GHANA, West Gonja District.
£3,862
Community Cashew Project - improving food security and increasing household income.
Providing funds for 90,000 fruit and nut trees: Cashew, Mango and 'Miracle Tree' (leaves eaten as a vegetable).
1,100 people in 10 rural communities will benefit from this project. 300 people (30 from each community), will each have 2 acres of Cashew trees integrated into their land.
Severe environmental degradation has occurred in this part of Ghana, as a result of: sand and gravel extraction for construction materials, tree cutting for fuelwood and bush burning. Clearance of vegetation and trees has led to a loss of soil nutrients and a decrease in agricultural yields
This community project is part of a larger project that will operate for 3 years. It has been set up by TREE AID, working with the Matenso Friends of the Earth Centre.
In addition to improving food security, aims of the main project will include: enhancement of soil fertility by planting trees and improving agricultural practices; restoration of the depleted environment, by creating improved land management practices; a reduction of rural poverty through sustainable management of the environment.
Also, villagers will be assisted in setting up a commercial co-operative, to market the (surplus) produce, which will provide income opportunities and so help to address the out- migration that the communities have been experiencing.
Financed through TREE AID (Bristol, UK).