Tropenbos Ghana and Ecocare Ghana, implementers of the LEAN Project in the transition zone, have trained some selected farmers on alternative livelihoods like small ruminants and aquaculture, snail farming and others as part of their activities which includes providing training, mentoring and giving seed capital to smallholder farmers to support additional livelihood schemes on the LEAN project in Ghana.

Afena Yorke, a farmer and a beneficiary in Mesidan, Techiman North District where these non-governmental organizations are implementing the project titled ‘The Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation’ (LEAN) Project, lauded the efforts to improve the livelihoods of people in the Western North.

The LEAN project is a four year project funded by the European Union that aims to conserve biodiversity, increase climate resilience and reduce emissions from land use changes in the savannah, high forest and transitions zones of Ghana while helping local farmers improve their livelihood.

This action is to help improve on the livelihood of the farmers so as to generate income when the farms are no longer on peak seasons. It is also to desensitize the farmers to desist from causing forest infractions that is activities which will contribute to deforestation and land degradation and serve as a sustainability tool for the landscape management board.

According to Afena Yorke who chose aquaculture, he said ‘The reason why I picked aquaculture is very easy. It is very lucrative. Also the catfishes breed and grow very fast and it’s not a difficult venture’

The LEAN project which was launched on May 11, 2021, at the national level and subsequently launched at the three targeted landscapes is implemented on the ground by a consortium of four local and international NGOs with expertise in these challenging fields: The Rainforest Alliance, World Vision Ghana, Tropenbos Ghana, and EcoCare Ghana.