Ghana was the first black nation to gain independence – in 1957. About the same size as Britain, Ghana is home to 22 million people. Seventy per cent of Ghana’s people depend on subsistence farming to survive.  Droughts and floods are common, and many families regularly experience severe food shortages.

ActionAid in Ghana

• ActionAid began operating in Ghana in 1990. Our key focus areas are education, water, health and livelihoods.
• ActionAid works with communities to establish informal education centres where children can gain basic literacy and numeracy skills. Classes are organised to fit around children’s other duties.
• We are helping parents to repair and improve state primary school buildings, and we support teacher training and provide much-needed teaching materials.
• ActionAid’s adult literacy programme, Reflect, has proved far more successful than conventional approaches.
• With ActionAid’s support, many communities have dug wells and installed handpumps, giving access to safe drinking water.
• ActionAid is supporting the Ministry of Health in its efforts to improve rural services. We are educating traditional birth attendants and the community in matters of basic health, hygiene and sanitation.
• We train farmers in agricultural, run a Seed Credit programme, and provide savings and credit facilities to enable women to invest in small businesses to increase family incomes.