NoraDate: May 09Place: Agbogbloshie Market


She buys from Kumasi and Kobu.She says that merchants bring the food to the market on Mondays and Thursdays and they buy the vegetables from them.She has to pay for storage.She lives in James Town.She is member of the association. She says it is a good thing.She doesn’t sell her husbands’ vegetables.

Interviewee: Market Woman - AishaDate: May 09Place: Agbogbloshie Market

It is a family business.During the dry season she has to pay more for vegetables.During the wet season there is abundance and she has to reduce her prices.She puts the leftovers to the bin.She doesn’t say to her customers if the vegetables she is selling have been watered only with piped water, or organic, etc. She doesn’t market them.She wouldn’t pay more for that either.She said that they don’t have an association.She said that the extension officer of the Ministry of Public Health doesn’t visit the market but that an AMA officer does. They come to inspect hygiene and talk to the market queens.

Interviewee: Market Woman - JuliannaDate: May 09Place: Agbogbloshie Market

• 1 yes, here

• 2 she pays 1 GHc every day

• 3 every day of the week, from 5.30 until 6pm

• 4 she likes it she sells since 1945, its good she likes everything

• 5 it used to change by seasons, but now they have irrigation and there is no change anymore, before vegs was cheap now its expensive


• 6 1 – 4 GHc for one cauliflower and transport is expensive, she uses the bus

• 8 uses the bus, its expensive

• 9 she leaves the vegetables over night on the market stall and sews them up in baskets

• 10 Yes from the same farmer, I go according to the harvest time and they are not friends, The farmers gave me credit if I don’t have money to buy

• 11 different places

• 12 no

• 13 the farmers do it for here and it’s the same price

• 14 yes

• 15 no there is nothing special and it doesn’t have a different price on the market

• 16 yes, but im not in because im old

• 17 no

• 18 no husband, left long time ago, she supports the house

• 21 I clean my place

• 23 the price it not about the organic, but about the abundance of the product and the negotiation process

• 27 yes with tap water, sometimes she brings it in the can, she cleans the leaves to sell it better

• 28 no

• 29 yes, but she didn’t say who, someone form the secretary gave training in clean water use and what I can do clean the vegs

• 30 long time ago they used dirty water, now its clean, they use pipes

Interviewee: Market Woman - JannetDate: May 09Place: Agbogbloshie Market


• 1. She sell in the same place, they pay to be there• 2. Works 7 days a week from 7 to 4• 3. She like the market because y quick money, if you lost today you get tomorrow• 4. Always sell the same crops, don’t change during the year• 5. According to the costumer you ger more of less (prices change according to whom they are selling)• 6. A product price can vary from 1 to 5 cedis during the year, it also changes according to the supplier. • 7. The products are already harvested from the farmers. A bag of lettuce is 2,50 ghanas cedis, but there

is competence to buy. Some days there are not many buyers in the market and she can only sell for half of what she paid, but otherwise she sells for double or triple

• 8. Agric car brings veges from togo, Kumasi and the rest of Ghana to market• 9. They don’t keep the veges you sell them quick and cheap• 10. They buy from togo (lettuce), Kumasi (lettuce), benin, cabbage from mountains, they buy some

from accra but its not clean• 11. She buys from different people and the same group of farmers for generations, but they are not

friends or family, money is no friend• Doesn’t lend money to farmers• 11. She buys from the market when the truck comes• 12. Kumasi is good, togo can be bigger, difference of quality by farmer, togo has little but soft carrots,

