Shea Network Ghana (SNG) in partnership with the Global Shea Alliance (GSA), UNDP and Forestry Commission Ghana in February, 2023, established a shea nursery at Achubunyo in the West Gonga Municipality of the Savanna region.
The nursery, measuring 50×50 meters is wired with galvanized pipes and chain-linked metal wires and contains large numbers of shea and non-shea seedlings.
The establishment of the nursery falls under the implantation of the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reduction Project (GSLERP), a five-year climate restoration activity implemented by the Ghana Forestry Commission (FC), with the technical support of the Global Shea Alliance and the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and alongside multiple national and local governing institutions, civil society representatives and private sector actors who will meaningfully and effectively participate in its further design, implementation and benefits.
The Achubunyo nursery follows an earlier one established at Jantong Daashe in the North-East Gonja district of the Savanna region.
The project will directly strengthen the livelihoods and climate resilience of 100,200 people (78,850 women and 21,350 men). Restoration of trees, decreased deforestation and fire management covering almost 500,000 hectares will indirectly contribute to the retention of soil moisture, the reduction of evapotranspiration and maintenance of soil fertility. These interrelated social and environmental interventions are key.
The National Adaptation Strategy for Climate Change notes the need to enhance the adaptability of vulnerable ecological and social systems by enhancing the capacity of susceptible groups to sustainably utilize land resources, enable value addition in the utilization of forest resources and contribute to building an economy that is capable of withstanding shocks without putting Ghana’s development agenda in jeopardy.
The project catalyses transformative change across this landscape, attracting significant private sector investment, through the focus of the shea value chain and shea restoration.
GCF funds and co-finance will support women collectors to re-stock 1.75 million trees in the parklands with higher and quicker yielding varieties of shea ensuring future supply, aggregation and direct marketing through performance-based contracts between NGOs who are members of the Global Shea Alliance and women’s groups.
Source: www.sheanetworkghana.org/Adam Abdul-Fatawu wunizoya-Communications Officer