A Short Introduction to Trax

Trax is a small, local non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in Northern Ghana. Using a participatory approach, Trax facilitate training and activities which support smallholder farmers to increase the sustainability of their livelihoods. Trax also provide an education programme supporting children to attend school and establishing future livelihood options.

Where We Work We work with farming communities in Upper East and Northern . We work in four communities at a time, two in each region. In each of these four communities we will work with up to 24 farmer groups with approximately 30 farmers in each group. This means we are able to support up to 2880 farmers during each 5-year project cycle.

During 2015 and 2016 we are continuing to work in the following four communities:  Kabusgo, , Upper East Region  Pelungu and Yakort, District, Upper East Region  Mozio, - District,  Nanyiar, Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District, Northern Region

What We Do We focus on sustainable livelihoods and have a number of project themes which work towards this objective. We believe that ensuring livelihoods are sustainable can reduce poverty and increase food security for current and future generations.

In working towards sustainable livelihoods we particularly focus on agriculture, non- agricultural livelihoods, gender equality, and education and capacity building.  Sustainable agricultural livelihoods o Soil and water conservation o Environmental sustainability, including afforestation o Climate change mitigation and adaptation o Organic farming and compost production o Seeds and farming equipment  Gender equality 1 © Trax Ghana 2015 Trax Program Support (Ghana) Registered Charity No: 37,578 o Vegetable and dry season gardening o Goat payback scheme o Alternative livelihoods to supplement farm incomes o Village Savings and Loans Associations  Education and capacity building o School scholarships o School gardens for learning crop production o Farmer group training o Community Trainers

How We Work We use a participatory approach, giving farmers ownership of the project activities. This means we can support them with the issues they identify as their priorities. We only begin working with farming communities if the farmers have requested our support.

Trax aim to develop the capacity for self-reliance among the farming communities we support. We work with farmer groups and train Community Trainers so that there is a structure for shared governance in place when the 5-year project cycle ends and Trax finish formal facilitation in the community. This means that the methods and initiatives we introduce during the project cycle are sustained and continue to be beneficial for many years to come.

Why We Do This We envisage a world where hunger and poverty are eliminated; people are empowered and maintain a sustainable relationship with their environment.

Our Mission is: To empower rural communities in Ghana through sustainable capacity development to achieve and maintain improvement in their environment and livelihoods.

Contact Us Website: www.traxghana.com Tel/Fax: +233 (0)3820 22501 Twitter: www.twitter.com/Trax_Ghana Facebook: www.facebook.com/traxghana Postal address: Trax Program Support (Ghana) P.O. Box 230 Upper East Region, Ghana

Director: Mr Vincent Subbey E-Mail: [email protected]

2 © Trax Ghana 2015 Trax Program Support (Ghana) Registered Charity No: 37,578