Women in the Upper East Region have been heavily impacted by climate change; displaced by floods, landslides and gully development.
They have had to deal with a lack of food due to crop failure and diseases and a lack of income generation to help support themselves and their families.
As a result, a group of women from the rural areas of Talensi and Nabdam are waging war against climate change through tree plantation to protect the environment.
Through an ingenious co-operative they call the Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) Phase II Climate Change Resilient Landscapes and Improved Livelihoods’’, the women are hoping to restore the vegetative cover with their tree plantation initiative.
The forest and farm facility grant is specifically targeted at investing in Maaltaaba by developing women inclusive business advocacy and entrepreneurial skills for sustainable income generation and climate resilient landscapes in the two Districts.
Madam Lydia Miyella is the Executive Director of Maltaaba Peasant Women Farmers’ Cooperative.
“As we speak now, women should have been picking shea nuts to come and sell for shea butter production. This is not the case because the rains have delayed. Due to climate change, our indigenous trees including dawadawa, shea trees, and mango do not fruit very well. Trees have been cut down and our rivers have been polluted through galamsey activities. This is really affecting us as women and we think them planting more tress would improve the situation.”
“Maaltaaba is committed to planting a minimum of 1,000 pawpaw seedlings throughout the catchment areas in Talensi and Nabdam Districts. Thus, each of the women groups in both districts has a target of planting at least five tree seedlings as they use locally prepared manure as a booster towards climate change mitigation in June 2024.” Lydia Miyella gave details of their climate change resilient project.
There is also the need for water accessibility for year-round production for the women farmers to cultivate multiple integrated value chains and with added business incubation capacity, access to finance and markets. This has already seen Maaltaaba provide for the Yameriga Community a Satellite Farm Hut that has a seating capacity of about 200 and will serve as a location for the provision of business capacity to members, product aggregation, value addition and marketing. This investment has therefore been provided with on-site infrastructure and facilities for business development.
“Because we have one major rainfall season, after the farming season we don’t have anything doing. So, the women are often compelled to go and cut trees for fire charcoal. So, when there are no trees, the sun becomes too hot and our children fall sick. So, the effects of the climate change affect the women most.” Ernestina Yintee explained in the Talensi language.
The women have also received the series of capacity building training organized by Maaltaaba on manure and compost preparations, dry season farming techniques and sustainable land/farm management practices for the peasant rural women farmers in both Talensi and Nabdam districts with donor support from Star-Ghana Foundation through the AVID Project.
