My Home, My Farm: a photo exhibition

2 April — 5 May. Kahaila cafe, London. Admission: free.

A powerfully honest portrayal of the cares, concerns and triumphs of farmers struggling to survive in rural Ghana.


‘When we grow onions in our gardens, we think of the onions for today, but we should also think of the seeds for tomorrow.’
Akugre A Cletus (a farmer and photo monitor on the MyPharm project)

Exhibition background

By thinking of the seeds for tomorrow, a community can be better prepared for unforeseeable challenges in the future.

Getting inside knowledge

Since 2012, we at Christian Aid have partnered with the Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana (YHFG) to empower rural Ghanaian farmers to get the most out of their crops.

With little or no access to key industry facts, these farmers unwittingly sell their produce at prices far lower than the market rate, to middlemen and traders, missing out on vital income.

But through the MyPharm project, funded by UK Aid Match, they now receive regular market and weather updates directly to their mobile phones.

Documenting progress

We have been working with PhotoVoice to train the farmers in photography so they can show their progress visually.

Water is life. This is our source of water. It is about half a mile from my house. Many people who depend on it live further away. © Apam Apamlea

Power comes from holding a camera in your hands. For a person who has received little education - unable to share their thoughts through words - a camera can be life-changing.

Ghanaian farmers desperately need a platform to voice their opinions. By giving them cameras, these people at the forefront of development can tell their stories honestly and directly.

And you can learn all about their stories by coming to our new photo exhibition, My Home, My Farm, from 2 April-5 May at Kahaila cafe, London.

The structure of the exhibition

In response to reading the farmers’ messages and acknowledging key themes from the photographs, the exhibition has been curated into four categories.

Water. Discover the part it plays in the journey from seed to income. Learn how global climate change is affecting this process and how damaging severe weather events can be.

This lady has come to water the crops on her farmland. She has stopped because her baby started crying so she had to take care of her. © Akoob Christopher

2. Meet the farmers. The majority of farmers in Ghana are women. They fight for equality in a country where tradition excludes them from land ownership and inheritance.

‘This lady is harvesting her rice with a sickle (a hand tool). The harvesting of rice is normally done by women but without machinery it is a labour intensive activity for them.’ © Damyoma Isaac

3. Farming techniques. We explore farming methods and the joy of seeing produce ripen for market.

In dry season the animals are left to find their own food by grazing, but there is not much for them to eat. Cattle often come into the marketplace where they know there is food to eat. ©Aneribabono Desmond

4. Learnings. We look at the project outcomes and success stories. This includes the story of a photograph that moved local government officials so much that an extra borehole was built in the community.

‘The whole community has to use this one borehole, and it is hard to get enough. It takes a long time and everyone, young and old has to wait to get what they need for their family. Sometimes this causes quarrels about who should take water first.’ © Jonas Awinpala

My Home, My Farm exhibition runs from 2 April — 5 May at Kahaila café in Brick Lane, London. Come and see the struggles and successes of rural Ghanaian farmers through their own eyes. And guess what? It’s free.

Learn more about Christian Aid’s work in Ghana here.