The Green Ghana initiative, which includes crops will serve as food and employment to Ghanaians especially students in the years to come, Mr. Abdullai Fuseni, the headteacher of ALFAWZ Islamic School in the Komenda- Edina-Eguafo-Abrem(KEEA) municipality has said.
The crops such as cocoa, cashew, coconut, Guava, coffee, banana, and others planted to help retrieve the country’s lost forest reserves would create jobs for many unemployed during the nurturing and maintaining process.
Mr. Abdullai Fuseni, the headteacher of ALFAWZ Islamic School in the Komenda- Edina-Eguafo-Abrem(KEEA) municipality told Ghana News Agency that the school took advantage of the Green Ghana project to plant more crops.
He said the school had planted 3,700 trees to support the feeding of students and also assist them with small incomes to enhance their livelihoods.
Mr Fuseni revealed this when Mr John Allotey, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Forestry Commission together with Mr Hugh Brown, Director of Operations, Mrs Lydia Opoku, Deputy Director in charge of the Southern belt and Ms Joyce Kwafo, Corporate Affairs Manager, embarked on a two-day tour in the Central Region to track and monitor all trees planted on the Green Ghana Day.
Others are Mr Michael Pentsil, the Regional Manager of the Forest Services Division.
The visit was to ensure that all the trees planted were nurtured and maintained to yield the target of greening the country again.
The Headteacher said they have about 300 orphans and that the crops after cultivation would serve as food to the students.
Also, some of the crops would be sold out to individuals, institutions, and corporate bodies to assist the school with funds.
Mr Fuseni said during the day of planting both the teachers and students participated to inculcate in them the habit of planting and protecting the environment.
At the Komenda College of Education (KOMENCO), Mr Kwesi Nkrumah, the Principal, said about 3,500 trees were planted to help avoid the land from encroachment.
Trees, he stated, were integral part of the ecosystem that humans and other organisms depended on to survive, calling for the protection of the country’s vegetation cover against destruction.
The Principal underscored the importance of trees in providing mankind with oxygen, food as well as beautifying the environment and serving as wind breaks.
According to Global Forest Watch, between 2001 and 2020, Ghana lost 1.31Mha of tree cover, and equivalent to a 19 percent decrease in tree cover since 2000, and 347Mt of CO2 emissions.
Mr Allotey on his part expressed gratitude to Ghanaians for their commitment and participation during the Green Ghana day.
He appealed for more support to help nurture and maintain the planted trees to ensure the target was met.
The CEO explained that the Commission was fully prepared and positive to ensure the trees grew to green the country for retrieving its lost forests.
The Green Ghana project is a Presidential Initiative launched by President Nana Akufo Addo on March 23, 2021.
It was to rally Ghanaians to plant five million trees on June 11, 2021, to preserve the country’s forests.
The initiative is also to encourage the public to plant trees and inculcate in them the habit of protecting the country’s vegetation cover for a balanced ecology and as a long-term measure against heavy storms.
GNA