Visitors from Ghana’s University for Development Studies (UDS) have lunch at F.A.R.M. Cafe with App State faculty and community members in downtown Boone during their trip to the High Country in May 2023. Their trip was part of App State’s rural-to-rural partnership with UDS, which connects underserved students and communities in the Appalachian and Northern Ghana regions. Photo submitted
BOONE, N.C. — For several years, faculty at Appalachian State University and the University for Development Studies (UDS) in Tamale, Ghana, have collaborated on applied research and training to foster sustainable development in rural communities.
The rural-to-rural partnership focuses on teaching and research collaborations to deepen both institutions at the academic, administrative and community levels, while also encouraging cultural exchanges and promoting sustainable development, economic growth and food and livelihood security in Ghana, the U.S. and beyond.
“The ideas and resources exchanged through this cross-cultural collaboration are inspiring innovative solutions to issues facing rural communities in Ghana and the U.S., helping to better the lives — and futures — of the individuals who call these communities home,” said App State Acting Provost Neva J. Specht. “For 125 years, App State has remained true to its roots as a rural-serving institution, and this project is reflective of that continued commitment.”
Faculty from App State and UDS have been working together since 2012, when Dr. Jacqui Ignatova — professor in App State’s Department of Sustainable Development — carried out Fulbright-funded fieldwork in Northern Ghana. In the 2017–18 academic year, another Fulbright Scholar grant awarded to Dr. Anatoli Ignatov — also a professor in the Department of Sustainable Development — helped to launch a long-term institutional relationship between the two universities.
“When I first visited Ghana, I fell in love with the people and the place,” said Ignatova. “Now we’ve had this relationship for over a decade and have been able to achieve so much and exchange so many great ideas.”
In 2019, UDS faculty member Dr. Salifu Mahama visited App State to co-teach a course on endogenous development — a process in which communities use local resources, knowledge and capacities to direct their own development. In the same year, App State students traveled to Ghana to participate in the UDS Third Trimester Field Practical Programme, which placed them in rural Ghanaian villages for a development assessment project.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, App State and UDS launched a website series of virtual workshops on collaborative research and grant writing to build the capacity of the partnership and to identify promising areas for research collaboration.
In more recent years, work has been conducted on multiple issues in Ghana, including distributing health information through smartphones and other devices for maternal and postnatal education, as well as education and discourse of land administration and agricultural reform.
“There’s so much we have learned through these connections,” said Ignatova. “To actually bring together people from different disciplines and different countries that struggle with similar development issues can bring about more innovative solutions for a more sustainable future.”
Members of the U.S. Embassy in Ghana are pictured with the leaders of the App State and University for Development Studies partnership. The embassy supports the partnership with grant funding. Photo submitted
App State’s partnership with the University for Development Studies in Tamale, Ghana, connects underserved students and communities in the Appalachian and Northern Ghana regions through teaching and research collaborations, cultural exchanges and more. This map shows Ghana’s location in Africa. Vecteezy image
‘The beauty of cross-cultural connections’
In May 2023, a group from UDS was able to visit App State for a cross-cultural exchange, research collaborations and cocurricular development hosted at the Valle Crucis Conference Center. During the visit, guests from Ghana were invited to explore the High Country and Appalachian region through multiple opportunities, including:
- A tour of Grandfather Mountain State Park.
- A tour of the High Country Food Hub.
- A tour of App State’s Sustainable Development Teaching and Research Farm.
- A tour of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro.
- A mountaintop removal tour of Wise, Virginia.
- A tour of the App State Facilities Operations composting facility.
- A screening of the documentary film “After Coal” with filmmaker and App State professor Tom Hansell.
- Multiple presentations, workshops and discussions on the Boone campus and in the community.
- Multiple meals provided by local restaurants, including the “From Africa to Appalachia” dinner at Over Yonder in Valle Crucis, which highlighted the West African roots of Southern and soul food.
“It was such an exciting moment to witness the beauty of these cross-cultural connections,” said Ignatova. “Even just eating food together and having these conversations helped us to further foster our relationships and further build upon what we hope to accomplish.”
The partnership has also involved students through study abroad opportunities, with the latest study abroad trip to Ghana taking place in summer 2023.
As for the future of the partnership, Ignatova said App State plans to continue to have exchanges like this at both App State and UDS and aims to offer some hybrid classes with UDS colleagues in the coming semesters.
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About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
