B.ISA partners Human Rights Reporters Ghana to promote climate action through compelling story telling

B. Inspired with Stories from Africa (B.ISA), in partnership with the Human Rights Reporters Ghana-NGO (HRRG) has organized a 1-day climate storytelling event aimed at empowering young people to drive actionable climate change at the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY) 2023.

The event which took place at the Institute of the Statistical, Social and Economic Research Conference Hall within the University of Ghana campus on Wednesday, October 25, 2023, began with a screening of a documentary video which sheds light on the Duapa Climate Action in African communities, namely, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Liberia, followed by some inspiring stories from climate leaders and community representatives.

Miss Lucenda Afful, one of the participants in the Duapa climate action project expressing her excitement, recounted how technology has enhanced her tree planting projects.

“Technology has made planting and monitoring of the trees I plant easy with less struggle. I can record the growth and health of the plants using the Locus Map App. I thought it would have been complicated until I began to use it”.

Lucenda exclaimed, adding that “the power of technology has equally helped her to know the status of the trees”.

She furthered, “using technological equipment like the drones, we are able to plant seedlings where our human efforts cannot get to, and with the aid of the Locus App on the mobile phone, we are able to track the state of the seedlings and the other trees we plant”.

Participants in the event were very excited to see how digital technology has been adopted as a tool for plant management.

Also, there were some discussions on advancing the use of medicinal plants, restoring Ghana’s lost forests, providing the youth with alternative sources of livelihoods as well as how to contribute to Ghana’s nature-based climate change adaptation strategy.

However, concerns were raised about how some young people are unable to use technology to promote climate change due to the unavailability of technological tools and equipment in their locality.

Mr. Derrick Afful, field officer for the Duapa reforestation project mentioned during a panel discussion that technology is the basis for sustainable agriculture. “Technology in agriculture increases agricultural productivity and develops the agricultural process” he exclaimed.

Concluding, panellists mentioned how the government is in support of promoting climate change and is ready to support individuals who are willing to promote the change.

Moreover, the youth were admonished to collaborate among themselves and seek out available resources and funding to support their individual projects on climate change.

All in all, this initiative by B.ISA and Human Rights Reporters Ghana marks a novel approach to climate awareness and action.

It melds a time-honored communication strategy with modern technological means to foster a movement that could effectively combat climate change. Moreover, it holds the promise of catalyzing a ripple effect, triggering similar projects globally.

This venture reiterates an essential, yet sometimes overlooked truth - every measure, even a small step, can contribute to the global fight against climate change.

By leveraging storytelling's power, these organizations hope to spark a broader dialogue on climate issues, inspiring people to act for a sustainable future.

The event also enjoyed partnerships from the Greenzine, Ghana News Agency, the All Africa Students Union, and Kingdom FM.