Getting there from here

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The challenge was answered. Here is a cool little Google Earth snapshot of the communities, although Google did not get Krobo or Nkwanta's locations right, but other than that it is a good portrait of where we traveled for the two weeks of market research. As you'll notice the communities further north are in more brown-colored (dry) terrain, and that meant more poverty too with less agricultural options. This has been confirmed this past week, as I have started to do data-entry for questionnairres gathered by both my teams in Techiman (who traveled in the Brong Ahafo region) and the research teams based in Kumasi (who traveled in the Ashanti region). The Ashanti region is lush and contains gold and other mineral deposits, which has made it one of the richer parts of the country--it is also really beautiful in some spots. It has been interesting to see how the average incomes are much lower in Brong Ahafo than Ashanti, and also that the types of work done by the people are much more limited, as the economy is not that diverse (farming and trading, basically), while in Ashanti we are finding mechanics, store owners, clothing makers and all sorts of professions among our sample. From a microfinance-specific perspective, I am also finding the financial knowledge is quite different, as the answers to questions like loan capacity are higher in Ashanti, and also reflect a more complex set of calculations than in many cases in Brong Ahafo, where clients seems averse to anything beyond a few hundred dollars in loans, and do not have as strong long-term projection skills.
Tomorrow I head to the Volta region (near the border with Togo) to check out a fish farm. Hopefully that will provide some good fodder for another entry on Sunday/Monday. Have a great weekend everyone.

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Photos

Travels in Brong Ahafo
Here is the map and locations of the communities visited the past two weeks.

Comments

[the hammer]

F.E.W.S
I was curious if the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) operated in this region. it is a composite of climate modelers, mostly from the UK, who predict drought across africa and administer the drought predictions so the farmers can prepare. it has been only mildly successful but has great potential as climate predictions improve.

[the hammer]

Ads.
one more thing...at the top of your blog there is an advertisement for "African Women for Dating". is that a pretty reliable service? sounds pretty tempting to me.

[rkm]

Re: Ads
I just hope the two things are not related. And for the record, this blog does not sponsor dating, famines, dating in famines, or famines for dating. Seriously though, I'll ask about the Famine Warning System, but I don't really know if it's much of a problem here, although possibly way up near the northern border. This country's got its problems, but I feel like they are not too susceptible to that, as compared to Niger or Mali, etc.