The Field Officer of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA-Ghana), Mr. Dominic Adomako-Kontoh, has observed that one of the major challenges confronting the survival rates of planted trees in the country is due to lack of capacity training building on the part of people who are given tree seedlings to plant.
The Field Officer made the observation when he facilitated a capacity training building programme on how to plant trees to ensure their survival rates at the launch of a Climate Change and Livelihood Empowerment Project in Navrongo on Saturday.
The project being implemented by Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAM) an NGO, with funding support from VASTENACTIE-BELGIUM and OSIWA-SENEGAL, attracted community members from 300 households in the Kassena-Nankana Municipal and its environs including the clergy.
Mr. Adomako-Kontoh Dominic who schooled the beneficiary households on how to grow and nature the grafted mango seedlings to bear fruits, said research has it that the low survival rates of planted tree seedling are mainly because of lack of technical knowledge in growing trees.
He said it was very regrettable that many organizations including state intuitions spend huge sums of money in procuring seedlings to distribute to communities to plant, only for them to die.
He indicated that organizations his outfit had supported in building their knowledge technically in economic tree planting such as mangoes and cashew were doing extremely well and admonished organizations which want to empower communities to grow trees to involve the experts in tree growing.
The Field Officer took the beneficiary households through the correct digging process in terms of suitable length and breadth for planting seedlings and the importance of the top soil to the survival rate of the seedling plant. He also schooled the participants on how to discover appropriate soils for grafted mango seedlings and other related plant seedlings.
He told the beneficiaries that unlike the locally breed mango seedlings, the grafted mangoes were very delicate and needs special attention for their survival and growth, adding that” grafted mango seedlings do not want waterlog areas”.
Mr. Adomako-Kontoh told beneficiary households that the economic benefits of the mango trees are enormous and cited an instance where a -55 -year -old man in the public sector went on compulsory retirement to attend to his mango plantation farm at Techiman in the Bono East Region and doing well economically.
He also mentioned the medicinal, shade, fuelwood, addressing climate values of mango trees and impressed upon the beneficiary households to attach seriousness to the intervention.
The Field Officer indicated that the Regions of the north have the greatest potentials for mango plantation due to its sunny nature and indicated that with well-planned irrigation system, the five Regions of the north could be the best in producing quality mango fruits in the country.
He cited the Northern parts of South Africa which shared similar characteristics with the five regions pf the north regions where mango plantation is given top priority because of its comparative advantage.
Mr. Anthony Akum Atanga Kwarania , a -76 -year old man, thanked the NGO for the intervention and said it would help address the climate change issue in the communities and also empower them in their economic livelihoods.
Citing himself as example, the 76 -year -old -man, who is a native of the Kwarania community, a suburb of Navrongo Municipality, explained that he now reaps the benefits of the mango seedlings he planted in his community when he was in active service working with the Mim Timber Company in the Greater Accra Region.
The mango plantation I established do not benefit me alone but my entire family and that is what pushed me to be part of this NGO Climate change intervention. I’m so happy and thank the NGO and its partners. I urged everyone to take the growing of economic trees very important since there are more benefits to it”, the 76 -year- old- man intimated.
The Chief Executive Officer of OLAM expressed happiness about the high turnout of the beneficiaries at the function and the zealous manner in which they asked the facilitator questions pertaining to how to plant seedlings and how ensure their survival.
He told the community members that climate change was a global problem and said to mitigate it there was the need for every community member to get involved and added that his outfit in collaboration with ADRA will periodically conduct monitoring visits to the beneficiary households to see the growth rates of the trees and to advise.
He encouraged the beneficiaries to put into practice the training they acquired from the programme on tree planting to help combat climate change and help improve upon their economic livelihoods, stressing” there is ready market for the mango fruits”
Mr. Atiiga indicated that the project which was its pilot stage will run on annually basis and would continue to enroll in more households .
