By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Paga (U/E), Aug 23, GNA-World Vision Ghana has provided weaving looms and accessories to 75 vulnerable people in the Kassena-Nankana West District as part of efforts to reduce overreliance on the environment for livelihoods and increase household income levels.
It also provided 140 high-pressure knapsack sprayers to 500 fire volunteers in the area to equip them to help manage wildfires at the community level during the dry season, to improve environmental conservation.
The project forms part of the implementation of the European Union-sponsored Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) project being implemented in the Kassena-Nankana West and West Gonja Districts to protect and restore the fragile savannah forests.
The EU LEAN project is a four-year initiative aimed to support national and local efforts to conserve biodiversity, improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, build climate resilience and reduce emissions from land-use changes across Ghana’s high forest, savannah and transition zones.
At a short ceremony at Paga to present the items to the beneficiaries, Mr Francis Gumah, the Northern Regional Operations Manager, World Vision Ghana, said the support was informed by a needs assessment conducted as part of strategies to strengthen the resilience and diversify the livelihood streams of selected households.
“Providing alternative income and livelihoods is critical to building farmers’ resilience in the changing climate. As rainfall becomes erratic and unpredictable, the need to empower farmers and communities tops World Vision Ghana’s agenda.
“Today’s presentation of looms machines and knapsack sprayers is part of World Vision Ghana’s commitment and dedication to this promise aimed to equip and build farmers’ resilience to enable them to navigate climate crisis”, Mr Gumah said.
The Regional Operational Manager noted that through the LEAN project, more than 6,000 farmers had received training on integrated landscape management approaches, adding, through the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) concept, a total of 275.73 hectares of degraded parklands across 22 communities in the Kassena-Nankana West District were under restoration.
He said 100 farmers had been trained and supported in beekeeping while 1,500 farmers were incorporated into 60 savings groups for transformation to provide economic independence to rural families.
“The project also supported four seedling nurseries that have raised and distributed over 80,000 tree seedlings of varied species, including economic tree seedlings such as shea, rosewood, dawadawa, mahogany, kapok and teak for enrichment planting in the 22 community-established FMNR sites and farmlands. This effort not only helps reclaim degraded parklands but also promotes sustainable environmental practices such as non-burning and preventing indiscriminate felling of trees”, he added.
Mr Joseph Edwin Yelkabong, the EU LEAN Project Manager, said because people depended heavily on the environment for survival, the natural resources were fast depleting and there was a need to reverse the trend.
He said empowering the farmers and families through entrepreneurship and skills development was key to creating alternative income opportunities and limiting farmers’ dependency on scarce natural resources.
In a speech read on his behalf, Mr Gerard Ataogye, the Kassena-Nankana West District Chief Executive, commended World Vision Ghana, and its partners for promoting environmental sustainability and livelihood improvement over the years.
He said the LEAN intervention and other interventions were in line with the district’s development agenda and strategies to restore degraded landscapes, mitigate and adapt to climate change and improve agriculture productivity.
GNA