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Traffic moving behind a 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. City farmers will usually grow crops that are highly perishable, and to be eaten fresh, like cabbage or lettuce. They do their best to meet rising demand for such products.
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A customer, Joyce, packs a handful of lettuce in a bag. Joyce is a business woman who sells bread with vegetables and condiments as a hawker, on roadside stalls. She has been buying her fresh vegetables from Aliwu and Bashiru for the past year. "The prices have increased, but it is better on the farm than at the market" she says.
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An elderly farmer Yussif, water his crops using a hose pipe. Yussifu Buramah, is 74. His sons, Aliwu, 30, and Bashiru, 31, farm on his 1.4 acre land in the Dzorwulu community, near Accra. The family have been farming here for the past 25 years. Yussif has taught his two sons Bashiru and Aliwu all the skills they need in order to run the farm full time. This meant that Yussif would be able to retire in good time.
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Bashiru transplants seedlings on his farm in Accra. Bashiru has grown up watching and learning from his father Yussif.To transplant seedlings, he begins by planting them on a separate bed, and then moves them to a bigger plot later on when they are mature enough.
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Cabbage leaves with holes from army worms. Due to army worms almost all of cabbage on Bashiru farm has been damaged, “he said he invested and put in all effect but the army-worms are not dying.
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Bashiru mixes treatment for his plants. With ever rising temperatures and low rainfall affecting the city and surroundings of Accra, vegetables on Bashiru and Aliwu's farm have been under constant attack by various pests. Army worms are the most common ones. When the situation becomes uncontrollable, the brothers resort to spraying the vegetables with chemicals control pests. They know of the harmful effects of using such chemicals, but their livelihood is at stake. They can not afford to lose more crops.
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Bashiru cuts off the damaged parts of a cabbage. HIDE
Remains from pruned cabbages eaten by army worms. Army worms infestations have become much worse lately with temperatures rising. Once the crop is affected, the only choice is to get rid of the cabbage. Bashiru uses cuts off the portions to make manure, and sometimes gives it to cattle.
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A sprinkler system waters vegetables on the farm. The brothers have installed a sprinkler system that is used mainly for seedlings, and younger vegetables. Younger crops are too weak to endure the force of water from a watering can, so the brothers use this method of irrigation instead. The water they use is sourced from the Ghana National water grid, and paid for at the end of each month.
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Aliwu carrying two watering cans of water to his farm. Sometimes, water does not flow from taps, and Aliwu and Bashiru have to fill their watering cans from the reservoir. The reservoir is one of three built on the land by father Yusif, who understands the importance of managing water. Watering cans are also useful for bigger plants, which need water regularly throughout the day. For those plants, the brothers' sprinkler system is not enough, and the reservoir becomes crucial. This is even more true on hot days, when irrigating has to be done several times to help plants bear hotter temperatures.
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Bashiru stands in one of the reservoirs to check the level of the of the water. Yussif, Bashiru and Aliwu's father dug three holes to serve as a reservoir to store water on the farm some 20 years ago. These reservoirs store water when it rains, and also store water from the Ghana National water grid, which is paid for at the end of each month. Water is a precious resource to the farmers, which means the reservoir has to be full at all times, and they make sure that it is.
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Yussif checks on his tilapia in one of his water reservoirs. Yussif was gifted the fish by a friend, and tells us they are originally from the Volta lake, a well known location for fish farming. As the fish mature, some are sometimes given to friends and family as food. Most of them are kept as pets of a sort.
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Yussif's tilapia swimming in one of Yussif's water reservoirs. The fish have become a source of attraction for his clients, who sometimes bring food to feed them.
