About Us

Drive Aid Ghana (DAG)
Drive Aid Ghana is a registered  501 (c)3 Non Profit Organization (Reg. No. G34, 700) founded by Clement Matorwmasen (IT Specialist,Ghana) and Femke Akkermans (Medical Doctor, Netherlands) our prime MISSION is to Empower rural poor communities through agriculture, Health, Education and environmental promotion/provision, especially through the grow, use and advocacy of the Moringa plant for poverty reduction.

Our Motto: “Building Faith, Raising Hope, Sharing Love


AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The core functions of Drive Aid Ghana are;
1. Empower others through sustainable agriculture methods. growth and use of organic products


2. Empowering the rural poor, especially vulnerable groups (e.g. Widows, orphans, peasant farmers) to increase their health and socio-economic status through the provision of educational/literacy support, job-opportunities and health promotion/provision

3. Engaging volunteers both local and foreigner for sustainable developments.
 
REGIONAL PROFILE
The Northern Region has a total land area of about 70,384 sq. km which is 29% of the land area of Ghana and lies completely in the Savannah belt.
It has a population of 2,090,399 as reported 2005 and a growth rate of 2.9%. `

The climatic condition is tropical with temperatures ranging from a low of 14 degrees Celsius during night and temperature during the hamattan season to as high as 38 degrees Celsius (during the hot dry season). The rains begin lightly in April and rise steadily to peak in August-September and gradually decline by the end of October. The dry hamattan winds engulf the whole region between December and February. In recent years the rains have been starting late, in May and peaking later in September-October.

Poverty is high and widespread and many cannot afford the cost of basic health services and food. Agriculture remains the predominant sector. With over 90% of the productive age group being peasant farmers. Mechanized agriculture is possible on this terrain although limited in practice because of the high cost of inputs. However, the peasant farmer produces the bulk of the cereals, tubers and legumes in the region. Shea-nut is the most important cash crop in the region.


Cotton Ginnery is perhaps the only industrial sector with a high out-put level. Notwithstanding the low activities in this sector, the establishment of Moringa plantations, Jetropha and animal farms which is highly drought resistant, fuel and income generation respectively will drastically improve upon the livelihood of the people in this area. For that matter DAG’s central mission of agriculture in this area is to establish this above mentioned setups.


Education in this region is also very low as many young men and women dropout of school at Upper primary, Junior high school or Senior high school, most of this school dropouts never find their way back and end up in the southern sector seeking after greener pastures, this is due to financial, environmental and many other factors. It is the hope of Drive Aid Ghana to setup ICT training centers to train and equip the youth within the rural poor communities, who then can earn a living through the setup of small business; internet café’s, secretariat service Centers or even enlarging their opportunities to external jobs as well as serve as a source of information and broaden their scope to the global world.



TARGET AREAS
For the first three years, our main target communities would be;
1. Damongo: Town in the west Gonja district, the people are highly hospitable, with the locals working to improve the quality of life. Among whom DAG is working hand-in-hand with, these people include; Rev. Abraham Saaka. Lermu- Redemption Children’s home, Pastor David Gbulo- New Life School, Mr. Paul Azaka- World Vision Damongo as well as the Chief of Damongo- Damongowura Tuntumba II, etc. Our Computer school and service center as well as the Moringa plantation are already benefiting the people of this community and its surroundings.

2. Dagburibugli: This is a small community in the Gambaga district, the community has a population of about 1,500 people most of whom are farmers, the main food of the inhabitants of this community is maize and Millet which are all cereals, this leaves the community being the highest malnourished community in the district. With the setup of Moringa plantations and other projects in this sector, it would not only solve the problem of malnutrition, but also help reduce the migration of the youth to the southern sector of the country.

3. Katiajeri: is a small town between the boarders of the Volta and Northern region of Ghana, with vast land scape and patronage of the indigenes in agriculture, we have made way for a setup of seed harvesting Moringa plantation which in the near future would supply to other parts of the communities and farmers to expand the growth and use of the Moringa plant.



Target Groups
1. Widows: Widows in target communities would benefit mainly in our plantations, where they would be engaged in caring for and harvesting of the Moringa plantations, besides the payments for their work, they would also benefit by harvesting some quantities of the Moringa products as food for their families. This would in turn promote the families health as well as put food on their tables.

2. Orphans: Orphans especially Children of the Redemption Children’s Home will directly benefit from our computer setups, where they will be trained with basic knowledge of computer skills. This will promote the government’s course for compulsory ICT education in schools, they will also benefit from the Moringa plantations by getting leaves for food and also oil from the harvested Moringa plants in our various farms.


3. Youth: Young men and women in our target community would also get computer tuition at reasonable prices, where they would be trained and equipped with various computer skills; web design, graphic design, desktop publishing, internet/networking, hardware/computer repairs among many others. This in the end would equip and empower them with the emphasis to setup their own computer shops or give them an added advantage in job-opportunities. (Fees charged are only to maintain the center, as to when the project is sponsored, fees charged may be dropped).


4. Farmers: Local farmers who register with the organization would have under their care at least two (2) acres of Moringa plantation each. Others may also team up to care for larger portions, this would give maximum attention to the farms, they would benefit from the plantation after harvest, have the opportunity to produce other crops that are not in direct competition with the Moringa plant, and also use the Moringa leaves as spray and pesticides against pests and diseases in their farms.

Animal farms would also be setup, these animals would be fed on the Moringa plants especially in the dry seasons, and this would increase the production rate and quality of animals in the region.
Farmers will be trained to adequately plant and harvest Moringa. Drive Aid Ghana will serve as a middle person between the farmers and international buyers and buy the Moringa product from the farmers for fair prices. Where possible Drive Aid Ghana will also provide Moringa seeds to the farmers for reduced prices 





Project Divisions
Drive Aid Ghana has three main branches:
1. Green Gold project: This section of the project will be facilitated with the help of the chiefs and people of the local community and administered by Drive Aid Ghana, we will educate, advocate and solicit for funding, training and initialization of Moringa plantations and other agricultural products in target communities, we also will produce and market the Moringa plant to the local and international markets. This would provide food, job opportunities and a source of employment to the families of the target community.

2. Cletek Computer School & Services; Cletek Computer School And Services; this project would focus on training local volunteers to be trainer-of-trainees in ICT and knowledge sharing as well as provide basic ICT services to target communities, among our training course would be;


  • Windows and file management
  • Desktop publishing & correspondence
  • Email & communication
  • Research and data collection
  • Basic computer Management & Maintenance Etc.
3. Health Promotion and Advocacy project; This section would be handled mainly by Femke Akkermans who would provide her service as a medical doctor in the West Gonja District; the project would help solicit funding and support to promote health activities within the region. The project would also empower women in healthy child care and feeding practice as well as Malaria control and eradication. 


Current Activities
Moringa Setup: The Green Gold Project is currently active in Damongo where a five (5) acre temporary location is being use as Moringa farm, from this farm we expect to grow up to 2,500 Moringa trees as well as a nursery field were most young plants would be grown and distributed, this plantation in a year and half time would supply seeds to local farmers to expand the plantation.

A similar phase would also start in Dagburibugli, beginning of the rainy season next year, by then new farmers would be recruited in the west Gonja district, at least 10 farmers would be enrolled in the first face to care for at least two (2) acre land of Moringa plantation each, in the following three communities:- Murugu, Damongo and Bowina in the West Gonja District, seeds and other resources would be provided by Empower Me Ghana, farmers data/information and Research would be provided by SARI (Savannah Agriculture and Research Institute)Damongo.


NB. All current activities and events are currently privately sponsored by its founders. More help in this sector would be needed to speed up events, especially in the area of purchasing of land, equipment, Computers, training materials and initial motivation for farmers.


A major support would also be needed to help us transfer and purchase medical equipment for the West Gonja Hospital from the Netherlands which is already underway.


Achievements
1. The CCS Project as of June 2009 rented hall and have setup a computer school and training center, which is in the process of training Nine (9) Students in Damongo as well as providing computer services at affordable prices to the people of Damongo.

2. One farmer fully engaged in caring for a five (5) acre Moringa farm in Damongo July 2010


3. The Green Gold Project in August 2010 supplied 150 Moringa seedlings to World Vision Damongo to be distributed to children in the Murugu community to expand and educate the people on the uses and benefits of the Moringa plant.


Affiliations
The Organization is proud to affiliate itself with the following:
1. Chiefs and people of Damongo and its surrounding villages, Dagburibugli, Katiajeri.

2. World Vision, Damongo

3. SARI (Savannah Agriculture and Research Institute)
4. Shape lives www.shapelives.org Ghana
5. Moringa for life moringaforlife.com USA
6. Implemented Innovation, Tanzania
7. Tree for life www.treeforlife.org

Our organization is ready to partner and cooperate with individuals and organization who share in our vision or willing to help empower the rural poor community.


Estimated Moringa Production:
Out of every 2.5 acres of Moringa plantation one is expected to harvest 650 tons of leafs, and 6 to 9 times a year.
It is expected therefore that by the close of next year with the engaging of 10 farmers per target village to care for 2.5 acre farm each, the project would produce 19500 tons of Moringa per harvest, thus 136,500 tons per year (7 harvests in the year).

Please note that this information is based on stable weather conditions within a year in the northern region.

Seed and leaf production is expected to increase between 3 to 8 years of the plant life,

The leaves and seed production may also base on which part of the plant is focused for producing, in that case different techniques are engaged, either for the leafs or for seeds, pods or flowers.


Please send your comments and contributions to:

info@driveaidghana.org
driveaidghana@aol.com
empowermeghana@gmail.com