Kumasi big, but hard ones, the little ones sell better• 13 no she buys it in a bag• 14 doesnt buy in Dzorwulu, they have their own market women• 16 yes we are part of association, actually their mothers are, there are monthly dues, but they don’t

know how much, collect money for funeral parties, don’t see any benefit• 17 no loans• 18 has children but no husbands• 19 she doesn’t have money for training• 20 a lot of money for food, sometimes they eat what they sell• 21 some people clean her place and she gives them money, but her mother cleans the place herself• 22 keep them fresh with water, • 23 organic is better because it keeps longer fresh• 24 no they buy what is cheaper• 25 not possible to market organic for more money, because they cant prove it and consumers don’t

believe if they would just tell• 27 yes, uses tap water, her customers like it washed ,but eg her mother doesn’t do it, because her cos-

tumers don’t mind• 28 no problem, she changes the water in the bowl, where she keeps eg carrots frequently• 29 yes, from maggi, they said that she has clean way of handling, they say they have to veges clean and

to use clean water to attract costumers • 30 if they use piped water its good, if they don’t its not good


• 31 she realises that there is a difference, but the consumer doesn’t know a difference on the market and therefore she doesn’t

• 32 has seen it on tv • 33 nobody ever came from public health office

Interviewee: Market Woman – YvonneDate: May 09Place: Agbogbloshie Market

Age-23 Ethnicity-Eastern Region of GhanaReligion-Christian

1. Yes, every day pay 10 dues, 10 peswas, to sell in market

2. Monday – Saturday, from 4h00 (dawn) to 16h00 in evening or until all vegetables sold

3. Everyone is using it; is her mother’s job; she would go from school to market to help her mother; end of month her mother gives her a salary

4.

5. Yes, this year vegetables were more costly; the price of seed is higher, farmer told them, so the price is higher

6. Farmer sets the price, then they negotiate

7. Sometimes, 100 Ghana cedis for 1 bed of carrots; depends, sometimes 200, sometimes 800; market is about gain and loss, gain and loss

8. Each day a different person from the family – one person each day, Mother, brother, sister, her – goes in a van to Togo; the cost of one trip is 20 Ghana cedis

9. Yes, it there is vegetables leftover from the day put them in a box, under the tin roof (behind the stall); Mother rented box, she knows price

10. Get vegetables from Togo, if no produce in Togo or if the border is closed, go to Kumasi

11. Do not go to Accra because they don’t have enough produce, and because vegetables from Togo last longer

12. Yes, example, carrots from Togo last for 4 days, carrots from Accra only 2 days


13. Yes, she harvests the vegetables, farmers’ don’t help her with it

14. n/a

15. n/a

16. Yes, her mother belongs to it, owners are members and not sellers; but she doesn’t know enough about it because doesn’t belong to it; full of market women the same age as her mother; there are regular meetings

17. No.

18. Unmarried, but her father sells cucumber, and pepper – selling carrots is lady’s work because its more complicated; he sells only what he does – depends on his pockets i.e. how much money he has; he has another job; has a farm in Kumasi, gives money to farmers to farm in Kumasi; and yes, buys from other farmers on sites when there are no goods

19. No, we are cultivators, but others come, buy the vegetables and process it

20. Has sisters and brothers still in school, so spends it on school and allowances for clothes; also, sup-port extended family with money – not all of them, but supports nieces and cousins living with them in their family house; 12 people living in the house, including Mother and Father

21. Every week is main collecting of waste; a woman comes and sweeps each seller’s area; seller pays sweeper to clean their area, puts it in basket, basket dumped in dumpster at the end of the market

22. – 26. No comment

27. Do not wash vegetables before selling.28. No.29. No programmes, maybe in Market Womens’ Association30. – 31. No comment32. Nothing.33. Yes, they should be allowed.34. No comment

Interviewee: Facilitator - DelvineDate: May 12Place: Dzorwulu Site

First I explained to Delvine the concept of the certification and the veggie box as marketing strategy.


Q. Who do you think would be able to do the regular monitoring and quality control on site of the produce?

D: The monitoring would go hand in hand with MoFA, EPA and Ghana Standards Board (GSB). EPA would be in charge of the environmental monitoring of the natural assets on site.

Q: Could you imagine learning how to do the quality control with a certain toolkit and carry it out regularly?

