Picture update: early millet & sarah with a wall full of sticky notes in ghana.

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These are my neighbours’ sons, Jon and Assibi roasting the early millet crop in Tongo. The early maturing millet is planted alongside the longer maturing variety so that the family can harvest something and eat during the lean season (which is upon us). This year the early millet harvest is meagre. Because of persistent drought the farmers say the millet grains are small and bland.  Farmers are not only worried that there will not be enough to eat during the coming months. They are concerned that next year, if they plant this millet, the germination rates will be very low because the drought will affect the quality of their seed.

In addition, many of their other crops are stunted this year and farmers have sold much of their livestock to buy seed for a risky second planting, now, in late July. We are only praying that the rains will keep long into sepember, and allow those who have attempted a second planting will be able to harvest groundnuts (peanuts), cowpea and early maturing corn. The danger with a late planting of groundnuts is that without rain to loosen the soil, the groundnuts will be sealed in the hard ground, making it difficult or impossible to pull up the nuts.

Here is a photo my sister Asana took of me this morning. She doubled over in laughter when she walked in and saw that I had spent all evening and morning covering my walls with sticky notes. Maybe some of you will appreciate that some things don’t change no matter what continent I find myself on.

For the EWB members in the crowd… yes, the stickynotes are an impact chain for the program we are implementing.

My apologies… A real narrative blog post is in the making but not yet completed.

Sarah

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