Case Study 1: Land Conservation and Smallholder Rehabilitation
Project (LACOSREP II)
2.0
Perspectives on good practice from project staff and beneficiaries
2.1
Brief introduction of project
The Upper East Region (UER), in the Northern Savanna agro-ecological zone, covers a total land
area of about 8 800 km2 (3.7 % of the total land area of Ghana). It is located in the northeastern
corner of Ghana with an estimated population of 97, 2031 (2005 estimate), of which 80% are
employed in agriculture (IFAD, 2006). The Upper East Region’s population density is 104.06 km2
and predominantly rural (87% of the total population). Administratively, the region is divided
into nine districts which correspond roughly with the main tribal groupings.
The Upper East Region is characterized by: a high and expanding rural population; the
unreliability of its rainfall and susceptibility to drought and floods; and the inexorable rate of
degradation of its environment. The farming systems used are still largely based on the
traditional shifting cultivation approach of using long season crops combined with the bushfallow system to maintain soil fertility. However, over time fallow periods are constrained by
population pressure on the land.
Only by developing a location
specific program of carefully
designed and supervised trials
would
the
problems
of
environmental degradation be
adequately addressed.
The need to provide irrigation for
high value crops as well as for
livestock
has
long
been
acknowledged. During the 1950’s
and 1960’s many dams were built
but have however outlived their
20-25 year design life, leading to
their deterioration. This was
further aggravated by lack of
maintenance. Hence, the rationale
for the rehabilitation of the dam
and the construction of dugouts in
LACOSREP 1. On completion of
LACOSREP
1,
both
the
Government and IFAD indicated their willingness to continue cooperating in developing this
highly depressed, impoverished and food insecure region.
Consequently, an Interim Evaluation Mission (IEM) was sent to evaluate the effectiveness of
project interventions. Interim Evaluation field work demonstrated that the contribution of the
water resources development component to rural household food security, increased
employment opportunities, and improved household income was significant. Notwithstanding
these achievements, a number of critical project initiatives in grassroots capacity-building,
gender equity, and cost recovery as well as sustainability of Water Users Associations (WUA),
credit schemes, and catchment area protection were only partially accomplished and therefore
required further consolidation in LACOSREP II.
The LACROSEP 2 project was mainly funded by IFAD and supported by GoG, NGOs, and
beneficiary organizations. Implementation started effectively in 2000 and ended in 2006 as
stated in the LACROSEP 2 project completion document (ID: 1124)
The target group for the project was sections of the rural population who are most at risk from
malnutrition, ill health and general low quality of life. Rural people are drawn into ‘at risk’
category due to a combination of factors including lack of resources and access to adequate
basic services and facilities. Absolute poverty was defined as "that income below which a
nutritionally adequate diet plus essential non-food requirements is non affordable”. For Ghana,
on a whole, it was estimated that in 1986, 67% of smallholders, defined as those farming less
than 4 acres (1.6 ha), were living in poverty i.e. below the Basic Need Income (BNI). Given the
lower productivity of the region’s upland farms, a more representative figure for the region
would be six acres (2.4 ha). Hence, virtually the whole of the smallholder population of the
project would fall within the target group on these general criteria. However, within a generally
impoverished rural society, there are those families, including women-headed households, who
faced substantially greater hardships than their neighbors. Total income is chronically low in
many female-headed households due to the presence of at most only one (female) wage earner
and women’s lower earnings in the labor market (Blank 2002; Ellwood 2000; Tickamyer and
Bokemeier cited in Synder, MacLaughlin and Findei, 2006). Therefore programs and projects
which seek to reduce poverty have to consider female-headed households in order to achieve a
sound poverty reduction. An estimated 11,000 households or 20% of the rural population, in
the region are headed by women. Accordingly, the determinants of access to land and of
national farm income were used to establish a framework within which specific identification of
the more disadvantaged families was made and project resources channeled to them.
On the basis therefore, of a holding of 2 ha or less and of the inadequacy of alternative
employment, it is estimated that some 70,000 farm families or some 66% of the rural
population are severely disadvantaged and would constitute the target group. Project initiatives
was meant to directly benefit about 40.000 families or about 60% of the target group through
the proposed crop and livestock development and the promotion of income generating
activities (IGAs).
Project Objectives, components and beneficiaries
From the project document, the overall objective of LACOSREP II was to empower rural
populations living in poverty to use the opportunities provided by the project to:
1. Access improved technology, services and credit in order to increase and stabilize their farm
incomes through irrigation, improved technology.
2. To develop their social infrastructure to improve their living conditions and environment.
The project was to strengthen the capacity of LACOSREP staff and stakeholders to integrate
gender aspects into their work.
Specific objectives were:
1. Build the capacity of key formal and informal institutions that provide technical and social
services to use demand-driven participatory approaches at the district and sub district levels
2. Further develop irrigation in the Upper East Region
3. Increase productivity through farmer training and demonstrations of new technologies for
increasing productivity of crops, livestock and fish
4. Construct rural infrastructure to reduce the female labor burden and take measures to
mitigate the possible risks of negative health and environmental impacts.
To achieve these objectives, LACOSREP was structured into five components:
1. Water resources
2. Rural infrastructure
3. Income generation
4. Agriculture development
5. Capacity building
These components were spread across the region. For instance dams were constructed in
places like Dasabligo, Dorongo, Zuabuliga, Ninsako, Chansa and Widnaba. In all 24 dams were
rehabilitated and 12 new dams were constructed under the water resources component. The
rural infrastructure component also worked on improved transportation, water and sanitation
facilities. Agriculture development also undertook projects relating to catchment protection,
improvement in soil fertility, agro biodiversity and environmental protection. Capacity building
was also carried out to improve upon institutions within the framework of the project.
