
Audio By Carbonatix
Timeabu is a cocoa farming community in the Ejisu-Juaben Municipal Assembly of the Ashanti region that was bedevilled by the impact of climate change which affected their production.Until the intervention of the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), farmers in the community had not encountered the services of extension officers.In the absence of the extension officers, the farmers had cultivated the habit of cutting down trees in their cocoa farms oblivious of the benefits of trees in cocoa farms.The Ghana-based NGO has adopted the community to help mitigate the impact of climate change on the farming community.As the first step, it brought extension officers responsible for cocoa farmers in the district to the community in one of its community engagements programs.Cocoa Extension Service Officer, Abednego Asante, advised the farmers against the continuous cutting of the trees.“We will be regular here and I believe they will increase their production”, he said.Also part of the engagement was the Senior Research Officer at Ghana Cocobod, Fuad Mohammed, who introduced the farmers to government’s ‘Tree on Farm’ initiative meant to address the impact of climate change on agriculture.“Keeping trees on farms are very critical for the perfect growth of cocoa crops and that practice must be stopped. I am happy we came here.”The ‘’Tree on Farm’’ initiative is a five-year project started in 2015 to plant about 30 million trees.Seventy-year-old Mohammed Ali indicates, “Some of the trees can’t grow properly when the cocoa trees are beneath them, I have plans to cut those on my farm”.“First we had a lot of trees on our farms, timber operators cut down the trees on our farm, so for me, I cut them myself”, another worried farmer explained.Since December 2017, the organization has planted almost 400 trees on cocoa farms and other areas of the community, in addition to sensitization of best farming practices.A beneficiary, Nana Dasebere Boama Darko, said the farmers are excited the trees will relieve them of severe weather condition and provide the needed shade to nourish their crops.“Protecting the ecology is very important. Planting trees helps remove carbon dioxide from the air, which cools the earth,” Executive Director of CCCFS, Mahmud Mohammed-Nurudeen said.Meanwhile, in 2016, CCCFS started “Climate Talk Program” for tertiary institutions at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) for students of the Renewable and Natural Resource Department.Climate activists from the group and professors of the university encouraged the students on the need to be champions of climate change and protect their environment.In 2017, CCCFS partnered with the Student Representative Council of the University College of Management Studies (UCOMS) in Kumasi, to continue the “Climate Talk series”.Later in the year, the program was extended to senior high schools in the Ashanti region. Kumasi Anglican, and Azariyya Islamic Senior High Schools, both benefited from the talks.Programs Manager, Prince Appiah, revealed that these initiatives are critical to inculcate in the youth right from school the importance of being environmentally conscious.“environmental protection and its awareness is a shared responsibility, and that is why we are doing these talks in schools”.It is purposely to sensitize students and encourage them to take environmental issues seriously.The centre plans to extend these exercises to other communities across the country.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
VIP Transport defends fare increase over rising fuel and maintenance costs
10 minutes -
LGBTQ+ issues not a priority for Ghanaians – Felix Kwakye Ofosu
24 minutes -
Kwakye Ofosu rejects NPP Minority’s call for apology over anti-LGBTQ bill
31 minutes -
Music giant Universal gets $64bn takeover offer
43 minutes -
NPP criticism of anti-LGBTQ Bill ‘nothing more than political posturing’ — Kwakye Ofosu
51 minutes -
Joy FM was birthed over a bowl of fufu’ – Tommy Annan-Forson shares interesting story
57 minutes -
World Athletics to introduce standalone World Marathon Championships from 2030
1 hour -
Africa’s voice in global journalism grows as funding, AI and misinformation shape newsrooms
1 hour -
First Atlantic Bank holds Annual General Meeting, reports strong growth and bold outlook for 2026
1 hour -
Ghanaian-founded fintech WeWire secures Canadian PSP license to bridge African, global payments
1 hour -
Uganda confirms 2027 AFCON dates
1 hour -
40 convicted in Northern Region crime crackdown
1 hour -
‘We’re days away from parts of the world experiencing actual shortages:’ Eric Nuttall on energy
1 hour -
‘I’m Obroni in every country’ – Coco Blasian on music, survival and making Accra home
1 hour -
IMANI wants NIC to probe possible conflicts of interest in reinsurance arrangements
2 hours