Accra, Feb. 15, - The Chief Executive of the Forestry
Commission, Mr Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie has reiterated the commitment of the
Commission to help reduce carbon emissions in Cocoa-forest landscapes through
the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP).
Speaking during a courtesy call
on him by the Global Director of Mondelez International, Mr Afriyie said
ensuring improved livelihoods of cocoa farmers was key in the Commission’s
programme to reduce carbon emissions.
The Forestry Commission has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding under which Mondelez International is
contributing $5 million over five years to the GCFRP, which aims to
significantly reduce the high rate of deforestation and forest degradation, as
well as their associated greenhouse carbon emissions, from cocoa farming within
Ghana's High Forest Zone.
Other partners to the deal are
the Ghana Cocoa Board and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The partners would together
promote appropriate climate smart cocoa production systems to increase yields
and improve rural livelihoods.
Specifically, the focus would be
on mapping all land uses, including cocoa farms, implementing climate smart
cocoa practices to increase yields and sustainability, improving access to
finance to foster good practices by farmers and communities and legislative and
policy reform to support programme execution.
Ghana supplies about 20 per cent
of the world's cocoa. According to the GCFRP, Ghana also has one of the highest
deforestation rates in Africa at 3.2 per cent per annum. This is primarily due
to unsustainable expansion of cocoa and other agricultural crops.
Mr Afriyie said the MoU was a
demonstration between the two institutions to promote the well-being of the
cocoa farmers,
Ms Cathy Pieters, Director, Cocoa
Programmes Mondelez International, said Mondelez’s goal is to foster a
sustainable cocoa supply chain through good environmental practices and farmers
welfare.
Mrs Roselyn Adjei, the Head,
Climate Change Unit at the Forestry Commission, said it mainly targets cocoa
growing areas in high forest zone of Ghana, adding that, through the programme,
farmers would be encouraged to adopt smart ways of increasing their yields by
intensification and other good practices instead of expansion of their
farms. Agriculture expansion is one of
the key drivers of deforestation.
Mrs Yaa Peprah Amekudzi, Country
Lead, Mondelez Cocoa Life Ghana Programme, said Cocoa Life aims to ensure a
sustainable supply chain and to ensure that famers were empowered.
Currently, the programme is being
run in 447 communities, spread in four of the cocoa regions, excluding the
Volta Region.
GNA
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