The income generating component benefitted 12,243 individuals and provided group loans
without collateral to 10,251 individuals, relying on group pressure to guarantee the repayment,
which corresponds approximately to 21% of the originally targeted number of clients. Seven
dams were operational in 2005 representing 19% of the total 36 planned. As a result 80 ha out
of the planned 372 ha were available to farmers. In addition 197 out of 300 Farmer Training
Demonstrations (FTDs) were carried out in the year 2000. On the whole the total participating
farmers were 6,266, which was 70% of the envisaged target. Of this 3,898 were men (60%) and
2,546 women (40%).
Photo 1: Dam at Dorongo provided by LACOSREP
Source: Field data August 2010
Budget/inputs
Information on budget inputs for the project was not available.
2.2
Steps taken in project design to ensure PEG issues are addressed
Information gathered from project documents indicate that the project, right from the initiation
stage took into account the role of gender, poverty reduction and also environmental issues in
its objectives. The recognition of the needs of the minority and women, and general
improvement in the living conditions of the people who are mostly poor was conceived by the
project staff during the initiation stage. The project, in this regard, sought to meet the needs of
the rural population as well as improving upon the living conditions of the people. Some of the
needs it sought to meet include adequate farming technologies and consequently ability to
stabilize and increase farm incomes; adequate social infrastructure; access to credit.
The living conditions of the people are affected by the environment which determines to a
greater extent the way the people live. Since the majority of the people in the region are crop
farmers, therefore, the sustainability of the environment would enhance their welfare in
general. In an area noted for erosion, one of the environmental concerns was to reduce erosion
which affects crop yield as well as food security.
Also involving the communities through consultations helped the project staff to know the
priorities of the communities and to identify that the construction of the dam would be
important to achieving the objectives of the project. Project therefore involved vulnerable
groups such as women, widows, people with disability and single mothers at the
implementation stage to elicit their support and commitment to bring the project to fruition.
Also the criteria used in the selection of communities to benefit from components of the
project outlined various aspects of participation which include community demand,
participatory well being ranking, the participation of all households without regard for income
and asset position and above all the inclusion of women as well as other vulnerable groups.
LACOSREP II also employed a gender officer on a contract basis to ensure the gender objectives
of the project were met.
Another step taken was to build the capacity of the relevant groups and institutions which were
involved in the implementation of the project. The institutions included MOFA, District
Assemblies, the financial institutions and village group animators. The aim of the capacity
building was to equip them to effectively and efficiently support the implementation of the
project.
In the PRA exercise some community members confirmed that before the project took off, a
needs assessment was carried out during which men and women and the youth were
consulted. This exercise ensured that issues of poverty, gender and environment and those
affected most were identified and incorporated into the design and implementation of the
project. Some community members however did not give this impression during the field work.
2.3 Assessment of how the project was able to effectively address PEG
LACOSREP addressed the PEG nexus in the following areas:
1. Resource access
2. Access to social amenities and services
3. Protection of the physical environment
4. Improved agronomic practices
5. Natural resource management
6. Food security and income
7. Participation voice and rights
Resource access-irrigable land and credit
In developing countries where an average of 70% of the country’s poor live and work in rural
areas, women make up a substantial majority of the agricultural workforce and produce most
of the food that is consumed locally (World Bank, FAO and IFAD, not dated), although women
do not have rights to own land but are invariably allocated plots. IFAD suggested that when
women have equal land rights and tenure security as men have, as well as access to the use of
fertilizer then profits per hectare would nearly double (IFAD, World Bank and FAO, not dated).
Therefore the empowerment of women in agricultural programs and policies seek not only to
promote agricultural development but also national development.
One major problem for women in the Upper East region is lack of access to productive resource
such as land. This is due to the customary practice or system of inheritance which prevents
women from inheriting and limits their access to irrigated land. Therefore if the project was to
benefit women there was the need to ensure that women had access to land. The project
realized that the process of empowering women by improving their access to irrigated land and
credit posed a threat to the traditional power structure. The project addressed this challenge by
negotiating with chiefs and the tindanas (earth or land priests) to allocate land to women.
According to the project staff and project communities, after project staff negotiated with
tindanas, traditional chiefs, husbands, and male leaders, women’s access to irrigated land
improved notably, even though women’s plots were still about one-fourth the size of men’s.
This has led to better opportunities for investments in trading and farming, but also in activities
that do not directly generate income but contribute to household welfare such as health,
schooling and the situation of women. Although difficult to quantify, information from project
documents and project staff as well as communities shows that women are beginning to feel
empowered and are sharing in decisions in households as well as gaining control over the use of
the income they earn. This is a change from the previous situation in communities in the Upper
East Region, where there is a tradition of women giving most of their incomes to their husbands
and also, they having to help their husbands in the farm before attending to their own farms.
Again as gathered from the communities and from project documents, women’s involvement in
the Water Users Association (WUA) system has given them direct access to irrigated land. As a
consequence, women are playing a much greater role in the management of irrigation and this
is highly visible at meetings where they speak up to represent their own views. The Functional
Literacy Groups (FLGs) have also provided an arena for women to co-operate and organize
collective income-generating activities. Husbands are said to be increasingly listening to their
wives’ views on issues concerning the household and even passing on their financial
responsibilities onto their wives, as they consider them to be financially sound.
The project component which increased access to greater capital such as loans (refer to table 1
below) and means of transport, such as bicycles, has undoubtedly accelerated women’s entry
into the market. The livestock component, by increasing access to investments in goats,
chickens and guinea-fowl, has played a similar role in empowering women in the project
communities.
Table 1: Loan Distribution in Groups between Males and Females
Frequency of Loans
Groups
Male
Female
One
285
715
2479
Two
578
1910
3155
Three
124
631
1153
Four
14
67
141
Total
3 194
5 065
1 784
208
Total
% Appraisal Target
1001
3323
19.9
6950
21.7
10 251
21.1
Source: IFAD, LACOSREP Interim Evaluation Report, 2006
Reports from the participatory rural appraisal (PRA) exercise revealed that community
members, to a large extent, agreed to the project perspective that the project has positively
affected women’s access to land and credit in the community. As a result women are no longer
totally dependent on their husbands as they are able to farm and get money to buy their needs.
