The Songornya Communities

Songornya is composed of the four communities Adjumanikope, Bornikope, Agbedrafor, and Kpotsum. These communities are situated along the bank of the Songor Lagoon. In Dangme, the local language, Songornya translates to the mouth of the Songor Lagoon. The four communities are populated with roughly 8,000 people.

The primary occupations of Songornya are farming (tomatoes, hot pepper, cassava, and watermelon) and salt-mining. Salt from the Songor Lagoon is historically prized throughout West Africa for its superior taste. It is extremely hard work, however, to mine it. Also, as the market prices are falling the salt-miners can no longer rely on a stable and fair price for their salt, so they are pressured to sell it for less at the risk of not selling it at all.

Instead of attending school or learning a trade, many young people in Songornya choose to work mining salt in the lagoon in order to make quick money. This has become a major concern for many community members because it is leading to lack of development and to proportionately low numbers of skilled workers and educated individuals. It has been recognized by the community members that eventually, the Songor Lagoon will be developed either by the government or by private companies. When this happens, who in the communities will be qualified to work within the management of the developed lagoon? Will the community members only be qualified as laborers? Without a strong base of educated individuals in the communities, who will effectively and legally advocate that the company developing the lagoon be accountable to the interests and needs of the local people? It is recognized by many community members that in order to ensure a positive outcome from this impending development, it is vital to focus on the education and skills training of their children today.