Photo Essay

Peninah is our family friend, and I sought to understand from her, how different our times are from her young days.

She explains to me that during her time, the community practiced solely keeping livestock, and rarely experienced challenges with the latter. In fact, she explains that farming began as a result of climate change, because people started looking for an alternative source of income.

Many people in Murtot have opted to leave their farm lands uncultivated this year, discouraged by poor yields and erratic climate.

In the current reality for women in Estiteti, as men undertake the arduous task of leading the larger herds in search of scarce pastures, the weight of responsibility falls upon us women. They are entrusted with the crucial role of providing for our children and safeguarding the remaining livestock—sheep, goats, and vulnerable young calves.

One thing observed during these changing times is the indomitable strength of women in our community shines brightly.

United by a shared spirit of resilience, they not only extend a helping hand to those in need but also exhibit remarkable wisdom in navigating new challenges.

Loita Forest, or Naimina Enkiyio, meaning the Forest of the Lost Child, is situated in the south-west part of the country, directly adjacent to the plains of the Masai Mara, and the Great Rift Valley, Kenya.

In Esiteti, we rely on selling livestock for income, and part of this income puts our children through school.

But lately, the area has been experiencing heavy drought, and as a result our livestock have either migrated to greener pastures, or left us due to deteriorating health.

Surrounded by the Volta River, Azizakpey is today inhabited by about 600 people. A biodiversity-rich island, it has a large mangrove forest, and a lot of coconut trees, which have been relied upon by locals for livelihood for hundreds of years.

The community of Taha is a developing suburb of Tamale, situated in the Northern part of Ghana.

In the past two years, the community has dealt with the consequences of severe flooding, with many properties and businesses going under water.

Taha is a fast growing suburb, and has seen a rapid influx of people. But this rapid influx has meant that proper planning has been neglected, and houses like this one have been built with no provision for water drainage, despite flooding being a recurrent problem here.

Tamale market on a market day.

Tamale is a big, busy market, where people from all over the country, including from neighbouring countries, like Togo, troup in to buy and sell produce at the weekends(Friday to Sunday). The market is a destination for produce farmed by both small scale and large scale farmers.

A landscape view of farmland in Dzorwulu, Accra.

Accra, the capital city, usually receives its food supply from small towns and villages around the city.
But some farmers are now practicing farming in the heart of the city. Aliwu and Bashiru, whose farm is pictured here, are among those farmers.