This has also restored the respect and dignity of women in terms of decision making in the
household and at the community level. This is as a result of their involvement in income
generating activities. The dam also provided job opportunities for women outside the project
communities since they come to work as laborers, especially on the farms of men and are paid
for that.
Improved access to social amenities and services
Access to water
Water is life and access to good quality drinking water is vital in the quest for poverty reduction
to enhance equitable development. Access to a commodity such as water has always been a
problem for the poor. Lack of potable water results in many poor people depending on polluted
water which often exposes them to water borne diseases such as cholera, bilharzias and guinea
worm infestation. The most affected are women and girls who are responsible for fetching
water. Our literature review in task one revealed that the burden of fetching water for instance
is heavier on women and girls in the three northern regions as compared to the southern
regions. This is due to traditional practices which excludes men from carrying out such
household tasks. Due to lack of water in the study communities, many women and girls spend
long hours in search of water at the expense of engaging in productive activities that would
earn them income.
On this premise the LACOSREP took this into consideration to ensure improvement in the lives
of beneficiaries. LACOSREP, by providing the dam has increased women’s access to water,
reducing the travel time used in fetching water and therefore women can now save time for
productive activities and leisure. Interaction with community members revealed that men in
Dakutu now fetch water due to the short distance.
“Women in Dakutu used not to marry men in the community because the new
bride would have to suffer to fetch water for the construction of their new home.
All these have stopped as a result of the construction of the dam” - a participant
in a focus group discussion with women.
From the communities’ view point the project has helped increase access to water, a critical
commodity which poor people often lack. For instance the people in Dakutu used to harvest
rain water in dug out pits for domestic purposes or alternatively they had to travel about 2-3
hours to get water which is not potable. As a result of the construction of the dam, travel time
to fetch water has reduced and therefore women can now save time for productive activities
such as farming and petty trading, and also to have some leisure.
Also with the availability of water, girls are very punctual at school as they do not have to spend
a lot of time in fetching water. This shows that with improved access to certain amenities such
as water and some level of education and sensitization, certain practices that promote gender
inequality could be minimized.
Photo 2: With availability of water women in Datuku no longer travel long distance in search of water for
construciton work
Source: Field data August 2010
Improved Health conditions
Rural communities such as the Dorongo and Datuku often have limited access to health
facilities and services due to their inability to afford the cost or the non availability of health
facilities and services. Health conditions are often improved through prevention and curative
approaches. For instance the prevention of pollution is essential in securing good quality
drinking water all year round. When this is done then prevalence of waterborne diseases and
the cost of treatment are reduced.
Towards the end of LACOSREP I, health issues in relation to water bodies were flagged as
significant. The most important of these were schistosomiasis and malaria. The dams contained
significant amounts of biological contamination, notably cloriforms which were associated with
the absence of sanitation. The provision of hand-dug wells and latrines in the dam site
communities has improved the situation of the communities and thus reduce biological
contamination. However, though the health aspect of LACOSREP was carried out, it seems the
impact has been minimal since there is an increase in water borne diseases (schistosomiasis
and malaria), throughout the region. Project reports and interviews from project staff indicate
that there was evidence of high levels of soil-transmitted helminthes throughout Northern
Ghana associated with standing water, and an absence of public health measures in relation to
small dams which could lead to increased incidence of related infections, with debilitation and
greater susceptibility to a range of other pathologies, especially among children.
Also with increased incomes, community members are now able to access health care. There
has been improved nutrition due to the availability of fresh vegetables all year round. In
addition, fish is available from the dam and is used to supplement animal protein.
The team also gathered from the communities that the project (dam) has also helped improve
the environment as the community members in Datuku spoke about ‘reduction in heat in the
atmosphere’ as a result of the dam. The reduction in temperature is good for them because the
Upper East Region is noted to be very hot especially during the hot season resulting in many
people contracting the spinal meningitis.
Education
Access to education is also often a challenge for poor people who because of lack of money are
unable to afford their children’s school fees and other school needs. Since water is now
accessible all year round, it has led to increased income from farming activities. Parents are
now able to support their children's education from the income earned from farming.
According to community members in Dorongo, their children are now able to go to school up to
the Senior High School (secondary) level.
Protection of physical environment
Poor people are further plunged into poverty as a result of the poor condition of their physical
environment which makes the prone to natural disasters. The PRA in the two communities
confirmed that the communities like other communities in the region are prone to floods and
other hazards such as windstorms. In fact in Dorongo it was reported that people’s farms were
submerged and houses collapsed anytime the community experienced floods. But the most
affected are the poor people who have built their houses with mud or clay that easily collapse.
For this reason it was important to also protect the dam through the catchment protection
methods.
Catchment protection methods are many and varied but the LACOSREP project adopted tree
planting and creation of bunds as the method to achieve this. Catchment protection activities
were carried out at LACOSREP I sites, and the targets were largely achieved. This method
helped in afforestation, making water available throughout the year and providing wind breaks
to help shelter the water body from windstorms. In the stabilization of the dam walls, and in
defining the bunds providing protection in the catchment protection area, vetiver grass was
planted. As an added incentive for its growth and preservation vetiver grass was used by
women as an alternative material for basket weaving.
The PRA in the two communities confirmed that beneficiaries were involved in activities to
protect the catchment area of the dams. These included gathering and carrying of stones to lay
at the banks of the dam and also planting of elephant grass to prevent erosion.
However, in Dorongo the dam is reported to be choked and prone to flooding when there is
heavy rainfall. The dam easily becomes full and overflows its banks making it difficult for the
community members to commute to Bolgatanga market. It also causes erosion in some parts of
the community.
