30 days, but I’ve lost count.
Ghana is a place where clouds never part, but the sun comes from the people, where every step is a step forward, where “welcome” actually sounds welcoming, and where business does not have to exploit.
Farmerline is quite the business. I came in thinking I knew about the business model and operation here, and so far have been constantly buffeted by the amount I didn’t know. The biggest thing I’ve learned is how fast Farmerline changes. Week by week this business is growing, whether it be in program capability, inputs loaned, business deals made, or simply farmers registered. Farmerline has a lot of passion within it, which makes it boundless. The people I work with love what they do and know what they are doing is making a difference.
We go out into the field 2-3 times a week. It’s a process that starts at 5 in the morning. We get to the field at anywhere between 7-9am, depending on how far away the town is we are going to. At that point Schandorf (our boss) lets it be known we are there and farmers assemble. We get started with a workshop on their new input loan service, and as that transpires I take photo’s and videos.
The field experiences have been quite revealing as to how much personal trust plays a role in Farmerline’s success. The towns that we go to who have been Farmerline towns for a while are quick to adopt the registration and the input service without many questions asked. They trust Farmerline with their content services and trust Farmerline to do the same with the new input program. When we go to towns who are not as enveloped in Farmerline’s services the farmers are much less trusting. They are a lot more cynical in the questions and the end result is that there are less farmers registered and less inputs handed out.
This lack of trust seems to come from a history where other people/ organizations/ businesses have come in and asked for similar information/ promised similar services and have not delivered. I remember at a workshop in Montonsua, one Farmer stood up and while I don’t speak Twi, it sounded like he was quite frustrated and almost yelling at Schandorf. I turned and asked Lily what he was talking about and she relayed that he couldn’t trust Farmerline to deliver inputs on time because other organizations, like the government, don’t deliver their inputs, so why should Farmerline. All they have is blind trust they have to fall on, and a lot of Farmers do not want to make that leap, because they have very little money to loose, and any money lost could mean quite a lot to loose. This is the current paradigm that Farmerline has to work around and work within.
If they continue to provide quality service though and continue to follow through on their promises, then they continue to gain trust, and thus farmers.
Nevertheless, this place is incredible and beautiful and wonderful. 30 days have passed, but I’ve lost count…
Find pictures at this link:https://goo.gl/photos/VPGTPMainXH5p1QA7