current campaigns
Ghana: unreliable rain
MRDF helps farmers in Northern Ghana plant tree nurseries, use compost and early-maturing varieties of seeds.
Disrupted rainfall patterns are one of the most common and damaging results of global warming. Farmers who may have spent their whole lives tending the same land are left unsure when to plant and harvest.
Mohammed Salifu in Northern Ghana, has seen this change happen. ?We used to see heavy rain at the start of April and start planting? he says, ?Now we plant in June or July and even then there can be drought.?
In 2006, crops were planted as usual when the rains started, but were short-lived and quickly followed by drought. Plants withered and died and, by harvest time, overall yields were half what should have been expected.
MRDF partners in Northern Ghana, and across Africa, help farmers cope with the changing climate and resulting unpredictability by providing training, good ideas and simple solutions. All of these good ideas add up to small miracles: successful harvests providing food to eat or sell and healthier land.
Find out about the impact of climate change on MRDF partners in El Salvador and Kenya.
