Snail farming - Alernative livelihood option
A Rocha Ghana
Participatory development of alternative livelihoods
Beneficiary with her giant snails
A Rocha Ghana
Grasscutter rearing
A Rocha Ghana
In a participatory dialogue with community members, feasible conservation based livelihood ventures notably grasscutter rearing and giant snail farming were identified. In addition to training, beneficiaries were provided with a startup capital in the form of equipment and logistics. Beneficiaries were encouraged to pay back this start-up into a revolving fund to help support other people in the communities. Thus, the economic status of the communities’ members is enhanced, addressing the issues of poverty which was named as one of the reasons for excessive resource exploitation. This has also enhanced their efforts towards conservation of their natural resources.
1. Participatory planning of project design and implementation.
2. Provide hands-on income earning/skills development components in the project design as this serves as a motivating factor for community action.
3. Good leadership ensures successful project outcomes.
However, beware of community members that show weak leadership and commitment during the project implementation. Ensure that you resolve leadership challenges and find committed people to invest project resources as this can hamper success of project outputs.