By Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo
An NGO, Social Initiative for Literacy and Development Programme (SILDEP) in collaboration with A Rocha Ghana and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), is implementing a project to mitigate the effects of climate change in four fringe communities in the Sissala West District of the Upper West.
The project beneficiaries, which are fringe communities of the Gbele Resource Reserve, are Gbele, Dasima, Duwie and Timmie.
The two-pronged project relates to training in post-harvest management in agricultural value chain as well as fire fighting and prevention. So far, 70 people have been trained in two strands of the project, facilitated by agric and fire officers from the Sissila West District.
During monitoring visits to the beneficiary communities, traditional authorities and opinion leaders were excited by the SILDEP-led initiative and pledged to give the needed push and support to the intervention for its objectives to be realised.
The Chief of Gbele, Kuoro Kassim Kanton, the Regent of Dasima, Kuoru Bayorbor Kassim, the Regent of Duwie, Kuoru Kanwei Nashiru, and the Chief of Timmie, Kuoru Luri Baluwie Basuglo Abubakar IV, in their interactions with the monitoring team, thanked SILDEP and its partners for the training and underscored its relevance to their communities.
Kuoro Nashiru, for instance, said bushfires destroyed about 40 acres of his farm and pointed out that if the training had preceded the bushfire disaster, they could have salvaged more of his farm produce as a result of the knowledge gained.
He stated that the elders of Duwie and other communities will see to it that those who receive training on post-harvest losses and fire fighting and prevention will in turn train other members of the communities.
Assistant Station Officer and Coordinator of Rural Fire in Sissala West District, Richard Kongwonuo, and an Agricultural Extension Officer in Jeffisi Operational Area, Ibrahim Mohammed, who were among the officers who trained the community volunteers, were again on hand at the review interactions to further update the knowledge of the people they trained.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SILDEP, Moses Dramani Luri, described the initiative as a home-grown measure to sensitise communities to ensure that the environment is protected, coupled with sustainable exploitation of natural resources.
According to Mr Luri, the initiative is anchored on Mobilizing for Afforestation Project (MAP), aimed at protecting the Gbele Resource Reserve.
The CEO of SILDEP pointed out that the project is equally inculcating good agronomic practices in the people, which will lead the communities to come out with bye-laws that “will be environmentally friendly and supportive of agricultural activities”.
An Assistant Director at the Sissila West District Assembly, Timothy Niena Sukpeni, said the Assembly is committed to environmental conservation and will do all within its power to gazette bye-laws that will adequately protect the environment.
Some of the fire volunteers demonstrated what they were taught during the training during the monitoring interactions. A Rocha Ghana is providing funding for the two-year project, while WACSI is providing technical and training support.