Mr Isaac Gyamfi, the Regional Director, Solidaridad West Africa, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) says the impact of climate change continues threatening the livelihoods of farmers in the country.
“Climate change impact is not just an environmental challenge because rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and land degradation continue to affect yields, threatening the socio-economic livelihoods of our farmers and national food security, ” he stated.
He therefore called for collective actions to mitigate the climate change impact which was well felt in parts of the country.
Mr Gyamfi made the call when speaking at the launch of a World Bank-funded project, titled “Enhancing Access to Benefits while Lowering Emissions (EnABLE)” at Goaso in the Ahafo Region.
Solidaridad, a CSO that promotes sustainable production and trading as well as food security and robust SMEs service delivery is partnering with Tropenbos Ghana and the Ghana Cocoa REDD+ program is implementing the project in Ahafo, Ashanti, Central, Eastern and Western North Regions.
It seeks to mitigate climate change impacts and reduce carbon emissions, as part of the World Bank’s effort to address social inclusion challenges in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s (FCPF) Emission Reductions Program.
The FCPF seeks to enhance inclusion of the regions in accessing carbon and non-carbon benefits from the Ghana Emission Reductions Program (ERP) and Benefit Sharing Plan (BSP).
It will further build more resilient communities and sustainable supply chains as well as promote high productivity to the farming communities in Ghana.
Mr Gyamfi said Solidaridad was one of the first CSOs in the country that had successfully worked with the World Bank and state agencies to address climate-related challenges in the agricultural sector.
The EnABLE project therefore represents another milestone in their collective effort to combat climate change, strengthen livelihoods and ensure equitable sharing of benefits from Emission Reduction Programmes (ERPs) while promoting sustainable land use in the country.
Mr Gyamfi called for effective partnerships with all stakeholders including government institutions, private sector players, traditional authorities, and other development partners for the successful implementation of the project and for the nation to derive the optimum benefit of mitigating climate change impacts.
“Tackling climate change impact requires collaborative and coordinated efforts from farmers, policymakers, researchers, and civil society in shaping policies and implementing sustainable land-use strategies,” he stated.
He said Solidaridad had actively supported farmers in adopting climate-smart agricultural practices that enhance productivity while reducing carbon emissions, saying the project would scale up sustainable land management efforts, curb deforestation, promote ecosystem restoration, and bring inclusive benefit sharing that accrued from emission reduction programmes.
In a speech read on her behalf Madam Charity Gardiner, the Ahafo Regional Minister expressed concern about illegal mining threatening national food security.
It is therefore crucial to support climate-smart agricultural practices, such as the use of drought-resistant crops, organic fertilizers, and sustainable water management techniques.
GNA
