Jessica Cheers

2024 | Agriculture - Livestock Management

In honour of Frank Mansell

Hello, my name is Jessica Cheers, and I’m a 2024 Global Footprints Scholarship recipient.

Since receiving the scholarship, I have travelled to Ghana in West Africa, where I spent three weeks in a small farming village called Frankadua. In two weeks, I head to Canada to use the remainder of my scholarship, where I’ll spend my time on a regenerative agriculture farm working with livestock.

During my time in Frankadua, I was assigned to work on a pig and cropping farm, where all the produce was donated to a local orphanage to help provide meals for the children.

Each morning would begin at around 5 am. We would head to the farm with the local farmers and feed the pigs. This was followed by a range of basic farm duties, including planting, harvesting and general farm maintenance.

Because of the extreme heat over there in Africa, work on the farm would normally pause during the hottest time of the day. During this time, we supported the local community by assisting around the village and helping teach children at the nearby schools. Then, in the late afternoon, once the temperatures had eased, we would return to the farm and continue working until the evening.

For me, one of the highlights was visiting one of the local cattle farms. As someone who comes from a cattle farming background, I really enjoyed speaking to these farmers and sharing my own knowledge and ideas, whilst also gaining insight into how they manage and run their production.

The farmers breed cattle for beef production, with their target market being the mature cow that has already produced a calf, as they can continue providing both milk and meat for their families.

Water and feed shortages are an ongoing issue due to the region’s dry climate. Without the resources to build dams or water systems, farmers must purchase water to keep their cattle alive. With limited pasture growth, it also means they need to buy feed for around six months of the year, adding substantial costs.

One of the local farmers explained:

“Dry season in Ghana, we don’t feel happy about dry season because when we enter into the dry season, our crops do not do well because we don’t have rain. We see most of our crops dying and the people around Frankadua and [village name unclear] in Ghana, our main job is farming. So if we don’t get rain, our crops die. We can’t do anything at all.”

Another big challenge the farmers face is the lack of infrastructure. The farms have no proper cattle yards, which makes veterinary procedures very difficult. Instead of using handling facilities, the cattle must be forced to the ground and physically held whilst the vets carry out treatments or other procedures.

In the community of Frankadua, agriculture wasn’t viewed as a career or a passion in the same way it is back here at home. Instead, farming is a means of survival, with most farms existing only to feed individual families.

Although there is a lot of potential for more productive and efficient farming within the village, it became obvious that many local farmers were hesitant to adopt new methods and practices.

As I learnt from their experiences and way of life, I also tried to contribute by sharing farming knowledge and techniques from home. However, many locals seemed accustomed to the simplicity and low cost of their operations, despite how difficult they are to maintain and the amount of effort, land and resources they seem to waste.

One of the most challenging parts of the trip was witnessing the living conditions faced by many people in this community. Seeing children and families without proper access to food, shelter and other basic needs was both difficult and confronting.

However, despite these hardships, the people we met continued to show incredible resilience, generosity and positivity. It was truly inspiring to see how much joy and energy the children carried, even in such difficult circumstances.

I just want to say a huge thank you to the BBM team and everyone who made this incredible experience possible. This opportunity has allowed me to travel, learn, build connections within the industry and gain experience that will shape my future in the agriculture industry forever.

Thank you.

Jessica’s scholarship relates to these UN Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs):