Our Community
Location
Humjibre’s town is a vibrant center where shops and vendors crowd the main road that passes through the community. Following the same road, Humjibre is only a short ride from the larger market town of Sefwi Bekwai, in the Western region of Ghana.
Humjibre exists in a tropical climate zone and is situated on the rainforest edge. The rainy season is traditionally from May to September and in December and January, the harmattan, a dry desert wind, blows from the north and brings hot days and cool nights. Humjibre is surrounded by fertile land, and is largely a farming community.
People
The majority of people living in Humjibre and its surrounding communities are traditionally members of the Sefwi ethnic group. There are approximately 321,000 Sefwis, predominantly resident in the northern area of the Western Region of Ghana, between the Ashanti Region and the Ivoirian border.
The language of the Sefwi people, like those of the majority of the southern ethnic groups in Ghana, belongs to the Akan linguistic family. While Sefwi people all naturally speak Akan Twi, due to the overlaid dialect of the Aowin language which is spoken to the west, the Sefwi language is often unintelligible to other Akan speakers. In recent years, due to the fertile soil, and the growth of local mining and timber industries, many migrants from different parts of Ghana have flocked to the Sefwi area, greatly diversifying its population.
Read more about Voices from Our Community.
Income
The majority of adults in Humjibre work as farmers, primarily of cocoa. Cocoa is the largest export crop in Ghana, which is currently the second largest cocoa producer in the world.
Although cocoa is their main source, most people in Humjibre also find alternative strategies to supplement their incomes between cocoa harvests. Entrepreneurship is common, and many people take part in several trades. Common occupations include traders, teachers, taxi drivers, seamstress/tailors, and hairdressers.
Structures
Housing in the BAB District demonstrates a mix of both old and new styles. Walking through Humjibre, some homes are built using dried mud bricks and thatched roofs and others with cement construction blocks and aluminum. The typical compound house has an enclosed courtyard, which leads to a number of rooms that often house many members of the extended family.
Communal labor is used to construct and renovate public infrastructure ensuring ownership by all members of the community. Buildings such as the Humjibre Community Library and Community Centerwere both constructed using communal labor.
Water
Most people in Humjibre are required to fetch water from one of Humjibre’s boreholes or from the village’s well. The well provides a constant supply of cold, clean water and has been a faithful source since settlers first came to the area. Since GHEI installed Humjibre’s first mechanized borehole, others have been installed in the community. Those boreholes that are not mechanized require time and manpower to pump water out of the underlying aquifer.
Since 2017, pipes have been installed at various spots in Humjibre, providing people with clean ground water.