Improved Agronomic practices -Maintenance of soil fertility, use of improved varieties etc
The land in the Upper East Region is susceptible to erosion which has to a large extent
contributed to the seeming desertification of the land. The situation has rendered the land
inadequate to support crops due to decreasing soil fertility. Desertification also results from
inappropriate farming practices such as farming on the same piece of land over long period of
time. (Amanor, 2001).
The PRA confirmed what project documents have said that soil infertility is a major
environmental challenge facing the study communities. Communities are of the view that
continuous cropping on a particular piece of land over a long period of time is one factor
contributing to reduction in soil fertility. In Datuku the men group explained that 20 years ago
the land was fertile because farmers could get good yield any time they cultivated their fields
but now the land has lost it fertility. Twenty years ago a famer could get 6-8 ‘cocoa sacks’ (i.e.
60-65 kg a bag) of grains per acre but now one could hardly get three cocoa sacks per acre be it
maize, millet or guinea corn. Both men and women in the two communities reported that the
problem has led to food insecurity and in the communities all year round as well as low
incomes.
People in the communities said that now when you farm and you do not apply fertilizer to your
field, you can only get a low yield and even sometimes very little which is woefully inadequate.
Because of the high cost of fertilizer most people are unable to afford. Women in the two
communities complained about their inability to afford fertilizer hence can only have lower
yields.
As a result the LACOSREP project included the improvement of soil fertility to make farming
more profitable which would ensure the effective utilization of the dam for sustainable
agriculture and increased incomes.
The introduction and development of composting has clearly made a considerable impact and
the idea is apparently spreading outside the project area. The serious environmental
degradation problems in the Upper East Region required LACOSREP II to emphasize soil and
water conservation. The project has had a considerable positive impact both on direct increase
of soil productivity in project areas and improving participant and neighboring communities’
awareness about soil conservation.
People in the two communities also explained that one method of improving soil fertility is
through the use of cattle manure. In Datuku, the Water Committee chairman explained that
animals come to the irrigation site to feed and to drink. The droppings or feaces they leave
behind are used by some farmers as manure. But some community members complained that
not everybody benefits from this because not all members of the communities have cattle.
The PRA with the communities also indicated that the project organized training courses for
farmers in making organic manure to help improve soil fertility. However according to a
technical officer at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) the practice has been
abandoned because most of the farmers claimed they need some money to be able to make
the compost. Also some farmers who have been trained have left the community without
transferring the skills to other farmers.
Natural resource management -Agro biodiversity
Agro biodiversity was the broader goal achieved by the project as a result of some of the more
specific goals that were achieved such as, maintenance of soil fertility.Community members
recognize the importance of biodiversity and natural resources to their lives. These are in the
form of animals, fruit trees and medicinal trees for the treatment of diseases such as malaria
and stomach problems. However, fruit trees like taama, keko (wild dates), sinsibi, gea, aara
(types of berries) and wild animals were reported to have disappeared. In Dorongo, a
participant in the men’s focus group lamented that “the wild spices such as buffalos, elephants,
antelopes, tigers and even rabbits have disappeared. He explained that forty years ago people
could not walk alone because of the fear of attack by wild animals and even when you saw a
lion or elephant, you try to hide from it. But all those species are no more there due to the
activities of hunters”. In Datuku, it was explained that the forest area which is out of the town
used to be the place where wild animals lived but now the Fulani people have come to settle
there and their cattle have destroyed the forest.
The most people affected by the destruction of the biodiversity are the poor who used to
depend on bush meat and fruits especially in the lean season. People from the two
communities explained that bush animals and fruits were food security for most people in the
past.
Though biodiversity issues did not come from project documents or interviews from project
staff, the communities reported that the implementation of the project has contributed to
afforestation through the availability of water. Prior to the project, lack of water was a big
problem in Datuku. Since the construction of the dam water is now available hence
encouraging community members to plant different species of trees. A key informant in Datuku
explained that with the availability of the dam, she is now into the nursing and sale of tree
seedling such as moringa, cashew and teak. The dams are also a source of fish for the
communities. Fishing is mostly done by the youth.
Improved food security and income
Agricultural productivity is an indication of household and community wealth and serves as a
proxy indicator for food security and income. Literature has shown that there is a positive link
between irrigated agriculture and poverty reduction (FAO, 1999, FAO, 1996, Hazell and
Haggblade, 1990 in Hasnip, N., Vincent, L. and Hussein, K., 1999). Irrigation benefits individuals
and households by increasing the stable flow of income from farming, appreciation of the value
of irrigable land, improved food security, lower food prices and water for non agricultural
purposes among others.
One of major needs of the people in the three northern regions is to be provided with irrigation
dams to enable them farm all year round, since that part of the country experiences only one
rainy season. LACROSREP II recognized the perennial problem of fluctuations in food production
(both quantitatively and qualitatively) which have been a major drive for food insecurity in the
Region and Ghana as a whole (Asante, 2004) in its project design. What is more is that food
insecurity has had disproportionate impact on men and women with the case of women being
severer than men due to the bias in the access and control of resources. LACOSREP addressed
this by the provision of the irrigation dams, by introducing farmers, especially the women who
were gaining access to land, to improved farming systems, in terms of planting, applying
fertilizer, caring for growing plants and storing harvested food. This led to improvement in yield
as indicated in table 3. Both men and women farmers at the FGD all emphasized the fact that
the availability and access to food improved for themselves and families. Again, the income
from their produce was quite enough for portions to be reinvested into farming and other
economic ventures. Additionally, livestock production also improved under the project with
production of cattle increasing by 8.2 percent, goats by 57.5 percent, pigs by 1.6 percent and
sheep by 24.6 percent (IFAD, 2006).
