The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a project worth 54.5 million US dollars to address the challenges of deforestation and forest degradation in the Northern Savannah Zone of Ghana.
Development Diaries gathered that the project, ‘Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project’, was approved at the GCF’s 26th virtual board meeting.
It will be implemented by the Forestry Commission (FC) of Ghana with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with multiple national and local institutions, civil society organisations, and private sector actors, according to GCF.
The project has leveraged vertical funds, with a USD 30,100,000 grant from the GCF, about USD 15 million funding from the government of Ghana, and mobilised about USD 9 million impact investments from the private sector in the shea value chain.
‘I welcome this great milestone in Ghana’s Forestry Sector in the deployment of programmes and projects that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, build ecosystem resilience and also enhance the lives of communities that nurture the forests’, the Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Mr John Allotey, said.
He highlighted how the implementation of the project would provide a strong contribution to Ghana’s achievement of its commitment to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the implementation of the Ghana National REDD+ Strategy.
The Director of Climate Change and National REDD+ Focal Point, Forestry Commission of Ghana, Ms. Roselyn Fosuah Adjei, said, ‘Shea landscapes are important sources of carbon storage and sequestration and these provide essential products and ecological services.
‘GCF’s approval of this project is welcoming news as this will help in restoring degraded landscapes and contribute to building a resilient economy that is capable of withstanding shocks without putting Ghana’s development agenda in jeopardy’.
Reacting to this development, the Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP in Ghana, Silke Hollander, said, ‘We are particularly happy with the approval from the GCF board because of how critical this project is in reducing emissions, the expected value additions in the utilisation of forest resources and contributions to livelihood improvement especially for women’.
Among other benefits, the project will bring about a breakthrough in the shea sector by enhancing revenue generation for women and strengthen the livelihoods of over 500,000 people in Northern Ghana.
The Global Shea Alliance (GSA), a non-profit industry association with 500 members from 35 countries, will be a key partner during the project implementation.
Source: UNDP
Photo source: Forestry Commission of Ghana
