Accra, Dec. 2, GNA – The International Water Management Institute (IWMI), in collaboration with local stakeholders, has successfully launched the Inclusive Landscape Management Plan (ILMP) for Ahafo Ano South West District in Accra.
The strategic initiative marks a step forward in sustainable landscape management and resilience in agricultural and food systems in the region.
The plan addresses critical environmental and agricultural challenges such as illegal mining, deforestation, and the impacts of climate change, which threaten local food security and community well-being.
Presenting an overview of the project at the opening session, Dr Seifu Admassu Tilahum, Senior Researcher IWMI and Project Co-lead, said the project went beyond the reclamation of degraded mining lands.
“It is an inclusive landscape management plan for the Ahafo Ano South-West District for a better agri-food system. So, the degraded land is part of the whole landscape system,” he said.
Dr Tilahum said since 2022, the project team had been working to understand the situation of the landscape and the community needs and demands to improve the agri-food system and together with stakeholders find solutions to challenges (1:03) that impact the agri-food system.
“So, we came up with a comprehensive landscape management plan, which addresses a number of issues in terms of agricultural productivity, in terms of socio-economic condition, and environmental issues because of mining as well as the use of fertilizers for cocoa production,” he said.
Dr Tilahum said the official launch of the plan was to ensure that the District Assembly, which was involved in the preparation, embraced it in their routine work as part of their mid-term plan for the next five years.
He said the piloting engagement work was the post-mining land reclamation, which together with the district assembly and traditional authorities some portions were reclaimed with oil palm plantation.
“So, another objective of this workshop is how the investment plan could be achieved, particularly for the post-mining land reclamation,” adding that a consultant had been engaged to prepare a memorandum of understanding for the investment plan to attract investors.
He said there were plans to scale up the inclusive landscape management plan through a training manual for other different district assemblies to undertake a similar kind of participatory inclusive landscape management plan.
the process of inclusive landscape management plan (5:55) is also happening in Nigeria, in the Murutola landscape, (6:01) in Rwanda, and in Burundi. (6:03) So what we are doing is, you know, (6:05) we follow the same approach.
Madam Habiba Abdulai, Planning Officer Ahafo Ano West District, said about half of farmlands in the area were being used for illegal mining, affecting agriculture activities.
She said with support from IWMI and the traditional authorities, some portions of the degraded lands were reclaimed by planting oil palm.
“The difference we have now is that at least we have been able to reclaim the land and then probably we are thinking of reclaiming the rest of the remaining lands and use that for agriculture and that will boost the socioeconomic activity in the district,” she said.
She commended the chief and the traditional authority for their effort in ensuring the success of the reclamation programme.
The one-day event brought together district assemblies, traditional authorities, local community members, farmers, NGOs, private sector representatives, and donors to align efforts and commit to the ILMP.
Group discussions emphasized investment opportunities and collaborative strategies to enhance landscape management, with innovative solutions like Farmer-led Nature Regeneration, oil palm for degraded landscape reclamation, post-harvest loss innovations, and solar-powered irrigation.
GNA