TRAINING OF TRAINERS ON CASHEW NUT QUALITY

As part of Green for Change Ghana's (GCG) strategy to deepen relationships with grassroots structures such as the West Gonja municipal Department of Agriculture, and also ensure that the extension officers continue to monitor and provide technical backstopping to the farmers when the project ends, a training of trainers program was organized at the GCG office in Damongo on 2nd June 2023 for Agriculture Extension Agents (AEAs) and GCG field officers on nut quality under the “Building the capacity of smallholder cashew farmers on harvest and post-harvest including nut quality” project. The training which was led by a senior agronomist of the department covered how to determine the four (4) key nut quality parameters such as nut count, defective rate, moisture content, and kernel out-turn ratio (KOR).

The trained officers will be supported with resources and test kits to conduct step-down training for a minimum of 300 smallholder cashew farmers in 6 communities within the West Gonja Municipality.

TRAINING OF 300 CASHEW FARMERS ON HARVEST & POST HARVEST MANAGEMENT

Green for Change Ghana working in collaboration with the West Gonja Municipal Department of Agriculture conducted training on harvest and post-harvest management techniques for 300 smallholder cashew farmers under the six (6) months "Building the capacity of smallholder cashew farmers on harvest and post-harvest including nut quality” project. The training was conducted from 11th to 19th May 2023 across the 6 project implementation communities in the West Gonja municipality. Some of the topics covered during the training included pre-harvest plantation clearing, fire tracing or firebreak around the plantation, fruit collection, separation/detaching of nuts from apples using twine, drying and sorting of nuts, and cooling after drying to avoid rewetting and storage.

The project is implemented under the Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment (GTI) Activity funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

CASHEW PROJECT STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOP

Green for Change Ghana with funding support from USAID through the Feed the Future Ghana Trade and Investment Activity (GTI) has on Thursday, 6th April 2023 organized a stakeholder engagement workshop for key players in the cashew value chain within the West Gonja municipality under the “Building Capacity of Smallholder Cashew Farmers on Harvest and Post-Harvest including Nut Quality” project. The purpose of the event was to introduce the project to stakeholders in the value chain to get their buy-in and cooperation for successful activity implementation.

ABBAT PROJECT BASELINE ENUMERATOR TRAINING

Green for Change Ghana from 11th to 13th January 2023 organized a baseline enumerator training program for 25 participants under the Addressing Behavioral Barriers Associated with Tree Planting (ABBAT) project at the Catholic Guest House in Damongo, Savannah Region, Ghana. The training covered the background of ABBAT, ethical considerations in research, data collection protocols, and the baseline survey questionnaire. The participants were later taken to 2 non-project communities for pre-testing of the survey instrument to enable them to better familiarize themselves with the tool ahead of the main field data collection. The ABBAT initiative is a scientific research project aimed at exploring the psychosocial and cultural barriers associated with tree planting and forest protection within the Mole ecological landscape and developing effective solutions for addressing them. The project is partially funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and implemented by Green for Change Ghana in partnership with Ranas Ltd. (a Switzerland-based company with expertise in behavior change).

ABBAT PROJECT Stakeholder Engagement Forum

Green for Change Ghana in partnership with Ranas Ltd. (a Switzerland-based company with expertise in behaviour change) has received partial funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to implement a scientific research project dubbed "Addressing Behavioural Barriers Associated with Tree Planting (ABBAT)". The ABBAT initiative is aimed at exploring the psychosocial and cultural barriers associated with tree planting and forest protection within the Mole Landscape and developing effective solutions for addressing them. As part of the processes of the pilot phase of the project which is focused on understanding the overall context barriers and identifying the most relevant behaviours around landscape restoration and protection, a workshop was organized at the Eco Club House, Damongo to present the ABBAT project to stakeholders into landscape restoration and biodiversity conservation and create a platform for sharing of experiences on tree planting and nurturing activities, the attitude of local communities towards landscape restoration projects, challenges, and the way forward.

ABBAT PROJECT FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS

Ten (10) focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted each with participants ranging between 8 and 12. The FGDs were done using a pre-design guide with a series of follow-up questions based on the responses from participants. To ensure broad consultation, the ten FGDs were held with different types of participants across 5 fringe communities in 2 districts within the MNP. These include 3 adult female-only participants, 3 adults male-only, 1 adult mixed, 1 youth male-only, 1 youth female-only, and 1 mixed youth FGDs. A total of 90 participants made up of relevant interest groups in the community such as farmers, charcoal burners, opinion leaders, shea processors, CREMA executives, beekeepers, etc. were covered through the FGDs. The purpose of using focus group discussions was to create a room for discussion amongst participants and enrich insights from many different individuals. The FGDs focussed on eliciting information about the beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control, and control factors concerning tree planting and nurturing.

ABBAT PROJECT COMMUNITY MEETINGS

Five (5) community meetings were held with different categories of participants including community opinion leaders, and representatives of major interest groups within the community such as beekeeping associations, farmer-based organizations, CREMA Executives, youth, and women’s groups. The communities that were covered include Mognori, Kaden, Seyiri, Jelinkon, and Yolyiri. A total of 151 participants (81 male, 70 female) were reached through the community meetings. The community meetings enabled the project team to understand communities’ current living conditions, livelihoods, and possible alternatives to charcoal, and using wood as an energy source. These community meetings helped the team to also understand the social structure, land, and tree tenure regimes, and how this influences tree planting and nurturing, taboos, interaction, and power relations.

TRAINING OF EXTENSION AGENTS AND CASHEW FARMERS ON NEGOTIATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND ACCESS TO IMPROVED MARKETS

Tree Aid Ghana with funding support from UKAID collaborated with Green for Change Ghana in 2021 to conduct training for 15 AEAs on negotiation, entrepreneurship, and access to improved markets. The training was conducted between 23rd and 24th September 2021 at the conference hall of the West Gonja Department of Agriculture at Damongo in the Savannah Region of Ghana. The objective of the training was to fully equip members of cashew cooperative and field extension agents with the requisite knowledge and skills in negotiation, entrepreneurship, and access to an improved market. Cashew cooperative members after the training used the knowledge and skills acquired in building a strong and formidable cooperative positioned to effectively liaise and negotiate with buyers for good business deals. The field team on the other hand conducted step-down training by imparting the knowledge and skills they have acquired to the farmers at the Village Tree Enterprise (VTE) group level for greater impact.

Close Season

The decline of wild animal populations must be halted and reversed if we are to sustain our heritage and livelihoods. Hence hunting, capturing, or destruction of any wildlife species is prohibited during this close season and must be done with circumspection during the open season. We owe our living today and the future generation and so is our duty to preserve wildlife within all the ecological zones of Ghana.

Shea Month

Let's join forces to restore our degrading Shea parklands. July is the appropriate month to plant as this will enable the young shea saplings to develop roots resilient enough to withstand the harsh weather conditions in the dry season.

International Forest Day

Please join the fight against climate change by participating in tree planting particularly as we celebrate the international day of forests today. March 21, 2023. Thank you