The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved an amount of 54.5 million US dollars to address deforestation in Northern Ghana.
Part of the money would also be used to promote shea butter production, an income-generating activity that provides jobs for women in Northern Ghana whilst reducing its impact on the climate under the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project.
A Press Release issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday 20th August 2020, said the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project would be implemented by the Forestry Commission (FC) of Ghana with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with multiple national and local institutions, civil society organizations and private sector actors.
It added that the project consists of USD 30,100,000 grant from the Green Climate Fund (GFC), about USD 15 million funding from the Government of Ghana and mobilised about USD 9 million impact investments from the private sector in the shea value chain.
It said this is a great milestone in Ghana’s Forestry Sector in the deployment of programmes and projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, build ecosystem resilience and also enhance the lives of communities that nurture the forests.
According to the release, the implementation of the project would provide a strong contribution to Ghana’s commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the implementation of the Ghana National REDD+ Strategy.
It said the interventions that would be implemented under the programme are expected to result in the restoration of 200,000 hectares of off-reserve savanna forests and 300,000 hectares of degraded shea parklands as well as the establishment of 25,500 hectares of forest plantations in severely degraded forest reserves.
“It is expected that the activities will result in an estimate of over 6 million tCO2e in emission reductions and removals over the first seven years of the project’s lifetime and 25.24 million tCO2e over 20 years,” the release added.
According to the release, Ms. Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, Director of Climate Change and National REDD+ Focal Point, Forestry Commission of Ghana has said Shea landscapes are important sources of carbon storage and sequestration and these provide essential products and ecological services.
She said the money provided by GCF would help in restoring degraded landscapes and contribute to building a resilient economy that is capable of withstanding shocks without putting Ghana’s development agenda in jeopardy.
Ms. Adjei thanked the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea (IMELS) for shaping the project proposal through the Global Italian initiative On REDD+ National Implementation (GIORNI).
“Among other benefits, the ‘Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project’ will also bring about a breakthrough in the shea sector by enhancing revenue generation for women and strengthen the livelihoods of over 500,000 people in Northern Ghana. The Global Shea Alliance (GSA), a non-profit industry association with 500 members from 35 countries, will be a key partner during the project implementation” the release hinted
Simballa Sylla, the GSA President said: “This is a historic and defining moment for the shea industry in Ghana. The newly approved project will not only contribute to protecting rural communities from climate change consequences, but it will also ensure that livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Ghanaian families are improved and that the shea industry is supported in its growth”.
ISD