As reported by the project, one other way of addressing poverty and improve food security
issues was to procure farm inputs, such as fertilizer for the beneficiary communities. It
improved soil productivity in the short term. But towards the end of the project in 2006,
fertilizer use decreased by 3% due to the more organic measures the project took to ensure the
improvement of the soil productivity. With irrigation the effects of fertilizers on the yields of
new or existing crop varieties were enhanced and multiple farm enterprises with livestock,
crops and agro processing were developed. Agrochemicals, improved maize, cowpea and
groundnuts seeds were distributed to technical staff to support beneficiaries in conducting on
farm demonstrations and for sale to farmers. Some progress has been made in marketing and
processing: improved storage structures for onions has reduced loss from 50% plus to 25-40%
over three to five months, when onions can be sold for as much as Gh¢30 (US$20) compared to
Gh¢8 (US$5.30) per 73 kilo bag at harvest.
From the communities’ perspective, the availability of the irrigation dams has led to increased
farming activities and animal rearing. This has helped improve food security and income levels.
The availability of the dam has contributed to the cultivation of crops especially vegetables by
both men and women which are sold both in the community and in outside markets.
Photo 3: Improved Vegetable farming as a result of the dam
Source: Field Data 2010
With improvement in the availability and access to food and incomes, communities reported of
a reduction in migration of the youth and its attendant problems. Many young boys and girls
who hitherto move to the southern part of Ghana and other places to look for work now
depend on the dam for dry season farming which earn them income. Previously, young people
especially young women would go to south to do “kayayo” (head portage for money). By the
time they return they are “spoiled” (i.e. slept with men). This kind of migration is slowly
reducing as the irrigation dam provides hope of employment and income generating
opportunities.
Photo 4; Livestock farming in beneficiary communities
Source: Field Data 2010
From the communities’ perspective the provision of the dam has also increased livestock
production in the communities, meaning more incomes for the men, who own most of the
cattle, sheep and goats. This is because water is now available for their animals all the time. In
addition, the danger of losing animals in the long search for water is reduced. In Datuku, it was
explained that the dam serves as place for poultry farming for the men since they are the
landlords. The women also rear birds but at the household level. The birds owned by women
are also few compared to what the men have. Poultry such as local fowls, turkey, guinea fowl
and ducks are reared around the dam. In the dry season these birds lay lots of eggs, especially
the guinea fowl and duck. There is market for these birds in the dry season. Money earned from
selling them is used to pay school fees, buy uniforms and other school needs. Some are also
used for consumption and sacrifice.
Community Participation and voice.
One reason given by people why they are poor is lack of voice and participations. This is
manifest in the lack of participation by community people in planning and implementation of
development projects. It is also evident in the lack of participation by vulnerable groups such as
the poor, women and children, people with disability and widows in household and community
decision making process. As a result their voice –concerns and needs – are often not captured
in household and community decisions.
LACOSREP addressed this by involving the communities through consultations in order to know
the priorities of the communities and to identify that the construction of the dam would be
important to achieving the objectives of the project. Information gathered from the project
staff revealed that the project consulted everyone including vulnerable groups such as women,
widows, people with disability and single mothers at the implementation stage to elicit their
support and commitment to bring the project to fruition. This ensured that the needs of all
were considered. To achieve this the project employed participatory methods which included
community demand, participatory well being ranking, the participation of all households
without regard for income and asset position and above all the inclusion of women as well as
other vulnerable groups.
LACOSREP II also employed a gender officer on a contract basis to ensure the gender objectives
of the project were met.
The impact of the project through improved incomes has also improved the participation and
voice of vulnerable groups such as women both at home and in the community. This is because
with increased income due to improved access to land for farming, women are able to
contribute financially to household and community obligations. As a result they are
participating more in household and community decision making and also demanding that their
voice be heard.
The impact of LACOSREP in this direction is commendable because the status of women in the
beneficiary communities just like women in other communities in the Upper East region is low.
Most often their views are not considered both at home and in the community. One reason
often given for this is the dowry system where a man has to pay about four cows for a wife. This
makes husbands to consider their wives as their properties to be used or managed as they
want. Moreover the women are considered as strangers who should not be allowed to
participate in decision affecting the family and the community or inheriting property such as
land as the land would be appropriated by her family in the event of divorce or death. By
empowering women through improved access to productive resources, increased productivity
and income the project has improved the inclusion of very poor people including women in
family and community decision making processes.
2.4
Assessment of processes that helped the project to be a “good practice”
From the project staff interviewed and documents, one can say that the LACOSREP project was
a good practice because of the following process used;
 Consultation with community members (men, women, youth) to identify their needs in
other to design an intervention that addressed their needs taking into account gender,
poverty and the environment
 Designing of an intervention comprising of various components aimed at addressing the
gender-poverty-environment linkage
 Actively empowering women to share their views in decision making in both the home
and community.
 Helping women to get access to improved irrigated lands which have enabled them to
generate more income to support their families.
However, a key problem identified during the interim evaluation of LACOSREP II was with the
fact that because there were so many components, there was no clear integrative strategy.
Component activities were being carried out with no linkages. Inferentially, gender
mainstreaming, rural infrastructure, water resource and agricultural development components
were being run in isolation with the consequence of high management costs.
2.5
Assessment of the extent to which the project dealt with the “symptoms” of PEG
interactions
In its conceptual framework, PDA identified the following variables: voice, rights, participation,
legislation, policies and customary practices as key determinants of the poverty, environment
and gender nexus. The rationale being that in tackling the structural causes of poverty, gender
inequality and environmental degradation and when designing programmes to be pro-poor,
pro-gender and pro-environmentally friendly these variables should always be taken into
account (see annex 4). With the support of LACOSREP issues such as lack of access to resources
and basic services like water and health, lack of voice and low participation of marginalized
groups such as women, lack of access to productive resources such as land and low agricultural
productivity and low incomes which were prevalent in the project communities have been
reduced. In effect;
 There has been improvement in income sources, assets and food security.
