Project/activity information

The objectives of the Project were to:

- Enable women to establish and sustainably manage 3 nurseries, in each of the ecological zones of Ghana, for timber and fruit trees and Non Timber Tropical Products;
- Demonstrate the potential for women to support reforestation through plantation activities;
- Support the establishment of community based plantations through an extension programme;
- Create employment opportunities for women and increase their knowledge on reforestation techniques; and
- Encourage the involvement of women in the West-African sub-region in reforestation through a regional workshop.

The project activities were centered on the establishment of the three nurseries and the use of the plants produced for reforestation and planting in and around the villages involved in the Project.

The extension service of the NGO 31st DWM was greatly expanded under the project to reach a large number of women in the villages. Over 300 women received training in nursery establishment and management, reforestation techniques, horticultural techniques as well as in mushroom and edible snail rearing. The collection and cultivation of Non Timber Forest Products proved to be of particular interest to the women.

Publicity material for use in the schools and villages were developed including printed pamphlets, posters, radio broadcasts and TV programmes.

Towards the end of the Project, a regional workshop was conducted to involve women in the other West African countries in the activities and achievements of the Project.

This project has been very successful due to the dedication of the 31st DWM and the women around in the local Ghanaian communities. The support from the Forest Department has also been instrumental to the reforestation activities.

A follow up Project PD 49/98 Rev.1 (F) 'Participatory Tropical Forest Development by Women in Indigenous Communities' has been approved and funded. This Project will continue and expand on the activities successfully carried out under the previous Project and will provide an uninterrupted implementation of the work by the 31st DWM.