D: Yes, I would like to learn how to do this, but I would need an assistant to help me with the additional work load. I am at the Dzorwulu site every three weeks for one week and there wouldn’t be enough time for me to do it on my own

Q: How many extension workers are employed by MoFA and courses do they receive?

D: In the Sub-metro area there are in total 7 other extension workers, so 8 including me. We meet regularly and talk about our work. We receive regular training and workshops on M&E techniques, gender issues, livestock raising, pests and diseases, and crops. When farmers give us feedback on the things we tell them we don’t al-ways change our training and advices for them because they would not trust us anymore if we would change our advices all the time.

Q: What are the criteria for the nomination of the best farmer of the year?

D: The extension worker nominates the best farmer of the year and every extension worker has his or her own criteria, but generally it has a lot to do in how far they are willing to respond to and implement the advices given by the extension worker.

Q: Do you know any farmer who grow and deliver?

D: Yes, there are two farmers on the roman ridge site, they use motorbikes and they sell mainly to restaurants

Q: Do high income household mainly have housekeepers who do the shopping or do they shop themselves when it’s about food and veggies? What do you think?

D: I think that it depends and that some have housekeepers and some do the shopping themselves.

Q: Do you know how many water taps exist on site and who the bills are getting paid?

D: There are to pipes on site and the bills will get paid by the people who use it. One pipe bill is paid by the women the other one by Karim.


Interviewee: Farmer - KarimDate: May 12Place: Dzorwulu Site

Individual Interview with Karim about the water bills, veggie box and certification.

Q: How many water pipes are on site and how are the bills paid and how much is it per month?

K: There are two pipes on site and the bills are paid by me for one pipe and by Margaret for the other pipe, but all women collect the money for their bill. We pay about 30-40 GHc per month and on our pipe there are two taps. We are two people who use the taps and share the bill. There is a meter, but if we would pay the meter price it would be too expensive. The meter readers set a fixed price which is less than commercial and domestic rate and we have to bribe them for this. They change every year and at the beginning, when they don’t know our situation, we always pay much more, but after a while they understand our situation and they give us a better fixed price per month.

I explained Karim the idea of the vegetable box and ask him how many vegetables they can grow all year round

K: whole year: cucumber, lettuce, spring onion, Chinese cabbage, beet root, spinach, basil, kisibra, jeisam, coriander, parsley, mintSeasonal: aubergine (grows it for the first time and is happy with the result, takes 4 month), reddish twice a year, carrots only during the dry season

Q: what do you think about the idea?

K: It’s an interesting idea, but there is still the problem of the wastewater use and the negative perception. And farmers are difficult to group together and start the scheme and agree on prices and everything else.

He starts talking about the boreholes: We want to drill our own boreholes only 7 feet deep where the water is good, with help from IWMI.

Interviewee: Farmer - AngelinaDate: May 12Place: Dzorwulu Site

Q: how do you pay the bills for the water and how many people use it and how many taps do you have?A: Margaret receives and keeps the bills, but all the women collect it from the users. We have 4 taps for our pipe. The taps are used by immigrants (doesn’t tell the number of people).


Interviewee: Farmer from Roman RidgeDate: May 12Place: Dzorwulu Site Q: Why did you start delivering your produce?

A: Initially I was working with a Lebanese shopkeeper who sold only meat and people where asking him why he doesn’t sell vegetables as well. So he asked me to deliver him the vegetables. After a while the costumers asked him to deliver directly to their homes. I deliver to restaurants and private people. Now they don’t have to call me anymore to give the order, because I know their preferences and to most of them I deliver twice a week. It took about 3 years to know their preferences and the products they want.

Q: Where do you deliver? Close by or all over the city?

A: I deliver all over the city and I don’t only sell my products or products from Roman Ridge or Dzorwulu, but I collect them close to the places where I deliver.

Q: Why?

A: Because there is not enough produced around here so I buy it close to where I have to deliver to. It’s not a matter of quality.

Q: How many deliveries a day? How many days a week?

