I've had the privilege over the last weeks of visiting 25 communities in five different Districts here in Ghana's Northern region around Tamale. With WhatIF Foods and The Pond Foundation we're starting from scratch to try to build a #REgenerative Bambara groundnut supply for WhatIF's planet-based products.

On one of the early visits, perhaps 3 communities in, I was sitting behind a colleague as he spoke to community members. It took me a while, but then I noticed his shirt, "Transforming Ghana's Smallholder Farmer!"

Hmm, I thought, troubled. Based on what I’d seen to that point, and certainly since, I wondered at the juxtaposition of grand marketing slogans with bitter reality. His shirt was from a previous project he’d worked on. The communities I’ve visited lack basic infrastructure like primary schools, health services, sanitation, waste disposal, decent roads etc. Some have some of these, some have none. People remain more than poor. Overall, the evidence is overwhelming that transformation is most notable by its absence.

Over many years, I’ve seen many inspiring catch cries for this business, that project, some activity somewhere, all so bold and transformative for people and the planet. Had all such claims become reality, the lives of not only Ghana’s smallholder farmers but smallholders everywhere, would indeed have been mightily transformed. This, patently, is not the case.

It's not for want of trying. The way to community meeting grounds is awash with signboards announcing projects with donor logos proudly displayed but so often, they’ve fallen amongst rust, dust, and decay.

There’s a challenge in my friend’s shirt, and that is, “How might what you’re doing end up differently?”

I wonder at that. Could part of the answer be to come in with more humility? We needn’t ditch bold ambition, but anchored in the reality that smallholders experience every day, might we treat them more as partners than beings whose lives we, with all our skill, know-how and money, will transform?

My colleague’s shirt was produced with good intent, but ultimately, all evidence suggests the project that underpinned it must have been a magnificent failure, if transformation was its goal. The challenge we face today is to achieve a better outcome. That subtle shift in reference away from, “we’re here to transform your lives, to help you” to “we recognise there are things here we don’t understand. Can we work with you to see what might be possible?” could be a good starting point.

We do want to #REimagine a different way to co-create change and better lives for farmers. Perhaps the first and most powerful step to help us on our way might be to dump our proudly held notions of all the good we’re going to inflict on people and just sit with them a while.