According to the United Nations World Food Council, in developing countries, one person in five has problems getting enough food. In addition, the livelihoods of most farmers in the Third World are constantly threatened by drought, soil erosion, lack of access to fertilizer, tools, adequate storage facilities and credit. Peasant farmers also have to contend with unfair marketing systems and landowners. The Coady Institute believes everyone should enjoy the right to basic food security, and that farmers should be paid a just price for their product. The Institute and its partner organizations throughout Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean work with peasant farmers to help them increase production and to improve their earnings.
Projects range from small family vegetable gardens to large marketing co-operatives.
Coady graduates provide training in new agricultural techniques and help communities set up revolving loan funds to give poor farmers a start at self-sufficiency. Others are involved in changing exploitive marketing systems and improving storage facilities for food surpluses. The Brong-Ahafo region in central Ghana is the country's highest producer of maize. The lack of adequate storage facilities, however, has made it difficult for farmers to keep bumper crops for future sale. Anthony Adomako, a 1986 graduate of the Coady diploma program, is an agricultural extension worker with the Diocese of Sunyani.