 Agriculture has been diversified from solely relying on crop farming to supplementing it
with livestock rearing.
 Prevention of erosion and floods has been minimized through the catchment protection
methods adopted.
 The workload of women has also reduced thereby giving them ample time to engage in
productive activities.
 The incidence of water borne diseases has been significantly reduced since people now
have access to improved quality water for domestic purposes.
These observations from both project and communities imply that the project has contributed
to a general improvement in the living conditions of beneficiaries.
2.6
Assessment of the extent to which the underlying “drivers” were a contributing factor
or addressed
The LACOSREP project has contributed in changing the traditional system of women not having
access to land. With the women now getting access to irrigated lands as a result of the
negotiation the project had with the tindaanas (land priests) and chiefs, they have been able to
improve on their income levels and thus, are empowered to participate in decision making
processes both in their homes and communities.
However, the communities’ involvement in the project planning was not complete. For instance
the men in Dorongo explained that had there been more consultations with the community
they would have helped provide more suitable land for the project and also contribute the
needed human labor in the construction of the dam.
A project such as LACOSREP would achieve better results if government policies are designed to
support them. The government cost recovery policy derailed the accomplishment of LACOSREP
in the area of livestock development. The cost recovery scheme of vaccination hindered access
to animal health. It is estimated that vaccination expenses range between Gh¢0.10 to Gh¢0.20
per livestock head which could be the cause of low vaccination rates of sheep for peste des
petits ruminants and anthrax which were as low as 1% and de-worming at 7%, (IFAD, 2006).
Table 2 below explains further the impact of the cost of vaccination on vaccination coverage in
the Upper East Region.
Table 2; Small Ruminant Health Care and Vaccinations, July 2003-June 2004
by LACOSREP II
Activity
Type of Ruminant
Sheep
Goats
% coverage of livestock
population in Region
Sheep
Goats
PPR
Anthrax
De-worming
Parasite control
2 404
2 105
13 820
1 954 2
1 246
1 391
11 514
791
1.3
1.1
7.2
1.0
0.6
0.7
5.9
1.4
Source: IFAD, LACOSREP Interim Evaluation Report, 2006
2.7
Synthesis of Findings, Lessons Learned and implications for Local Study on
Poverty, Environment and Gender (PEG)
2.7.1
PEG interactions and linkages
The Poverty-Environment-Gender linkages in LACOSREP can be seen in the following objectives,
namely: building the capacity of institutions, access to productive resources such as irrigation
dams, participation, voice and rights, access to new technologies, access to land and improved
access to social amenities and services and natural resource management.
Building the Capacity of institutions
The activities of institutions have effects on the poor. For instance the poor have limited access
to public goods which has adverse effect on poverty reduction efforts. Formal and informal
institutions are an essential part of human society. As the literature review in task one revealed,
being part of an association or a social institution for instance is a source of social capital for the
poor. For institutions to provide good and services to the poor in a more efficient way requires
that they are well trained and provided with the requisite logistics. To ensure that the
institutions which were involved in the implementation of the project work efficiently and
effectively LACOSREP carried out training needs assessment for each institution to identify the
unique needs of the organizations. The following institutions were supported in capacity
building activities: agricultural extension agents of MOFA, district assemblies, commercial and
rural banks, and village group animators. Capacity building was then done accordingly in results
based report writing workshops, Workshops on problem analysis with stakeholders and IT
training/computer programming. The capacity building also involved the formation and
training of the WUAs and the FLGs in gender sensitization and analysis, group dynamics,
irrigation responsibilities and functions. This enhanced the performance of the WUA, and
provided an arena for women to cooperate and organize collective income generation. In
addition, financial institutions such as the banks were also brought on board and sensitized to
make monies available to the poor at reduced interest rates to help build up capital.
Provision of infrastructure - Irrigation Development
The literature reviewed in task one emphasized the importance of water for humanity which
has no substitute as lack of water has severe implications for agriculture, livestock, men,
women and children. In line with the above statement, the provision of irrigation facilities as a
means to alleviating poverty is thus very crucial. In a region such as the Upper East, where the
rainfall pattern is not regular enough to sustain farming all year round, and the majority of
people depend on produce from subsistence farming, the construction of irrigation dams in
these two communities is a big relief for the people. Confirming what we identified in the
literature review about the impact of water availability on women, the provision of the
irrigation dam has invariably reduced the burden of women and girls by providing them with
potable water within a reasonable distance.
Trees were planted around the dam to protect it and also improve upon vegetation in the area.
The project team recognized some of the hazards associated with dam construction and put in
mechanisms to mitigate these effects. For instance, the beneficiaries were sensitized on how
to control water borne diseases such as schistosomiasis, malaria and hookworm.
Improved Methods of Farming
Food security is essential in the drive towards poverty reduction. One reason for food insecurity
in Ghana as identified in the literature review is overdependence on rain-fed agriculture and
the use of rudimentary farming methods, resulting in fluctuations in food production both
quantitatively and qualitatively each year. Thus farmers are unable to control fluctuation in
household and national food outputs (Asante 2004). It was learnt that the project recognized
this problem prior to the intervention by LACOSREP and introduced farmers to improved
farming systems, in terms of planting, applying fertilizer, caring for growing plants and storing
harvested food. This led to improvement in yield as indicated in table 3 below.
Table 3: Crop yield
Crop
Maize
Sorghum
Rice
Onion
Cowpea
Yield in tons per hectare
Before project
0.8
0.4
1.5
5.8
0.1
After project
13
0.9
1.8
11.8
0.35
Source: IFAD, LACOSREP Interim Evaluation Report, 2006
With this, farmers could harvest enough to feed the family all year round since farming
methods have been improved and crops can now be grown all year round.
In relation to livestock production, the project evaluation reports showed that production of
cattle increased by 8.2 percent, goats by 57.5 percent, pigs by 1.6 percent and sheep by 24.6
percent.
