“I had an amazing time in Ghana with my host family and kept finding ways to come back,” says Edwards. Her return trips included studying abroad for a semester at the University of Ghana, and later conducting research in-country with Peace Corps volunteers.
Over the course of 15 years, Edwards has held numerous roles in Ghana, and central to them all are issues concerning climate resilience, public health, agriculture, food production and education.
“When I was working on public health programming in a cocoagrowing village, I often went to farm with the community on Saturdays,” Edwards recalls. “I was inspired by the women farmers who were cultivating crops like plantains, tomatoes and peppers, in addition to their cocoa trees. Yet I realized that their skill and dedication to farming were overlooked by training and extension services, which are still geared towards men.”
These combined insights and experiences inspired the founding of Ground Up Ghana. Its goals include converting farmland from resource-heavy production to crops that are traditionally grown with agroecological methods; improving the livelihoods of women farmers through a reliable market and fair price for their harvests; providing employment and on-the-job training in a supportive/collaborative work culture for young Ghanaian women; and creating healthy meal options for conscious consumers worldwide.
Edwards envisions the potential outcome of these goals in a global context.
“Women farmers and climate-resilient crops like Bambara beans and millet—that improve soil health and provide better nutrition than corn—give me hope that we have natural and traditional solutions to climate change that can be harnessed alongside new ‘tech’ solutions for broader, more inclusive reach and impact.”
