The World Bank has signed a grant agreement with Solidaridad West Africa for Natural Resources Management in 53 selected local communities of the Brong-Ahafo and Western Regions of Ghana.

The US$5.5 million grant of the Ghana Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Local Communities project (G-DGM) from Climate Investment Fund (CIF) partnership is to strengthen their knowledge and practices toward reducing deforestation and improving the sustainable management of their activities.

The grant will contribute towards helping the communities better understand REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from deforestation and Forest degradation plus conservation of Forest, Sustainable Forest management and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks).

The G-DGM will also enable targeted communities to share their knowledge and farm level practices and lessons learned with others, at community, national and international levels, thus making them more resilient to man-made pressures and climate change.

The grant will finance capacity building and demand-driven grants to local communities, and community based organizations of the targeted communities.

It will assist Ghana to sustain economic growth, accelerate poverty reduction and enhance shared prosperity in a sustainable manner.

Synergies will also be fostered with two other ongoing projects, the Forest Investment Program (FIP), which also operates in these two regions and is linked to this project, and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) project.

“This project contributes to the World Bank Group Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for Ghana and addresses climate change issues through support for REDD+ and other programmess related to water management and land degradation,” said World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Henry Kerali.

The G-DGM is a key piece in the implementation of the World Bank’s Integrated Forests and Landscape Portfolio, a diverse portfolio comprising several operations (with different sources of financing, including IDA and trust funds).

The project is supported by a variety of sources, including a single-country Multi-Donor Trust Fund established in 2009 under the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) partnership to provide fast-track climate financing to reduce deforestation and degradation.

The project will be managed by a National Steering Committee, which comprises representatives of the local communities, as well as observers from government and non-governmental agencies.

Solidaridad West Africa will be the implementing agency on behalf of the National Steering Committee.

The project is consistent with and aligned to the Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda II (GSGDA II) 2014–2017, which among others seeks to support growth and restore macroeconomic stability and accelerate agricultural modernization and natural resource management.