A: I deliver every day and if I start early (7am) I can make 7-8 costumers a day and if I start late (10-11am) 4-5 people a day. I don’t have any people to help me with the delivery, but I have a farm hand who comes every day.

Q: Is it more profitable to deliver or to sell directly to market women?

A: I sell to market women as well, and although I have to spend money on plastic bags and petrol it is more profitable to deliver. Per bed of lettuce I get 30 GHc from market women and 40 GHc when I deliver.

Q: Are your costumers concerned about the irrigation source for the products?

A: Some of them are some of them aren’t.


Interviewee: Farmer - ImmanuelDate: May 12Place: Dzorwulu Site

Farming for 14 yearsCame to site after friends started farming there, land was empty at the time

Main problem: labour intensive to dig beds, but never hires helpNever tried compost, uses manure and chemicals and both are good

Water: only uses piped water, pays bill with group every monthThere are 3 meters with 6 people on each meter, they pay a fixed rateSometimes the pipe is locked for days at a day, more often in dry seasonOne pond lasts 10 beds so there’s no way it will last 3 days while the piped water is unavailableSometimes they are warned before they close the tapWater goes off in all communities not just the farmNever heard any complaints/problems about using piped waterCompared to other areas the site has good service and they store water for other places

Sell vegetables to both market women and some locals, different market women each timeSell to family for a higher price than market women to discourage them coming to the site for a discount off market price (too much work to harvest in small quantities)

Also eats what he grows and buys some food from outside (what he eats is mostly the fruit from the nearby trees)

Sometimes borrows money from market women (Karimi might be able to expand on this)No other sources of credit, never had any problems with market womenSome pay before they sell and some afterHe would prefer to get paid beforeNever discusses the prices with anyone before selling, just decides what is a good priceSome market women tell the truth about what is a good price but you never know unless you go to the mar-ket yourself.

Interviewee: 4 women from the local communityDate: May 12Place: Local Community


1. Put organic waste in bags in bin2. Pay Zoomlion 10 cedis a month, 20-40 pesewas every morning3. At first said they wouldn’t sort as it would be a waste of time, but if they were given a bin they would as it would be easier4. Have good relations with farmers. Get vegetables for free and buy some. Borrow water when pipes in the community are locked and they often go over to sell them things5. Eat the vegetables they buy right away6. Don’t know the difference between organic and non because food isn’t labeled. “A carrot is a carrot”7. Sometimes go to Agblogbloshie Market if they can’t get something at the Dzorwulu site but it is more expensive than on site

Women in the community separates plastic bags and sells them to a company

Interviewee: 1 man and 2 women from the local communityDate: May 12Place: Local Community

1. Gives it to animals and some to farmers, uses some for firewood2. Zoomlion charges 10 cedis a month (bin) or 1 cedis per bag3. Would separate if bin were provided4. Have family members farming at Dzorwulu site5. Eat vegetables they buy right away6. Would prefer organic but they’re never labeled (can tell the difference by taste) Fertilizer makes veg-etables look big but actually not very good and taste bad

Interviewee: 1 man and 1 woman from the local communityDate: May 12Place: Local Community

1. Gives waste to goat farmer and throws some away2. Zoomlion: 10 cedis per month and 30 p to boys per bag3. Would be willing to separate with bins4. Good relationship with farmers: buys cabbages, cheaper to go site than to buy vegetables at market5. Knows farmers use manure, she prefers organic, her sister farms that way and the food is better6. Eat things right away when they are ripe


Interviewee: 1 woman from the local communityDate: May 12Place: Local Community

1. Dumps all garbage at the bin2. Pays 30p. twice a week3. Would separate with bins4. Sometimes buys from farmers but not often5. Can’t tell the difference between organic and non, suggested maybe she would like to be educated on the benefits of each6. Buys vegetables to eat right away, washes them

Documents

Promoting Sustainable Urban Livelihoods Through Sustainable Urban Agriculture. Case Study: Dzorwulu- Ghana