INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION ITTO PROJECT PROPOSAL ECONOMICS, STATISTICS AND MARKETS

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1 INTERNATIONAL TROPICAL TIMBER ORGANIZATION ITTO PROJECT PROPOSAL TITLE: SERIAL NUMBER: COMMITTEE: SUBMITTED BY: ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT OF TEAK PLANTATIONS ON FARMLANDS TO IMPROVE QUALITY, MARKETING AND LIVELIHOOD OF LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN FOREST- SAVANNAH TRANSITION ZONE, GHANA PD 694/13 Rev.2 (M) ECONOMICS, STATISTICS AND MARKETS GOVERNMENT OF GHANA ENGLISH SUMMARY: The issue of deforestation and forest degradation (DFD) is a source of worry in Ghana. It has become a global concern. The rate of DFD in Ghana has been very rapid, and occurs not only in the forest reserves but also in farmlands/agricultural lands. The rapid DFD of farmlands is largely caused by the challenges farmers faced in growing and retaining trees on farmlands. This project is proposed to address the concerns of the smallholder farmers growing teak on their farmlands. The purpose is to improve the economic outcomes and livelihood for these smallholders. The development objective is to promote sustainable, profitable, quality teak plantation development on farmlands thereby curtailing deforestation and degradation of farmlands/agricultural lands, expanding timber resource base and improving livelihood. The specific objectives are 1) to increase the economic returns to smallholder teak farmers from development of forest plantations on farmlands; and 2) to increase the timber and carbon value through increase in contribution of small holder teak plantations to timber resource base and carbon sequestration/storage. Major outcomes of this project are improved management of the teak plantations; higher quality of the teak produced; better prices for the teak sold; and higher incomes to the communities. The others are farmers knowledge on Ghana s forest policies on farm forest plantation development and marketing increased and ways through which smallholder farm forest plantation activities could be in-cooperated into the climate change policy processes determined. This will enable farmers benefit from international carbon funds in future in order to maintain and expand their teak stands while waiting for the timber revenue at the final harvest. This project will be implemented by the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, the School of Forest Sciences of the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), Forest Services Division of the Forestry Commission of Ghana and the local communities in six project sites in the forest savannah transition zone in Ghana. IMPLEMENTING AGENCY: DURATION: FORIG 36 MONTHS BUDGET AND PROPOSED SOURCES OF FINANCING: SOURCE CONTRIBUTION IN US$ ITTO 567,022 Govt. of Ghana 80,950 TOTAL 647,972

2 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS... 1 PROJECT BRIEF... 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS... 5 MAP OF PROJECT AREA... 6 PROJECT CONTEXT ORIGIN RELEVANCE Conformity with ITTO s objectives and priorities Relevance to the submitting country s policies TARGET AREA Geographic location Social aspects Cultural aspects Economic aspects Environmental aspects EXPECTED OUTCOMES AT PROJECT COMPLETION...13 PART 2. PROJECT RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES RATIONALE Institutional set-up and organizational issues Stakeholder analysis Problem analysis Logical framework worksheets OBJECTIVES Development objective and impact indicators Specific objective and outcome indicators...25 PART 3. DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT INTERVENTIONS OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES Outputs Activities IMPLEMENTATION APPROACHES AND METHODS WORK PLAN BUDGET Consolidated budget by component (in USA dollars) Yearly Project Budget by Source-ITTO (in US Dollars) Activity and Component (in US Dollars) ASSUMPTIONS, RISKS, SUSTAINABILITY Assumptions and risks Sustainability...61 PART 4. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE AND STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT MECHANISMS Executing agency and partners Project management team Project steering committee Stakeholder involvement mechanisms REPORTING, REVIEW, MONITORING AND EVALUATION DISSEMINATION AND MAINSTREAMING OF PROJECT LEARNING Dissemination of project results Mainstreaming project learning...64 ANNEX 1. PROFILES OF THE EXECUTING AND COLLABORATING AGENCIES ANNEX 2. RECOMMENDATION OF ITTO 46 TH EXPERT PANEL ANNEX 3. TASKS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF KEY EXPERTS PROVIDED BY THE EXECUTING AGENCY REFERENCE

