How the Regreening Africa project is boosting agriculture and livelihoods in Ghana

The Regreening Africa project was initiated in the wake of agricultural malpractices by people in the Bawku West, Garu and Mion districts of the Upper East and Northern regions, which was affecting livelihoods and ecosystem services. The project is funded by the European Union and is targeted at improving livelihoods, enhancing food security and providing resilience to climate change for 500,000 smallholder farmers.

The four-year project translates into about 62,500 households per country through the restoration of essential ecosystem services such as soil fertility, erosion control and water cycle buffering on one million hectares of land to keep landscapes green, families healthy and happy. The behavioural patterns of farmers within the benefiting communities has changed because of the education and sensitisation programmes being rolled out under the project.

Community members say that due to deforestation and bush burning, trees were not able to grow healthy and bear fruits, but that through the project, they are now springing up and bearing varieties of fruits such as shea nuts and blackberries essential for improved nutrition. The production of fruits has helped farmers to increase their earnings to better cater for their families' needs.