Shei Afilua and her husband have a rural farm about two hours’ drive from Tamale, Ghana, in West Africa.
At first, they had an agreement with a contractor for supplies. For every acre of soybeans produced, the contractor got a bag.
“If I am not lucky and produce just two bags of soybeans, they will take one and I will have just one bag, which will not sustain me,” Shei said.
But everything changed when she started attending training with iDE — a nonprofit organization that powers entrepreneurs to end poverty.
Shei took part in the Korsung agricultural project, which translates as “good farming practices” in her local language, Dagbani.
Funded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the project aimed to help 1,000 farmers in Ghana increase their self-reliance, in part by providing agricultural training, seed and other support.
Through this program, Shei was able to increase her crop production enough to be able to sell her surplus to provide for her family.
After her first major crop where she got three bags of soybeans to sell, she was overwhelmed with the impact.
“I didn’t sleep that day. I placed the money close to me. I touched it. I put it on my chest. I put it on my head. I was so excited I started crying,” she said.
She noted that those tears were “tears of joy.”
Shei works hard in other ways to earn money as well, such as selling groceries, soap and beauty supplies. So she was surprised at how successful she was able to be at farming with the support and training.
“I asked myself, am I the one who has actually earned this? ... I never got this amount of money before,” she said.
Because of the money from selling her crop, Shei was able to pay for her children to go back to school. She also was able to pay the school fees for another child in her community.
She was also able to buy her own plot of land for her farming, and is working toward buying the supplies for a building to raise up for storage. She also bought a fridge to hold food for themselves and beverages she and her husband can sell.
Since then, she has been telling other women in her town — and the next town — about the benefits of the training.
Reasons to focus on women
iDE, formerly known as International Development Enterprises, shared a report on its website on some of the reasons women entrepreneurs deserve more focus and funding.
For example, women entrepreneurs deliver greater business results and inclusive growth returns, the report says. Women-led businesses also tend to employ more women, which helps create jobs for a broader swath of women.
Women make higher investments than men in long-term health, education and well-being outcomes for children, other women and communities as a whole.
And women are more likely to invest their earnings in their children’s health and education, which improves their own children’s prospects and changing the future of a community.
Recently, iDE was one of eight organizations receiving part of a combined $55.8 million donation from the Church to help women and children in Ghana and other high-need countries.
The Church has focused humanitarian aid on women, through its global initiative for women and children led by the Relief Society.
This initiative seeks the greatest possible impact by putting money into efforts to particularly bless the lives of women and children under 5 years of age — through the areas of maternal and newborn care, child nutrition efforts, immunizations and education worldwide.
About these efforts, Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson has said: “Global progress starts with nourishing children and strengthening women. When you bless a woman, you bless a family, a community, a nation. When you bless a child, you invest in the future.”