3 PROJECT BRIEF The issue of deforestation and forest degradation (DFD) is not only a source of worry in Ghana; it has become a global concern. Lately, it has again attracted international attention, largely due to its contribution to the global warming and climate change. In an effort to address these problems, attention is drawn to reduction of DFD in the developing countries. The importance for this option is the cost effective nature of using DFD reduction to address these problems. In Ghana, the rate of deforestation and forest degradation (DFD) has been very rapid and it makes it difficult for the forest area to be known (Hansen et al, 2009). While Ghana s forest sector contributes approximately 6%, per year to its GDP, economic cost of deforestation and forest degradation reduces this contribution by 4% per year. It is estimated that approximately 63% of the estimated cost of environmental degradation in Ghana is due to the rapid rate of forest depletion both in and outside the forest reserves. Outside the forest reserves within the high Forest Zone (HFZ), cocoa farms, food crop farms, and fallow lands are the dominant land use types. Trees in these off-reserves have been used in Ghana s farming system for maintaining soil productivity and obtaining favourable effects on crops (Amanor, 1996). However, the increasing demand for fuel wood, fodder and timber has greatly affected the practice of leaving trees on farms resulting in deforestation of these farmlands. Also traditional fallow periods have reduced drastically leading to land degradation and lower agricultural yields. The deforestation and degradation of farmlands outside the government forest reserves has become a growing concern. It is probably to address this concern that agricultural lands/farmlands have been included in the National Forest Plantation Development Programme (NFPDP) previously largely implemented within degraded forest reserves (FC, 2010). With an estimated deforestation rate of hectares per year in the whole country and hectares per year in the high forest zone (Abeberese, 2002), Ghana is expected to be without a forest cover within the not-too-distant future, unless effective measures are taken to reverse the trend. This scenario has made the need to intervene and halt the fast depletion of the country s forest both in and outside forest reserves more than necessary. This is more so because of the significant export earnings that accrues to the country from its forestry and wood processing sector and the global warming effect To address this problem of rapid depletion of the forest resources, Ghana is making efforts and putting measures in place but with much difficulty. These measures include policy reform, strengthening of forest law enforcements, and replanting of degraded forest reserves and conscious introduction of agro forestry into traditional farming systems on agricultural lands outside forest reserves. In addition, Ghana has promoted various programs to address the diminishing natural forest resources by forest plantation development. Different types of models have been used in the plantation development in Ghana. These include individuals at their own expense, or sponsored by central government, the private sector, or non-governmental organizations. Currently the plantations Department (PD) of the Forest Services Division (FSD) of the Forestry Commission (FC) leads the forestry plantation development in the country under the National Forest Plantation Development Project (NFPDP) that began in The components of NFPDP include the Modified Taungya System (MTS) (establishment of plantations by FSD in partnership with local farmers), Government Forest Plantation Development Programme (HIPC)(hired labour and contract supervisors to establish industrial plantations) and the Private Plantation Development(release of degraded forest reserve lands by FC to private forest plantation developers). Among all these models in Ghana, the small-holder individual and community plantations are the most widely used (Nanang, 2012). These smallholder plantations in Ghana are made up of tree planting on individual household farm lands. However, smallholder forest plantations are often constraint by land tenure issues, limiting their sizes, although they are the ones that bring significant benefit to local communities compared to the other plantation models. Nsiah, (2010) study in the Offinso district underscored the potential contribution of smallholder farm forest plantation to increase overall household s income and improvement in household s well-being. In addition, the portion of lands in Ghana that are farmlands is larger than the forest reserves. Therefore degradation of these farmlands has significant negative consequences in Ghana. For instance, while Ghana s forest zone covers 5 regions covering 84,000km squared; the forest reserves cover approximately 32,000km squared and the rest is occupied by farmlands and bush-fallow lands. In most of these smallholder forest plantations, the dominant tree species in terms of hectares is teak (Tectona grandis) (FAO, 2002). This is despite the fact that the forestry department in Ghana does not assume an active role in teak cultivation or provides a forestry extension service to smallholders who have embarked on teak cultivation on their farmlands (Kollert and Cherebini, 2012). The high preference for the teak species for the plantation establishment compared to the other species is largely due to its resistance to wildfire effect that is rampant, particularly in forest savanna transition zone of Ghana; and the increasing international demand for it (Sools and Wanders, 2011). Despite these benefits for this species, smallholder - 2 -

