By Peter Agengre
The Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organisation (ADDRO) has organised a street campaign in Sherigu, in the Upper East Region, to advocate for reduced plastic use in shopping and food packaging.
Program Coordinator for the Northern Ghana Climate Resilience Program at ADDRO, Vitalis Agana, raised concerns that Sherigu’s forest belt is rapidly degrading due to illegal mining and the cutting of wood for fuel.
“Illegal mining is beginning to find its way into the Sherigu community. This is a concern to ADDRO because we work with the community and we see young men and women going into galamsey. This is devastating to the environment and creating health consequences for themselves,” Mr. Vitalis Agana noted.
Marking World Environment Day, Mr. Agana explained that a large forest anchors the Sherigu community.
“The women have taken the forest area as a livelihood. They cut the trees and sell in the market as firewood. What then do we do replace what we are cutting? They need to remember that when they destroy the last tree, then life would unbearable for mankind going forward,” he warned.
Stakeholders from the Department of Food and Agriculture, the Forestry Department, and local assembly members expressed concern about the uncontrolled spread of plastic waste.
Women in the Sherigu community called for livelihood empowerment programs to improve their financial independence. Some participants have already benefited from ADDRO’s interventions, including small ruminant support, savings with education, agricultural input assistance, and entrepreneurship training.
