Sefwi-Wiawso(WN/R), July 25, GNA – Rainforest Alliance with support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) have handed over an App to support farmers in the Western North Region.
The App is to monitor trees planted within the Landscape Management Board (LMBs) to enhance afforestation in the area.
The application dubbed, “Hybrid Community-Based Monitoring System”(HCMS), would benefit more than 9,000 farmers from 25 communities within the Western North Region.
Mr Alvin Adu-Asare, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation officer explained that the programme sought to create a hybrid monitoring and evaluation programme that would combine remote and, ground, data gathering tools for data management and reporting at the landscape level through a blended approach of GPS data collecting Apps and satellite imagery combined with traditional community resources maps.
He said in that regard, they had procured 51 tablets, one computer and one digital screen to support the programme.
Mr Adu-Asare also explained that the project was designed to leverage information and communication technology and empower the various communities under the landscape management board to own the monitoring and evaluation Process, while reducing human error to the barest minimum.
The Senior Monitoring and Evaluation officer further explained the HCMS was expected to enable the Landscape Management Board and its stakeholders to provide a rapid participating forest inventory and land performance reports which would help capture plant level data combining sophisticated technology and local knowledge in a user-friendly manner which would contain the full and effective participation of local people.
The action, Mr Adu-Asare said it would benefit 20,000 community members in the landscape jurisdiction to use the HCMS system to measure key indicators of improved performance and to collaboratively monitor and track the forest themselves.
He said the lessons from the project would strengthen the HCMS as a long-term replicable self-reliance framework for other landscape initiatives across the country.
Some of the beneficiaries in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, lauded the initiative since it would go a long way to track and monitor not only trees, but other crops planted and would also support them in protecting the environment.
Nana Kwaku Nkuah II, chief of Ahwiah, who represented the Paramount Chief of Wiawso traditional area also lauded Rainforest Alliance for empowering farmers in the area through the livelihood programmes and appealed to farmers to use the App well to protect the forest as well as improve upon cocoa production.
He also asked Cocobod to educate cocoa farmers on the need to plant more trees, especially on their farms.
GNA