village development

In a country like Togo, where over 70% of the population lives from farming, the entire economy is strongly dependent on the income of the farmers. However, with their antiquated methods, farmers in Togo only earn about ¼ of the national income. Many farming families have an
annual income of less than 50$. We have now begun development work with 80 farmers in 3 villages in Central Togo, which will familiarize these farmers with more efficient cultivation methods and teach them to use these. This enables them to improve their incomes, develop the infrastructure of their villages and give the children in their village a
better future.
In the first working year of 2003/04, as many as 60 families (a total of 720 people) were taught better cultivation of corn with ½ hectar per family. In spite of difficult climatic conditions, an additional total of 21 tons of corn grains were produced, which we regarded as an encouraging
beginning. We were also able to build storage buildings in all villages in order to store this harvest until the market offered good prices.
We have already taken further development steps in the training of the farmers and their wives.
The most important goals of this work are the sustainable and substantial improvement of life quality in the villages and the reduction of the rural exodus of capable young people.