By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, March 18, GNA – Environmental experts, policymakers, and development organisations have come together in Tamale to chart a new path for restoring degraded lands and improving livelihoods in communities affected by desertification and climate change.
The gathering marked the official launch of the second phase of the Regreening Africa Programme, a transformative initiative aimed at building climate resilience and enhancing food security across the continent.
The second phase of the initiative, implemented by Center for International Forestry Research and Investment Information and Credit Rating Agency (CIFOR-ICRAF), is in collaboration with World Vision, Catholic Relief Services(CRS), CARE, Sahel Eco, and Agronomes & Veterinaires Sans Frontieres (AVSF) and funded by the European Union (EU) at an estimated cost of €15 million.
The new initiative builds on the achievements of the first phase of the Regreening Africa Programme, implemented between 2017-2023, which promoted sustainable land management practices that supported over 600,000 households, covering nearly one million hectares of land across eight African countries.
The initiative, unveiled during a press briefing inception workshop, held in Tamale, targeted landscape restoration and sustainable agriculture practices across Ghana, Somalia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and Niger.
In Ghana, €2 million has been allocated to support communities in the Upper East and Northern Regions.
The programme focuses on empowering smallholder farmers and pastoral households to adopt regreening practices such as agroforestry, tree planting, soil and water conservation, sustainable grazing, and Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR).
These techniques would not only restore ecosystems but also boost food production and create economic opportunities, especially for women and youth.
During the inception workshop, stakeholders emphasised need for supportive policies to sustain restoration efforts.
Key discussions highlighted the importance of securing community access to restored lands, promoting decentralised natural resource management, and resolving conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.
Mr Massimo Mina, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Ghana, during the press briefing inception workshop, reaffirmed EU’s commitment to supporting communities facing environmental challenges.
He said “The EU is fully aware of the challenges faced by Ghana, especially in the north of the country. These include extreme and prolonged dry spells, declining tree cover and increased soil infertility, we provided funding to address these challenges and create jobs and employment opportunities in the communities especially for women and youth through land restoration, creation of market linkages for forest-based products and boosting food yields via agroforestry practices.”
Madam Mieke Bourne, Regreening Africa Programme and Stakeholder Engagement with Evidence Lead at CIFOR-ICRAF, said “As we begin the second phase of this initiative, we would focus on expanding the proven practices and approaches from the first phase while addressing identified gaps such as the need to include pastoral areas, better matching of practices to local contexts, improved access to quality tree-planting materials, enhancing livelihoods through regreening linked value chains and fostering enabling policy environments.”
Mr Maxwell Amedi, Food Security and Resilience Technical Programme Manager for World Vision in Ghana, said “We plan to expand existing interventions and replicate effective approaches here in Ghana and across the region by establishing strong linkages and evidence-based scaling strategies for landscape restoration.”
He added that “This will enhance climate change resilience at both national and regional levels. Our efforts would include widespread promotion of regreening as a climate adaptation and mitigation strategy as well as assessing and understanding its potential for carbon sequestration.”
Mr Edward Akunyagra, Programme Director for Agriculture and Livelihoods at CRS in Ghana, emphasised that “The time to act is now to reverse the degradation and make our land fertile and productive. This programme is not just about planting trees – it is about planting hope, restoring ecosystems, and nurturing a sustainable future for generations to come.”
GNA
EA/KOA