By Philip Tengzu
Wechaiu, (UW/R), Feb. 14, GNA – The Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD-Ghana) is set to implement a project in the Wa West District that seeks to impact the lives and livelihoods of stallholder farmers in the district.
The project, dubbed: “Sustainable Resilience Action Project,” sought to sustain the climate resilience of about 2,000 direct and 12,000 indirect beneficiaries in 20 communities including Dorimon, Dabo and Kong communities.
It is being funded by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH) component of the European Union Ghana Agriculture Programme’s (EU-GAP).
The eleven-month project would comprise three thematic areas – sustainable water management, soil health, trees and reforestation.
At the inception meeting of the project at Wechaiu in the Wa West District, Ms Ernestina Biney, the Acting Executive Director of CARD-Ghana, indicated that the project’s successful implementation would sustain the resilience of the people against the impact of climate change on their lives and livelihoods.
“The aim of the project is to improve resilience against the impact of climate change, reduce land degradation and enhance biodiversity restoration and maintenance.
We want to strengthen the capacity for smallholder farmers in integrated land and water management, improve sustainable water and land management practices amongst smallholder farmers and increase access to safely managed water resources for household consumption and small-scale irrigation,” she explained.
It would be implemented in collaboration with the Wa West District Assembly, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Forestry Commission among other state agencies as well as traditional, opinion and women leaders at the community level.
Under the soil health component, the project would construct two compost sites and train 40 farmers on composting in two communities and conduct integrated pest management training for 50 farmers.
The project would also construct solar mechanised boreholes, rehabilitate two small irrigation farms, and construct four small scale solar powered drip irrigation farms under the water management component.
For the trees and reforestation component, it would undertake tree planting and forest cover restoration in four communities, providing climate resilient information and communication services for 50 farmers.
It would also conduct demonstration field days for 50 farmers in four communities to show them climate smart irrigation practices.
Ms Boney said the project would involve active participation of the beneficiary communities to guarantee community ownership of the project interventions and to ensure longevity of their impact.
Mr Crispin Yango, the Wa West District Coordinating Director, expressed gratitude to the CARD-Ghana, GIZ and the EU for the project intervention in the district.
He urged the beneficiary communities to embrace and support its implementation as it would help enhance agriculture, especially dry season farming and reduce the tendencies of the youth migrating in search of greener pastures.
Naa Isaac Dong Yendau III, the Chief of Kong community, pledged his unflinching support to CARD-Ghana and to mobilise his community to support the project implementation to ensure they reaped its benefits.
CARD-Ghana is a not-for-profit organisation operating in the Upper West Region in the areas of health and nutrition, education, sanitation and hygiene and empowerment of women, children and Persons with Disabilities among others.
GNA