Beneficiary farmers of restoration project call for upscaling
Some beneficiary farmers of the Ghana Landscape Restoration and Small-Scale Mining (GLRSSM) project have called for an upscaling of the project for greater impact.
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They said the benefits of the project were certain to improve their livelihoods and enhance living conditions and called for its expansion.
One of the beneficiary farmers, Francis Essilfie, said the project, which supported cocoa farmers to cut down old cocoa trees for replanting, was commendable and had given farmers a new lease of energy to enlarge their cocoa farms.
“They taught us new farming technologies and this is certain to increase our yields per hectare and give us more money," he stated.
Another farmer, Oscar Kodwovi Goka, said he had received support in the form of seedlings for planting, saying it was a relief for him.
He said the project was worth the while, considering its immense socio-economic benefits for the farmers and the country.
Another farmer, Francis Andani, said though he was not yet on the project, he was ready to be rolled onto it considering its immense benefits.
"I now believe it’s real. Initially, we thought it was a lie. We were not sure about the promises from the government. Now I am ready to be part of the project and I appeal to the government to expand it to reach many more farmers," he stated.
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Ministry
They made the assertions when the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ophelia Mensah Hayford, interacted with farmers involved in the GLRSSM project in the Twifo Atti Mokwa District in the Central Region recently.
Ms Mensah Hayford said the impressive successes of the GLRSSM project would propel the ministry to sustain gains.
She said the ministry would continue to collaborate with all stakeholders to protect the environment for posterity and towards sustaining food security.
The $103.36 million project is targeted at strengthening integrated natural resource management and increasing benefits to targeted savannah and cocoa forest landscapes.
It is being implemented by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in collaboration with MESTI in 26 districts across eight regions.
Key implementing agencies include COCOBOD, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Forestry Commission (FC), and the Department of Food and Agriculture.
In all, about 58,000 farmers in 535 communities have so far been supported under the agriculture component since 2022.
The minister together with her team first interacted with representatives of implementing agencies at Twifo Praso before inspecting work on farms of beneficiaries at Aboso and Akweikrom.
In the Central Region, the COCOBOD component is being implemented in the Twifo Atti Mokwa and Assin North districts, while the tree planting component being implemented by the EPA is being undertaken in 13 districts.
The MOFA component is also being undertaken by 18 communities in the region.
Environmental evils
Ms Mensah Hayford said in the face of climate change and other environmental evils, including illegal mining, the government was working to ensure the sustenance of the agricultural sector while protecting the environment, which remained critical to human existence.
"We must do more to ensure we build resilience and protect our environment by adopting the right agricultural practices,” she said.
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Ms Mensah Hayford said the restoration project remained part of the government's efforts towards addressing key challenges in the agricultural sector to improve productivity, enhance food security and provide sustainable livelihoods for farmers, ultimately supporting the nation's economy and environmental conservation.
The focal person for agricultural activities within the project, Kingsley Amoako, indicated that the project was focusing on general crops such as cocoa, oil palm, maize, cowpea, rice, and plantain.
He stated that the strategy was ‘bottom-up’ where the farmers decided which crops they wanted to plant, and the project supported them.