The following is an excerpt from a feature article from Reuters, read the full article here.
In a community centre in the heart of the cocoa-rich Sui River region in western Ghana, two dozen people gather to discuss their collective forest restoration efforts.
Jeffrey Scott, a local district assembly member and joint coordinator of the Sui River Landscape Management Board, gives a progress report on the board’s long list of activities, ranging from the planting of shade trees to helping cocoa farmers diversify into beekeeping, snail-farming and pig-rearing.
The board is one of three set up in 2017 with the support of the NGO Rainforest Alliance, and comprises 47 local farmers, plus representatives from 13 institutions, including the Ministry of Forestry, the regional government and the Ghana Cocoa Board.
The social and environmental issues facing forest communities are “complex and multidimensional”, explains Matilda Agyapong, landscapes and communities project manager for Rainforest Alliance in Ghana.
“We don’t want the farmers to carry all the burden of shifting from traditional practices to a more climate-sustainable agriculture model,” she explains. “So, the idea of the landscape management board is to ensure all the relevant actors come together and look at solutions.”
Read the rest of the article here.
