Life on Land

Globally, agriculture is estimated to be the driver for about 80% of land degradation. Reports have shown that between 1.5m and 7m ha of agricultural land are degraded annually, with more than 40% of the severely degraded land in Africa.

The issue of degradation is more severe in Africa than any other continent, as livelihoods in the region are highly dependent on natural resources such as forest and agricultural products.

Increasing human populations increase demand for agricultural lands, so clearing of forests and woodland has increased.

As the population grows, more fragile, marginal lands are used, such as areas of steep slope and protected areas, exacerbating and hastening degradation.

Ghana, renowned for its tropical forests and cocoa farms, currently has 35 per cent of its land at risk of desertification and land degradation. Croplands that were once fertile in the north of Ghana are now unproductive, which has led to decreased incomes; water sources are drying up due to prolonged droughts.

With 80% of the country living in rural areas – and with agriculture as their major economic activity - desertification, land degradation, and drought pose growing threats to communities throughout the region.

Compost – not chemicals

Previously, it was estimated that local farmers used up to 62,000kg of chemical fertiliser in crop production annually, and 26,700 litres of chemicals in plant protection and harvesting.

Madam Esther Boakye Yiadom is a farmer and a mother of 8 children. She is a household head and was among the first 10 women to receive direct training in sustainable land management technologies and improved seedlings support to establish agroforestry farms in 2016. She is an executive member of the Women’s Cooperative Association currently managing the Village Savings and Credit Union in Dorbor.

Soils, water bodies, fish and crop products produced within the landscape were becoming more and more acidic as a result of inappropriate and unsustainable use of agro-inputs including fertilisers, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides.

In response, the project developed the following solutions: decreasing use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides by building and sustaining the capacities of local farmers in ecological farming, zero tillage, and organic compost preparation methods.

The promotion of compost in place of chemical fertilisers on degraded lands, agroforestry, and mixed farms was a hallmark of the project.

Climate Smart Agriculture, Climate Smart Future

The initiative has resulted in multiple and integrated benefits to the indigenous farmers in Dorbor. The project has established 65ha of cashew plantations (smallholdings with improved varieties), 15ha of soya beans, and 15ha of woodlots (a mixture of Cassia Siamea [pheasantwood] and Teak.

The soya beans serve as a trap crop / companion plant against striga hermonthica (witchweed) by producing chemicals that stimulate the witchweed seeds to prematurely germinate and quickly die off.

As such, the initiative improved the sustainable production and processing capacities of the farmers to advance the value chains (production, processing, and marketing) of both cashew and soya beans. The women now operate in three sub-groups.

The first group is concerned with resource base management, including picking, drying, and processing of cashew nuts for sale. The second group buys the clean nuts from members within the landscape using co-operative funds, and stores them for higher prices. The third group negotiates sales of the nuts directly to commercial buyers including Ghana Nuts. After deducting costs, profits are shared among members of the co-operative.

The project further supported 140 households to adopt improved clean-cooking woodstoves for domestic and industrial purposes. Thirty-five households have been engaged in livelihood enterprise development (bee-keeping, piggery, trading in soya beans and cashew seeds, and small ruminant rearing).

A total of 165 farm families have been introduced to agroforestry, compost preparation, and multi-cropping for increased yield. In sum, 375 individual community members are involved in a village saving and credit scheme, which has now evolved into the Dorbor Cooperative Credit Union. 

Successful results of the project has been replicated in other landscapes within the district. The village saving and credit scheme has spread to over 12 communities, with membership nearing 1,000 participants. The project model is being replicated by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.