Ghana
Programme Summary
With the unrelenting efforts of partners and the dissemination of large quantities of seeds, farmers, associations and local NGOs worked together to reach a goal of 250,000 trees during the initial rainy season. Altogether, 18 agroforestry workshops were organized and held: four regional workshops; six community level workshops; six Tree Pals program workshops, and two main KITA Alumni training workshops. 164 women and 147 men were involved in all of the training programs. Moreover, an estimated 450 students were instructed on the importance of tree planting and they became involved in nursery preparations in their schools and communities
Partners Network
Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture - Permaculture Network Ghana - Heifer International - Friends of the Earth Ghana - Peace Corps Ghana - Rural Care Network
Background
The Sahelian desert, In the north of the country is suffering from rampant oil erosion and deforested lands left barren. Crop yields are forever on the decrease and overall agriculture productivity is threatened. Less than £1 per day is the average living income for a staggering 79% of the population. The country still remains highly dependent on international financial and technical assistance.
Over exploitation ,mismanagement and a general lack of environmental awareness threatens the country and its people have ruined Ghana’s richness in natural resources which uses to play a significant role in its strong economy, providing the country with over twice the per capita output than the poorer countries in West Africa.
The economy remains highly dependent on subsistence agriculture sector, accounting for 50% of the annual GDP and employs 85% of the county's workforce. Environmental education systems and the planting of trees is a vital need.
The Response
Partnering organisations and their vast network of alumni, NGOs and rural groups, a program has been developed to reach rural communities throughout country. Led by a program coordinator, farmers are learning how to develop sustainable land-use systems which will bring them economic benefits while improving their environment. A strong focus of the program is placed on the Northern region where the Sahelian desert is expanding. Certain species of trees, such as Leucaena leucocephala and Calliandra calothyrsus are being planted to provide sustainable sources of fuelwood, animal fodder, and to replenish degraded soils. Other species, such as Moringa oleifera, with its highly nutritious leaves, will help families deal with issues of malnutrition.
In addition, as part of the program a development in an agro forestry curriculum is in place. In the future, efforts to bring productivity back to Ghana's degraded environment will be introduced.
Program Update
November 2009
During the last three months 17 workshops have been held for farmers, NGOs and other organisations to teach them about agro forestry and how to build a relationship with partnering organisations. Interested farmers were assisted to establish tree nurseries, and are currently planting the seedlings which have been growing for the past 4 months. The program is also working with a number of schools in the country.
Eighteen trainings took place in schools, where children learned about the importance of trees and about agro forestry. As part of the school program 180 trained students planted trees to begin establishing forest gardens at their schools. In the future, the goal is for the schools to become part of our Tree Pals program (www.treepals.org). We are also training graduate students at the Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) in agroforestry. Forty students are taking part in the program as part of their graduate studies. They are working with rural communities to train them in agroforestry, establish tree nurseries, and plant trees. Moreover, students at KITA are establishing model forest gardens to be used in the curriculum. Due to our multi-level approach, so far we have been able to reach over 200 communities throughout Ghana.
January 2009
During the beginning stages of development of the Ghana program, there is a strong focus on reaching out to people to inform them of Trees for the Future’s program, and the ways they can benefit and become involved. So far, large quantities of seeds were disseminated to farmers, associations and local NGOs to reach a goal of 250,000 trees this initial rainy season. Altogether, 18 agroforestry workshops were organized and held: four regional workshops; six community level workshops; six Tree Pals program workshops, and two main KITA Alumni training workshops. 164 women and 147 men were involved in all of the training programs. Moreover, an estimated 450 students were instructed on the importance of tree planting and they became involved in nursery preparations in their schools and communities. In addition, the curriculum for the Trees for the Future agroforestry program at KITA is currently being developed.