As part of its efforts to help address challenges hampering the agricultural sector in the country; Rainforest Alliance has taken another judicious step by organising a two-day workshop training for the Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA), in Accra.
The two-day workshop was themed: “Ensuring People and Nature Thrive in Harmony” was aimed at enlightening journalists on Rainforest Alliance certification activities.
The Rainforest Alliance certification Programme defines their long-term vision for the future, and the path required helping to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities.
Mr. Joseph Yaw Mensah-Senior Associate Training and Certification explained that their work is to cultivate rural prosperity bring real, measurable benefits for farmers, forest communities, and indigenous peoples around the world.
This he said, RA, works with millions of farmers and with forest communities all over the world to promote sustainable and climate-smart practices and improve livelihoods, both of which are critical to building farm and farmer resilience, stopping deforestation, and increasing biodiversity.
Explaining that, the new standard, assurance system, and related data and technology systems are designed to deliver more value to the many people and businesses around the world that use Rainforest Alliance certification.
Since it is an essential tool to support sustainable agricultural production and supply chains.
There are several benefits to farmers who are Rainforest Alliance certified. Farmers actually produce according to RA standards which offer them higher productivity.
Reimagining Certification Manager, Rainforest Alliance, Leslie Adwoa Agyapong, who also elaborated on RA, noted that stands by providing a practical framework for sustainable agriculture, and a targeted set of innovations, the Farm Requirements can help farmers produce better crops, adapt to climate change, increase their productivity, set goals to achieve their sustainability performance and target investments to address their greatest risks.
It also promotes human rights and helps them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.
Across the tropics, farming and forest communities face a daily struggle to cover life’s basic needs.
Breaking the cycle of rural poverty and tackling the ensuing impacts for people and nature, is critical for a more sustainable future for mankind.
The Senior Project Manager for LEAN, Madam Abena Dufie Woode, also delivered a presentation on the Landscapes and Environmental Agility across the Nation (LEAN) project said the project was, by RA, World Vision Ghana, Tropenbos Ghana, and EcoCare Ghana.
According to her, the project aims at conserving biodiversity, building climate resilience, and reducing emissions from land-use changes in the savannah, high forest, and transition zones of Ghana.
According to her, the project is being undertaken in five regions: Western, Savannah, Upper East, Ashanti, and Bono East.
Explaining that the project’s goal is to establish demonstration and scalable landscape governance institutions that are empowered to make long-term management decisions while operating inside a government-backed regulatory framework.
The four-year LEAN project, which is sponsored with US$4 million by the European Union’s flagship GCCA+ initiative, runs from 2020 to 2024. (48 months).
Nana Yaw Reuben, the Projects Coordinator for the Ghana Agricultural and Rural Development Journalists Association (GARDJA), also urged journalists to always strive to give farmers a voice by spotlighting issues affecting them.
We need to ensure that cocoa farmers are being given a well-deserved pension, upon retirement.
Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organization working at the intersection of business, agriculture, and forests to make responsible business the new normal.
They are building an alliance to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.