According to the men and women focus groups, with increased productivity some of the
produce could be sold and money reinvested into farming or other economic ventures.
Crop farmers are generally poor and rely heavily on the environment and land, for survival. The
nature of the environment at a particular point in time determines to a large extent their
welfare. Women are part of the crop farmers but are the most disadvantaged group. Owing to
this fact, LACOSREP was rolled incorporating a variety of approaches to reduce poverty and
deprivation in the Upper East Region.
2.7.2
Policy and legal framework
The project has attempted to influence the traditional system of women in northern savannah
zone not having access to land at the local level. This was done through negotiations with the
traditional authorities and land priests. Although, the positive change in women’s access to
land was relatively small, it nevertheless led to an improvement in access to land and build on
existing credit experience to improve household income and food security.
Effective communication is vital between donor agencies and government staff to avoid
duplication of efforts at improving access to credit, health and food security. While it is good
that District Assemblies and other decentralized institutions take part in such projects, there is
the need to build their capacities to the level that would enable them take over the projects
after they have been completed to ensure their sustainability.
The Ghana Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) recognizes the need to improve
agriculture production through the provision of infrastructure such as irrigation facilities
especially in the north and the coastal savannah regions which face erratic and insufficient
rainfall. This it hoped will improve both crop and animal production. Policies such as the GPRS ll
which encourage agricultural diversification should only not be lip service but need to be
implemented to enable farmers to depend not only on crops but incorporate livestock farming
to their work. This helps in reducing the effects of unfavorable weather on crop farmers. Crop
diversification, dissemination of new techniques in marketing and a variety of crop processing
strategies could rapidly increase incomes.
2.7.3
Income earning capacity
Project documents have revealed that as a result of the projects, the income levels of the
beneficiaries especially the women has considerably increased Four hundred and fifty-five (455)
(3,185 people) households which did not have livestock now have 4 to 6 per household. The
following household assets increased by:
 Radio - 43.9%
 Cooking utensils - 9.8%
 TV - 2.4%
 Clothing - 43.9%
Six hundred and thirty-seven (637) people (163 males and 464 females) have access to
improved storage and processing facilities and skills. As has been revealed in our literature
review, to improve the status of women in terms of incomes and nutrition, women need to
have their own income-earning activities and should participate more in the identification of
their needs and priorities and should have equal access to cooperative and credit facilities
(Carr, 1991 in Hansip, Vincent and Hussein, 1996).
2.7.4
Participation, voice and rights
The project took serious consideration of the issue of participation by communities in the
planning and implementation of the project. However similar to the TSPS and the CBRDP
beneficiaries complained about the fact that they were not fully involved as their views and
opinions though collected were not taken on board. The project has revealed that participation
by the community is sometimes hijacked by planning authorities even in a situation where
communities want to initiate development projects. Therefore participation should not only be
limited to consultation with communities but also using whatever suggestions they make to
ensure that there are no short comings about the project.
Literature on Ghana points out that gender disparities are most severe in the three northern
regions. This is manifested in lack of participation of women in household and community
decision making, lack of access to productive resources, high burden of household chores and
gender based violence. Reasons often cited for the high gender disparities in the northern part
of the country are cultural and traditional practices, customary law and religion which are more
biased towards men. As a result of increased income for women by virtue of LACOSREP, the
situation of women beneficiaries has improved. As a result, women are now not only
contributing in kind, but also in cash, to household expenses. This is earning them their
husbands’ respect. The PRA revealed that with improved income levels women are becoming
more assertive and confident and are now demanding that their voice be heard and also that
they be involved in community decision making process.
2.7.5
Resource rights, access and benefits
Apart from women gaining access to irrigable farmlands, which was one of the objectives of the
project, the men also benefited a lot from the project. This change happened because the men
recognized the benefits the technology and dams could bring to the communities.
Beneficiaries, especially women, have had improved access to credit and inputs to enable them
generate income for their welfare and that of the household. Furthermore beneficiaries were
given training in loan management skills to enable them manage their loan in the most effective
way so that they can repay when it is due. Despite this training some beneficiaries of the loan
disbursements were said to have weak financial discipline and this affected the disbursements
to other people who needed them. The weak financial discipline was explained in terms of
transaction costs (long distance) that clients (community members) have to face and to the fact
that banks to do not have adequately trained staff for these operations.
Despite the challenges in this area, the project chalked some successes, like:
 Access to improved storage and processing facilities and skills for 163 males and 464
females who were poor
 Increase in household assets
 Increased access to credit for 6,530 males and 14,637 females who were poor
2.8 Conclusions
From the foregoing discussions it is our conclusion that Gender-Poverty-Environment Linkage
has been adequately integrated in LACOSERP. This the project did by:

Targeting - the targeting process begun with the selection of communities based on
community demand, feasibility technical surveys, and participatory wealth ranking
methods and inclusion for all households within the selected communities.

Consultation with project communities through focus group discussions with all
stakeholders in order to recognize and understand the priority needs of the various
stakeholders especially the minority - women and the poor. This helped project
designers to incorporate gender, poverty and environmental concerns of the project
communities into its design and implementation.

Coming up with a project design that included a number of components which
comprehensively addressed the gender-poverty-environment nexus.

Using a criteria which outlined the aspects of participation which include community
demand, participatory well being ranking, inclusion of all households with disregard for
income and asset position and above all the inclusion of women as well as other
vulnerable groups ,in the selection of communities to benefit from components of the
project

To address gender issues the project made a conscious effort to employ gender officer
since the Upper East is one of the regions noted for strong gender disparities in favour
of men. The gender officer was contracted to emphasize gender issues almost
exclusively and not elaborate on other types of social inequality, notably the socially
excluded, those living in remote areas with no easy access to roads, schools and clinics.

Establishment of the Farmer field school to emphasized practical problem solving and
carrying out a demonstration in one farmer’s plot rather than at research stations.

