Opinion leaders and smallholder farmers in the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region have been empowered by World Vision to tackle the negative effects of climatic change in the area.
Drought, deforestation, and inappropriate agricultural activities continued to affect them in their quest to survive.
Given that, World Vision Ghana has initiated a project dubbed Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) in 25 communities in the area to educate the residents on how to conserve biodiversity, build climate resilience, and reduce emissions from land-use changes to improve their livelihoods.
Speaking to the media during a workshop training held in Paga, the beneficiary communities recounted the benefits they have gained after two years of the project’s implementation.
They say a lot of their landscapes have regained their vegetation cover, and illegal felling of trees and burning of bushes has somewhat reduced in the communities.
According to Reverend John Kennedy Nchor Atigre, a community faith leader, the project’s implementation has redirected him to begin preaching the path of God.
“[This is] how God wants us, I mean we human beings to take care of the environment is exactly what this project is about.”
“And I must say that I and my congregation are now ambassadors of LEAN because we are reaping the benefits. So, I will appeal that the project gets more support from its donors so that communities in the Upper East Region that are yet to benefit will also benefit,” he stressed.
Also, Batabasu Adonawura, a 37-year-old mother of four, said she used to depend on trees for firewood, but after she gained some training from the project, most of the trees around her farmlands were now left to grow and are now supporting her economically.
“I used to cut these trees (shea nut trees) for firewood. But when I joined this project. These same trees I was cutting down are now supporting me. Not only that, the grass I used to burn for no reason, my goats, and sheep now depend on them for food. So, I’m grateful for joining this project.”
Landscapes and Environmental Agility Across the Nation (LEAN) is a four-year project that is expected to end in 2024. The aim of the project is to work alongside stakeholders such as community faith leaders, opinion leaders, and farmer groups to conserve biodiversity, build climate resilience, reduce emissions from land-use changes, and improve livelihoods.
Appreciating the commitment of some of the beneficiaries, the LEAN Project Manager, Joseph Edwin Yelkabong, explained that his outfit will continue to work with them in different landscapes to establish participatory landscape management structures.
“… that will facilitate easy uptake of integrated landscape management technology and innovation.”
He then assured them that LEAN will use the remaining years to strengthen community-level capacity building, build a landscape performance management framework, and strengthen their access to improved market incentives.
The project is funded by the European Union and implemented by World Vision Ghana, the Rainforest Alliance, Tropenbos Ghana, and Ecocare Ghana.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1 MHz|Moses Apiah|Ghana
