Partner Highlight
Lydia Madintin Konlan
GHANA
MARKET ORIENTED MUSHROOM FARMING: Building Sustainable Livelihoods through Mushroom Farming
YEAR 1 IMPACT
300
Women Trained in Mushroom Production
100
Compost Bags Produced and Distributed
Community Members Improved Dietary Diversity and Nutrition
1000
Lydia Konlan is a food systems and value chain professional with expertise in community mobilization, social innovation, and agribusiness. Her Market-Oriented Mushroom Farming (MOM Farming) program is a climate-smart, vertical farming model that empowers rural women in northern Ghana to generate income, improve household nutrition, and create value from agricultural waste and locally available materials. The model provides practical training, accessible production tools, and market-oriented skills to support the development of sustainable, small-scale enterprises. Through MOM Farming, Lydia is helping women build thriving, environmentally friendly businesses within their communities, strengthening both household wellbeing and the resilience of rural food systems.
In the first year of the Accelerator Fund, Lydia’s program trained 300 women across five remote communities in mushroom cultivation, compost production, harvesting techniques, and hygienic packaging. Through this training, women acquired practical skills in agribusiness and entrepreneurship, positioning them as leaders in sustainable income generation. The program produced and distributed 10,000 compost bags, strengthening local food systems and increasing the availability of fresh mushrooms, which improved dietary diversity and nutrition for approximately 1,000 community members. The program also elevated mushrooms as a key topic within broader discussions on food security and climate resilience at the regional and national levels in Ghana.
“Through BKMF workshops, I developed essential soft skills, including advocacy, fundraising, networking, and evidence-based storytelling. The Accelerator Fund gave me a real-world platform to apply leadership in action, managing activities, timelines, and diverse stakeholder relationships.”
In its current phase, Lydia is scaling MOM Farming to empower more women through decentralized training in mushroom cultivation, financial literacy, and agribusiness management. She is expanding mushroom farming into new communities, creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for women who are not yet part of the program. The next phase strengthens market access, deepens partnerships with government institutions, and enhances the project’s integration into local food systems and climate resilience strategies.