Institutionalization of the implementing process through the de-concentrated
institutions such as the de-concentrated units of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture but
not the decentralized system of the district assembly. This approach has its positive and
negative sides in that it helped integrate the project into the mainstream district
development agenda and ensured sustainability. However the approach limited the
level of engagement and consultation by the project with communities since there were
reports by communities of not being fully involved in the design and implementation
because their views and suggestions were not fully used by project officials. Similar to
the CBRDP, this may be due to the personnel form the de-concentrated institution
whose are often seen as being more accountable and responsive to their ministries and
central government than to the needs and aspirations of beneficiaries.
Consultation between project staff and the community members is key to the success and
sustainability of any project. Therefore future projects should recognize the community as
partners in development rather than passive recipients. In this way the project staff would have
the maximum cooperation of the community and the necessary assistance would be provided
to ensure that the project achieves agreed objectives. In order to achieve this, decisions
concerning projects should include everybody irrespective of age, sex or social status at the
project design stage. In this way the project would reflect the community needs and priorities.
The designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluation processes should be participatory
and that beneficiaries should be taught best management practices to ensure the project is
sustainable.
Gender mainstreaming should be pursued in every project as improvements in the lives of
women impacts on the household as this project has revealed. However this has to be done by
bringing on board the opinion leaders such as chiefs, land priests/owners, women leaders and
district assembly and all those who matter most in decision making since they can ensure the
progress or demise of this aspect of the project. In addition processes or actions of a project
that may pose a threat to traditional systems or practices need a thorough engagement and
negotiation with the relevant authorities involved to ensure a better understanding and
consensus among the parties.
It is clear that efforts were made to reduce the negative environmental effects of the project on
the lives of the people yet there were cases of malaria as the community members indicated.
Community members however could not tell whether malaria cases were more or less or the
same before the project. It may seem that the community members were not involved in the
sensitization process to help control the outbreak of water borne diseases and allied diseases.
This still goes to underpin the importance of allowing people to take the centre stage with
regard to the project implementation and management especially.
Project design should be done to carefully integrate all the necessary components to ensure not
only successful implementation but sustainability as well as. When this is done, both project
staff and beneficiaries would all see the fruits of their efforts standing the test of time. However
if a project is not carefully conceived, with intended beneficiaries, then it might just not make
any meaningful impact on beneficiaries while those who implemented it would just have
wasted their precious time.
A weakness in the project identified during the interim evaluation of LACOSREP II was that
there were so many components with no clear integrative strategy. Component activities were
being carried out with no linkages. Inferentially, gender mainstreaming, rural infrastructure,
water resource and agricultural development components were being run in isolation with the
consequence of high management costs.
However a linkage that was addressed clearly came as part of the activities in the water
resource component. In the protection of the soil and water within the catchment area, vetiver
grass was planted, which serves as raw material for basket weaving. This further provides
opportunities for women’s income generating activities. Inevitably extra income is brought into
the household, contributing to poverty reduction.
Interventions should be better focused. The more focused the interventions the better. For
example the project provided fencing material to protect young seedling planted within the
catchment area, but these were diverted to fence gardens against livestock within the irrigable
areas.
References:
1. Amanor K. S. (2001) Empowering Women through Tree Planting? Gender and Global
Environmentalism in Northern Ghana, Research Review NS 17.1
2. Apusigah, A. A. (not dated), The Gendered Politics of Farm Household Production and
the Shaping of Women’s Livelihoods in Northern Ghana, Feminist Africa, Issue No. 12
http://www.feministafrica.org/uploads/File/Issue_12/fa12_feature_apusigah.pdf
3. CGIAR, 2010, 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, Agricultural Biodiversity is
important.
4. Hasnip, N., Vincent, L. and Hussein, K. (1999), International Program for Technology and
Research in Irrigation and Drainage (iptrid), Poverty and Irrigated Agriculture, Issue
Paper No. 1, Food and Agriculture Organization
5. IFAD, (2006), Republic of Ghana, Upper East Region Land Conservation and Smallholder
Rehabilitation Project (LACOSREP) – Phase II Interim Evaluation, Report No. 1757-GH
6. IFAD, (2006), Round-Table Discussions Strengthening Rural Institutions For The Poor:
Opportunities And Constraints, Governing Council 29th Session, Rome
7. http://www.ifad.org/events/gc/29/panel/e/institutions.pdf
8. Snyder, A. R., McLaughlin, D. K., and Findeis, J (2006), Household Composition and
Poverty among Female-Headed Households with Children: Differences by Race and
Residence, Rural Sociology 71(4), pp. 597–624, The Rural Sociological Society
9. http://www.uwec.edu/bonstemj/GenderWork/women.bottom.pdf
10. UNDP (2009) Resource Guide on Gender and Climate Change
11. Waarde, J. V. D., Musa H. T., Ischer M. (not dated) Water Catchment Protection
Handbook, Learning and Experience Sharing Series, No. 1, Helvetas Best Practice
Publications
12. Water Aid (not dated), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and Water: Failing the poor?
13. World Bank, FAO and IFAD, (not dated), Gender in Agriculture, Investing in Women as
Drivers of Agricultural Growth, Agriculture and Rural Development
14. http://www.ifad.org/evaluation/public_html/eksyst/doc/prj/region/pa/ghana/s026ghb
e.htm
15. http://www.ifad.org/media/success/ghana.htm
16. http://www.biodiversityinternational.org
17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_for_the_Eradication_of_Poverty
Persons Contacted
1. Hamza Akurubila
2. Timothy Zangina
3. Roy Ayariga
4. Alhaji Seidu
Technical Officer, Zuarungu Municipal MOFA
Regional Statistician, Zuarungu Municipal MOFA
Project Coordinator, LACOSREPLACOSREPLACOSREP
Project Officer, LACOSREPLACOSREPLACOSREP