Green for Change Ghana (GCG), an environmental NGO, has earmarked 1,500 farmers to benefit from improved planting materials under its Addressing Behavioral Barriers Associated with Tree Planting (ABBAT) project.

Each farmer will receive 40 seedlings to plant in an agroforestry system.

During a stakeholder engagement workshop in Damongo, Savannah Region, Executive Director John Balankoo Sumbo explained, "The ABBAT project focuses on promoting effective tree planting, nurturing, and protection in the communities surrounding the Mole ecological landscape. The project aims to integrate behaviour change techniques (BCTs) into the tree planting process to achieve higher success and survival rates. Within the project framework, we will distribute one-acre planting materials to 1,500 beneficiaries and conduct training sessions on best practices in tree planting, nurturing, and orchard maintenance."

GCG is committed to collaborating with communities to implement programmes that benefit both the environment and local inhabitants. Their efforts aim to provide practical conservation interventions that contribute to sustainable ecological habitat management and enhance community resilience against climate change and other environmental threats.

The workshop included stakeholders involved in landscape restoration and ecosystem management, such as participants from research institutions, academia, NGOs, CREMAs, nursery operators, donors, and farmers from the project districts namely West Gonja, Sawla-Tuna-Kalba, and Wa-East in Savannah and Upper West Regions.

Participants were taken through the project’s baseline study findings, and activities undertaken so far, as well as the planned interventions for both control and treatment districts.
In an interview with Joy News, John Balankoo Sumbo mentioned that the ABBAT project, funded by the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) and the Audemars Watkins Foundation (AWF), began in August 2022 and will continue until December 2025, with ongoing efforts to secure co-funding for evaluation and upscaling.

"The project aims to understand why landscape restoration projects often fail by exploring the psychosocial and cultural factors associated with tree planting, nurturing, and protection within the Mole landscape and then identify the most effective solution for them. This will be done through the development, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-based behaviour change interventions alongside traditional landscape restoration practices” he stated.

Dr Lawrence Damnyag, a Forest Economist with the Forestry Research Institute Ghana (FORIG), praised Green for Change Ghana for working to combat climate change in the Northern zone.

"Efforts are often concentrated in the Southern area, but this initiative in the north will provide a valuable outcome that can contribute to the National Determined Contribution. I commend Green for Change Ghana for their impactful work," Dr Damnyag said, adding that the project could significantly influence national and international climate policies.