58,000 farmers restore degraded lands for agric production

At least 58,000 farmers have been supported under the Ghana Landscape Resto­ration and Small- Scale Mining Project (GLRSSMP) of the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innova­tion (MESTI) to restore degraded lands for agricultural productivity in the country

They have restored lands be­tween three to 10 acres.

This came to light during a working tour to inspect ongo­ing projects including farms last Wednesday, by the MESTI, led by the Minister, Ophelia Mensah Hayford, in the Asante Akim South District in the Ashanti Region.

Mrs Hayford was excited the project would yield dividends in the fight against climate change as the farmers were planting trees alongside their cocoa plantation.

“I think they are excited too, because now they are doing mixed cropping and are calling for the extension of the programme,

“We will look for more funds to assist the farmers to restore all the degraded lands to enhance the fight against climate change,” she underlined.

She encouraged the farmers to plant more trees because “it will also contribute to the storage of carbon credit for sale for foreign exchange to boost the economy”.

Ms Hayford assured the farmers who cut their moribund trees for the initiative, of government’s readiness to pay whatever was due them for the restoration project before end of the month.

The six-year project (GLRSS­MP), which aims to promote responsible mining practices and restore Ghana’s landscapes for fu­ture generations, is a $103 million joint World Bank, Global Environ­ment Facility(gef), Progreen Trust Fund Project, etc, which started in 2022.

Mr Kingsley Kwarkoh Amoako, Agricultural Focal Officer of the Project, indicated that 75 per cent of the project fund was geared towards field activities and that compensation for the farmers would soon be ready.

He mentioned that the project had other components such as the wildlife, COCOBOD which were also engaging additional farmers to do what was expected.

Mr Amoako indicated that the project was near the target of 582 communities “with the current 535 communities resulting in the 58,000 farmers benefiting”.

At farms in the Kwabeng Com­munity in the Asante Akim South District, the farmers commended the government for the initiative which they said, has also allowed them for vegeta­bles and legumes rotation on the restored lands.

They called on the government to extend the project when it end­ed, as they thanked the government for the supply on inputs such as rice, cocoa and other tree seedlings such as emire, mahogany, as well as organic fertilisers to improve the soil.

Mr Ebenezer Agyin, Ashanti Regional Manager, COCOBOD, mentioned that 33,704 cocoa seedlings and plantain suckers have been distributed to the farmers so far.