GSR Blog Special Series #1: A Tale of Two Cedis Part Four – Cedi Boy! Keep Your Eyes on the Goal!

As you may remember from our last episode, the two cedi’s (cedi is the currency in Ghana, pronounced “cee-dee”) had just been saved by their friend , the 10 pesewa coin, from a fruitless search for adventure and treasure all over the world. Rather than going off to China, never to return, or jumping into one of the numerous development projects funded by one of many IGOs , the 10 pesewa coin was urging them to stay right in their village and build their own economy. The two cedis were excited by this wonderful

idea. It seemed almost too good to be true. They

began jumping up and down in Lili’s pocket. But

after a moment’s reflection, they stopped. It is

true they were through with being gloomy, but

there was still a lot to learn! They wanted to know

everything! Right now! “Come on,” they implored

their friend the 10 pesewa coin. “We are ready to

jump into action right now, but…”

“But what?” smiled the coin.

“But, blurted out one of the cedis, “we want to be sure that our action will be effective.”

“Yeah’” chimed in the other cedi. “What’s the use of running around if we don’t know where

we are going? This village empowerment is the bomb, but we have seen lots of

development projects that looked good on paper in some office in New York or London, but

didn’t take on the ground reality into consideration.”

The first cedi very heatedly added, “Yeah. Sometimes, despite the lack of success, we see

glowing reports listing all the supposed successes. How do we measure success in our

village empowerment programs?”

The 10 pesewa coin smiled roundly. “Ummmm. Very nice question! It shows you are

serious. Your question is about setting goals. Without practical and relevant goals, how can

we measure success? OK. Here is how we shall measure success in our village

empowerment program.

1. Ensure full employment

2. Maximize effectiveness of funds by building strong local partnerships

3. Strengthen social and economic safety nets

4. Maximize agro capacity and productivity

5. Maximize value added component of local economy”

“Hmmm,” said one cedi. “Do you really think we can get full employment?”

“Why not? The village corporation makes a profit from the first season, so the more people

are working, the more profit they make.”

“And what do you mean by local partnerships?”

“This is made possible through the community corporation ensures a fair market price and

access to market for all members. Corporate officers are village members and represent the

interests of their community. They negotiate price with the community corporation for all

products. This ensures local buy in and enthusiastic participation.”

“Well then, how do these safety nets work?”

“The producer’s community corporation

assumes the farmers’ risk by guaranteeing

the purchase of their entire harvest at fair

market prices.

“And how does the community corporation

increase productivity without losing full

employment?”

“By teaching organic farming best practices (such as multi-cropping , crop rotation,

homemade fertilizer production, irrigation, ox team technology, etc.) This makes it

possible for farmers to increase their harvest up to 20 times.”