After 17 years of support, the Adomfe Epicenter in the Ashanti Region has officially achieved self-reliance and is weaned off the support of The Hunger Project Ghana.

The Hunger Project has been active in Ghana since 1995, focusing on creating sustainable, community-driven programs through its epicentre strategy.

This approach includes a variety of activities designed to empower communities to take control of their development, such as health education, and agriculture.

After 17 years of guidance from The Hunger Project Ghana, an evaluation revealed that the Adomfe Epicenter, which serves five communities, achieved a remarkable score of 90.2%, well above the 80% threshold required for self-reliance.

The Epicenter has seen significant development, including the construction of a clinic, food bank, and conference room.

Other achievements include the building of a two-unit kindergarten block in Kurofa, the establishment of a cocoa, oil palm, and coconut nursery project, and the planting of teak trees in several communities.

To ensure the community could manage the Epicenter sustainably after their departure, The Hunger Project launched a social enterprise initiative in 2022.

As part of this effort, they provided the community with 120 foldable chairs, eight canopies, 20 student mattresses, and a tricycle.

The goal was to enable the community to rent out these items, generating income to strengthen the Epicenter’s revenue streams.

Country Director of The Hunger Project, Samuel Afrane, praised the people of Adomfe at a ceremony celebrating the Epicenter’s achievement of self-reliance. He commended their commitment to taking control of their own development.

He emphasized that rural communities, often viewed as poor and underdeveloped, possess immense potential and simply need the right opportunities to thrive and grow.

"We have gone through several trainings with them trying to change their mindset so that they will not see themselves as too dependent on others to be able to come out of hunger and poverty," he said.

He noted that the Adomfe Epicenter had made remarkable progress since The Hunger Project’s involvement, pointing to the transformation of the CHPS compound into a fully functional health centre as a key example.

He also highlighted the significant improvement in school enrollment, which had risen from a mere 50% to over 90% during this time.

He assured that The Hunger Project would continue to monitor the Epicenter’s progress over the next two years to ensure that the community remains committed to the principles of self-reliance and sustainable development.

"Despite our exit, if we have any project that we believe will inure to the benefit of the people we will bring it; just they will be in the driver's seat this time around,"

District Director of Health Services, Mr. Reuben Antwi, expressed high praise for The Hunger Project Ghana, acknowledging their significant contribution to improving healthcare in the area through the Epicenter model over the years.

"I think today the Epicenter deserves to be weaned off so that it can rely on itself in the provision of services to the people in the area,"

He described it as a great privilege for the health directorate to have the Adomfe Epicenter, which has now been upgraded to a full health centre offering a range of services, including outpatient care, maternal and child healthcare, family planning, and emergency services.