29 Figure 14: A semi-enclosed improved chicken housing for a Small Grants beneficiary
Figure 15: A grant recipient Grace Dadson in Blue Dress showing other women around her chicken farm
2.2.3.2 Population Health and Environment PHE
This Program has been supported by another USAID Washington funded program implemented through CRC’s “Building Actors for Livelihoods and Advancing Communities
30
Excellence in Development” BALANCED program in several countries. This program focuses on two districts, Shama and Ellembelle. Key H
İn Mpoano Initiative partners have been trained with the goal to increase awareness of Population, Health and Environment
linkages. Formal partnerships have been established with the Central and Western Region Fishmongers
Improvement Association CEWEFIA - which is implementing PHE programs in Shama; and the Essiama Community Health Nurses Training School ECHNTS in the Ellembelle
District. CEWEFIA has a long experience in developing programs with fish mongers in both the Central and Western Regions. The collaboration with ECHNTS supports the training of
student-nurses in PHE and facilitating awareness creation in communities in the district. In the Ellembelle District, PHE activities have engaged community and organizational leaders
including staff and management of the ECHNTS, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service and the District Assembly.
At Shama where the Ghana Health Service has partnered CEWEFIA in the implementation of activities, four communities benefitted from the pilot PHE activities which have focused on
Reproductive and Child Health RCH and Family Planning FP, youth promiscuity, teenage pregnancy and early marriage. Linked to reproductive health issues is integration of
environmental issues including beach littering, sand-winning and coastal erosion; mangrove conservation and protection of wetlands, usefulness of Moringa
2
trees as food supplement for
Figure 16: Peer Educators at Shama
humans, animal feed and the consequences of unsustainable fishing practices. This integrated approach has been well received in the Shama District and holds promise for an expansion of
the program further west into other Districts. Preliminary accomplishments include:
2
Moringa oleifera Moringa Tree is a multipurpose plant, as the leaves, pods, fruits, flowers, roots and bark of the tree can be utilized. It is promoted as a means to combat poverty and malnutrition. It grows quickly in many types of environments, and much of
the plant is edible, including by livestock. The leaves contain all essential amino acids and are rich in protein, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and minerals. It has been proven that various parts of the moringa tree can be used to cure a minimum of 300 diseases.
Feeding the leaves to cattle has been shown to increase weight gain by up to 32 and milk production by 43 to 65.
31
• Orientation of CEWEFIA staff on PHE • Rapid Rural Appraisal RRA to ascertain the PHE situation
• Community durbar to launch PHE in the target communities, • Identification and training of 20 Community Based Distributors CBDs and Peer
Educators PEs • Engagement and support of local stakeholders including the Ghana Health Service,
Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Social Welfare, District Assembly, Fishers groups and Traditional Authority.
The USAID-supported Behavior Change Support BCS project operating in the Western Region donated Information Education and Communication IEC materials to support
activities in the 4 selected communities
2.2.3.3 Diversified Livelihoods
