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Ghana

TBI in Ghana works towards the sustainable management and restoration of the Juabeso-Bia and Sefwi-Wiawso landscapes through inclusive decision making and sustainable incentives involving local communities, smallholder cocoa farmers, the government at all levels and the private sector.

The Juabeso-Bia and Sefwi-Wiawso landscapes in the Western North Region of Ghana are mainly cocoa landscapes with some of Ghana’s highest level of biodiversity and relatively intact high forests in the adjacent Bia National Park and forest reserve. In both landscapes, expansion of cocoa farms into forested lands (both within and outside forest reserves) has been increasing in the past three decades. Next to that, illegal logging, illegal surface mining, and slash and burn farming have also been contributing to forest degradation in the two landscapes.

Cocoa farming (especially in non-shaded systems) in the landscapes are at high risk of climate change impacts because its vulnerability to changes in temperature, rainfall and prolonged drought periods.

Both landscapes are part of the nine Hotspot Intervention Areas (HIA) identified through the Ghana Cocoa-Forest REDD+ programme as areas where interventions for halting deforestation and restoring degraded forest are prioritized nationally.

We believe that halting deforestation and degradation in combination with climate-smart land-use and restoration, through inclusive decision making and sustainable incentives, will lead to resilience of the Juabeso-Bia and Sefwi-Wiawso landscapes, guaranteeing sustainable livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers.

What we do:

  • Increase forest cover and the number of trees in the landscape, especially in cocoa farms and on degraded forest lands, improving attractiveness and reducing disincentives for trees on farms;
  • Together with landscape and national-level stakeholders develop an inclusive governance model, with a focus on ensuring secured on-farm tree tenure rights to farmers;
  • Stop encroachment by accelerating the implementation of a sustainable and climate-smart cocoa supply;
  • Establish monitoring, evaluation and learning platforms to consolidate joint lessons learnt and to define common grounds for integrating deforestation-free cocoa standards (DFCS) in cocoa commodity chains;
  • Design climate-smart practices that ensure sustainable diversification of crops and incomes of smallholder farmers;
  • Develop financial incentives for land users to apply climate-smart models and facilitate access to credit and markets for farmers who engage in climate-smart practices;
  • Facilitate access of women and youth to the climate-smart decision table and to build their capacity to effectively take part in decision-making processes;
  • Support the legislation and upscaling of the Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) approach
  • Actively engage local Communities with the government and the private sector on natural resource management
  • Improve enforcement & monitoring of forestry, mining and logging laws and reduction of illegal practices
  • Strengthen non-state actors to improve FLEGT-VPA and REDD+ processes in Ghana
  • Together with CSOs lobby government and develop multi stakeholder dialogues on tree tenure reforms

With whom

Tropenbos International works in Ghana through its local network partner Tropenbos Ghana. For more information visit: www.tropenbosghana.org

History

Tropenbos International has been operational in Ghana since 2000. In 2017, Tropenbos Ghana became a legal national entity of Ghana and a member of the Tropenbos International network.

In recent years TBI in Ghana has contributed to the successful implementation of the VPA with the EU, by focusing on the issue of the supply of legal lumber to the domestic market. TBI helped to establish and facilitated the Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue (MSD). The MSD contributed to the development of a domestic timber policy and a revised set of legal instruments that spell out ways in which artisanal milling can be integrated into the formal economy. In 2015, the successful MSD platform on domestic timber trade was formally institutionalised through its inclusion in the National Forest Forum-Ghana. To contribute to the sustainable management of forests in Ghana, TBI also supported smallholder farmers in landscape restoration and plantation development projects, identified the needs and options for delivering forestry extension services and created the basis for designing a national forestry extension system.

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Latest publicationsShow all

Publication

Collaborative mechanisms to accelerate investments in landscape finance projects in the Juabeso-Bia landscape in Ghana

Based on our earlier studies to examine key strategies to enhance financial inclusivity in tropical landscapes, our findings point to the necessity of adopting an integrated approach. We see that financial risks are a major issue when moving towards climate resilient diversified landscapes for all stakeholders involved; from farmer to intermediary, processing facilities, and finance and/or technical assistance providers. Importantly, these risks are often perceived differently and thus require distinct and tailored solutions.

In the Juabeso-Bia cocoa dominated landscape in Ghana, several collaborative mechanisms already exist, although not always fully addressing the need for financial inclusivity. This brief presents the findings of a study on the role of these mechanism in inclusive finance and proposes some strategies to expand the reach of these collaborative mechanisms and enhance financial inclusivity in tropical landscapes. We also provide suggestions for actors in other landscapes that are interested in setting up similar collaborative mechanisms.

 

Publication

Upscaling cocoa agroforestry in the Juabeso-Bia and Sefwi-Wiawso Landscapes, Ghana

In Ghana, cocoa is traditionally grown in agroforestry systems, but over time farmers increasingly switched to monocultures, with negative effects on long-term production levels and farmers’ resilience. We have supported cocoa farmers to bring back trees into their farms.

Together with farmers we worked on ways to cultivate different trees and plants within cocoa plantations. We helped to establish village-level savings groups, which enabled cocoa farmers, especially women, to invest in the management of their cocoa agroforests and diversify their livelihood sources. We shared best practices with companies and government agencies, some of which have now embraced diverse cocoa agroforestry as the way forward. We also helped district governments with integrating agroforestry objectives in medium-term development plans, and raised the government’s attention to current tree tenure policies that serve as disincentives for farmers to grow and maintain trees on their farms.

We have learned that upscaling sustainable cocoa agroforestry requires ongoing engagement with government extension agencies, to fundamentally change their approach towards cocoa farming. From focussing on specialized cocoa farms with little or no shade trees, to promoting diversified and multifunctional cocoa agroforestry systems that increase farmers’ resilience in the long run.

 

Publication

Inclusive fire management in Ghana’s transitional zone

In Ghana, wildfires are now annual occurrence, resulting in the loss of lives, property and biodiversity. The article documents experiences and lessons from the Collaborative and adaptative community fire management initiative, part of the Forest landscape restoration through a sustainable wood energy value chai” project. The approach was informed through local community consultations and a review of related fire management policies and regulations, leading to support and incentives for safe and effective fire use and management. It is hoped that these findings can inform fire management practices elsewhere, while acknowledging that collaborative and adaptive community fire management is an evolving process and so requires constant learning to improve future practices.

 

Publication

Finance for integrated landscape management: A landscape approach to climate-smart cocoa in the Juabeso-Bia Landscape, Ghana

 This report is part of a series of case studies that provide insights into various mechanisms used to increase access to finance for smallholder farmers, SMEs and communities in their efforts to contribute to sustainable landscapes. The case studies focus on the strategies used by various stakeholders to reduce the risks of selected financial flows for investors, intermediaries and recipients. These case studies follow up on recommendations made by participants in the consultative process on innovative finance for sustainable landscapes. The goal is to provide more evidence of successful strategies in order to increase access to finance for smallholder farmers, SMEs and communities.

This case study looks at how an international agribusiness, the source of the flow, strengthens the capacity of its smallholder providers to generate more income from their cocoa production and become more climate resilient. The case study focuses on how the company integrates technical support to producers with strengthening their capacity to save and invest through village savings and loan associations (VSLAs) in Ghana.