In the one-season rainy pattern of the Savannah Region, climate change is hitting and impacting the environment. But in Damongo in the West Gonja Municipality, home gardening is turning survival into success.
Meet the Men making the difference, Jacob, Mahama and Abubakar. They reveal the basic potentials that the soil offers.
CLIMATE EVIDENCE:
Mr Jacob Lange was one of the few young pioneers of home gardening in the 80s. This was the time when the initiative was largely embraced and led by the elderly people in the early 70s and late 80s.
Today, home gardening has become a craze for both young and old particularly in West Gonja Municipality as a significant alternative source of food and livelihoods for families.
For a region which has not been spared by the impact of climate change, indigenes have no option but to adapt.
Mr Jacob Lange’s garden did not just put enough food on his table; it paid his way through college. The profits from his harvest are life-saving income.
“Yes, I started gardening in 1971 but I joined somebody to learn briefly, then I started my own and it was so difficult and very interesting especially during the season.
“As for the benefits, oh, I had a lot. It helped me to continue my education at Tamale College of Education after my form four examination. So, I was schooling and at the same time, doing this work (gardening) because I had nobody to take care of me.
So, when I got to College, I had to stop and concentrate on my schooling but immediately I completed, I continued and by then, I had children and that also supported me to help the children to also go further in education all through gardening. Even though I was receiving a monthly salary as a trained teacher, the gardening supported me a lot.”Mr Jacob Lange stressed.
Even after 45 years in the garden, the call of the soil never faded. Now 79, Jacob remains a fixture in his garden, twenty-four-seven (24/7), proving that while one may retire from a profession, one never retires from a passion.
For professionals like Mahama Seewudu and Abubakar Abdul Wahab, agriculture is an imperative solution to ensuring both food security and other social needs. Home gardening, therefore, is a time-tested investment for food reliance and economic growth.
In the case of Mahama Seewudu, “Yes, I’m actually into gardening right from when I was a boy. I have two gardens, one on my left-hand side of the house, and the second, on the right-hand side.
So, I do gardening all year round because both are very close to me. The one on my left-hand side was used to cultivate vegetables but last year (2025), it was used for yams. The other one is for maize.
“In fact, for the past four months this year, I’ve actually not bought yams from the market. All the yams I consume with my family are from the garden on the left. And the maize I cultivated from the second garden is always enough for the family for the entire year.” Mr Mahama Seewudu indicated.
Mr Abubakar Abdul Wahab can’t remember the last time he bought family vegetables from the market.
According to him, the prospects of gardening, are very helpful. “One, we have fresh green leaves to eat because I mostly go with organic produce. I don’t use inorganic materials.
Secondly, it generates a lot of income because I just harvested tomatoes and what I had is enough. And in the house, we don’t even know whether the traders sell tomatoes in the market or not because we eat fresh healthy tomatoes all year round.” Mr Abubakar Abdul Wahab.
While planning to shift from the national electricity grid to solar energy, Mr Abubakar is calling on the government to create a Public -Private Partnership (PPP) scheme to cushion gardeners with the provision of irrigation farming and a relook at the cost of electricity and inputs in the sector.
For the lesson, hard work is the ultimate “game-changer.” Jacob demonstrates that a garden is a financial engine capable of funding generations of education.
The Specialist: Mr Mahama Seewudu
“The Fortress of Food Security”
For Mr Mahama Seewudu, agriculture is a pedigree. He is a graduate of the Damongo Agricultural Institute and the University for Development Studies (UDS). By merging academic theory with grit, Mahama has mastered climate-smart agriculture, ensuring his crops thrive even when the clouds fail to deliver.
Even a life-altering accident could not keep him from the land. Today, his home is “sandwiched” by productivity: yams on one side and maize on the other.
In a world where food prices fluctuate wildly, Mahama lives in a state of enviable independence. He has effectively bypassed the market for months, feeding his family entirely from his own soil.
The Modernist: Mr Abubakar Abdul-Wahab
“Organic Growth and Mental Wellness”
Representing the new wave, Abubakar Abdul-Wahab views his garden as a sanctuary for both the body and the mind. A teacher by profession, he began in 2022 with a modest patch of land. By 2024, he scaled to a four-acre mechanized farm.
Abubakar’s organic approach is not just about health, it’s about climate-proofing his soil, turning brittle earth into a reservoir that survives the scorching Savannah sun.
Abubakar proves that gardening is a source of food, income, joy, and psychological well-being.
Climate-Resilient Development:
In 2025-2026,
While the men of Damongo fight their local battles, their efforts are mirrored against a volatile global backdrop.
The Global Hunger Index (GHI): As of 2025, approximately 735 million people globally face chronic hunger. Conflict, climate shocks, and economic downturns remain the “triple threat” to stability.
The “Gap” in Sub-Saharan Africa: While global food production is technically sufficient to feed 10 billion people, distribution and localized production are the key issues.
Africa currently spends over $50 billion annually on food imports wealth that could remain on the continent if localised “Damongo Blueprints” were scaled.
Price Volatility: Global cereal prices have seen a 15-20% fluctuation over the last 24 months. For a household in the Savannah Region, this volatility translates to a choice between education and a meal.
The Role of Smallholders: Data shows that smallholders are not just victims of climate change-they are the leading edge of the solution. They produce one-third of the world’s food.
In regions like Savannah, they are the primary barrier between “vulnerability” and “resilience.”
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com