4 individuals that grow it on their farmlands do not derive much of these benefits due to a number of problems they face in production and marketing. At the production stage involving the plantation establishment and management by these smallholder farmers, poor silvicultural practices are used. The use of these poor silvicultural practices lead to low quality timber, which is difficult for these smallholders to improve upon because of lack of capital to invest in teak planting and limited ability to wait for the completion of a teak rotation before requiring returns (Boateng, 2008). With limited access to capital/credit for investing in teak planting and the financial inability to wait for trees to reach the minimum diameters required by the timber industry, smallholders find it difficult to compete with government and private plantation companies, such as the FORM Ghana among others in Ghana (Sools and Wanders, 2011; Kollert and Cherebini, 2012). Another difficulty these individual teak growers face is that they tend to sell their teak trees to timber contractors at prices that are often well below market rates because of their limited access to markets, limited market information including both timber and international carbon markets, and inability to overcome transaction costs. These small-scale farmers often sell their teak trees to middlemen in the absence of sufficient marketing information about current prices and practices, and they are often not in a position to negotiate higher prices (Ball et al. 1999). Given that these teak plantations are often small holdings in nature and widely scattered apart, the transaction cost for the timber contractors that purchase such trees is high, and this contributes to the lower prices for the producers. Furthermore, some government policies are not favourable to these small-scale teak farmers because most of the regulations in terms of harvesting and transportation permits, registration procedures among others are made for large-scale timber production (Insaidoo et al. 2012). In summary, the challenges to profitable smallholder teak planting in Ghana include: - Low quality due to poor silvicultural practices (Djagbelety and Adu-Bredu, 2007) - Lack of capital to invest in teak plantation establishment and to protect against wildfire (Boateng, 2008; Ball et al. 1999) - Inability to wait for the completion of a teak rotation before obtaining returns - Limited access to market information/linkages leading to prices that are well below market rates with high transaction costs for timber contractors - Unfavourable forest policies. The development objective of this project is to promote sustainable, profitable, quality teak plantation development on farmlands thereby curtailing deforestation, expanding timber resource base and improving livelihood. The specific objectives are 1) to increase the economic returns to smallholder teak farmers from development of forest plantations on farmlands and 2) to increase the timber and carbon value through increase in contribution of small holder teak plantations timber resource base and carbon sequestration/storage.. The achievement of the objectives would be measured by i) increase in productivity and quality of teak grown on farmlands ii) sale of on-farm teak trees at higher market prices, iii) increase in returns to large number of smallholder farmers growing teak on their farmlands, iv) improvement in livelihood of teak growing farmers, v) Increase farm forest plantations, vi) reduced pressure on natural forest and increase in timber resource The beneficiaries of this project are first the smallholder farmers engaged in farm forest plantation development and the local communities in general. The next immediate beneficiaries are the Forestry Commission of Ghana and its organs, the related forestry ministries i.e. Ministry of Lands and Forestry (MLF), Ministry of Science and Environment, Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The other beneficiaries are other ITTO member countries both producing and consuming countries. The expected outcomes of this project are; i) improved management of the teak plantations; ii) higher quality of the teak produced; iii) better prices for the teak sold; and iv) higher incomes to the communities. The others are farmers knowledge on Ghana s forest policies on farm forest plantation development and marketing increased and ways through which smallholder farm forest plantation activities could be in-cooperated into the climate change policy processes determined. The main outputs are i) Introduction and adaptation of silvicultural technologies that improve returns to smallholder teak farmers ii) Farmers Demonstration trials (FDTs) of teak stands established, iii) Financing schemes providing incentives for smallholder participation in profitable teak production identified; iv) Market access for smallholder teak producers enhanced This project will be implemented through action research approach. This will combine analytical approaches with active participation of the targeted stakeholders, in particular the smallholder teak growers at the project sites. Various activities will be carried out and are categorized into four groups; Farmer and stakeholder mobilisation and sensitization, methodological design, data collection, analysis and education, training and capacity building activities and dissemination of project findings through effective communication and - 3 -

5 knowledge management. To begin with the farmer and stakeholder mobilization, teak farmers and their farm forest plantation will first be identified. This will be followed with a start-up workshop, where participation stakeholders roles and responsibilities to ensure successful implementation of the project would be outlined. The importance of the project will be explained to these stakeholders including what they stand to gain from its successful implementation. This will enable stakeholders to buy into the project. To ensure sustainability of smallholder teak plantation development, stakeholders especially farmers engaged in it would be the main focus. They would be empowered and equipped with the needed knowledge and business skills to sustain their farm forest business independently. They will be encouraged to form networks among themselves and the other users along the value chain. The district assembly, which is the local government authority and the district forestry would be encouraged and adequately informed about these smallholder teak farm plantation so that they can buy into it, and in turn offer the necessary advice and assistance to these farmers. Currently the desire to achieve environmental stability and sustainable provision of environmental services are of prime essence to Ghana, this project would attract the support of the government and all the local communities. Although forestry projects have a long gestation period it is hoped that the project objectives will be achieved within the project s duration. So that, lessons learnt will serve as significant inputs in the overall improvement of Ghana s forest management, poverty reduction strategies and the global climate change mitigation efforts. The study area will serve as centre for knowledge transfer from participating communities to non-participating ones The main assumptions are i) smallholder teak stands on farmlands are available, ii) smallholder teak farmers are available and are willing to be assisted to improve their economic outcomes from these farm forest plantations, iii) The forestry department staff are willing to cooperate in the project implementation, iv) scientists and all other project staff are knowledgeable and committed to carry out the project activities. Thus major stakeholders in this regards are the small holder teak farmers in the local communities and the officials of Forest Services Division who are currently responsible for forest resources in Ghana. The likely risks for this project may involve i) lack of co-operation on the part of the forestry administrators ii) lack of interest on the part of the smallholder teak farmers in the local communities because of mistrust of forestry officials, iii) conflict between these two major stakeholders concerning the ownership and utilization of goods and services on these teak farms. This conflict if not minimized may discourage these smallholder teak farmers and prevent them from participating in the project activities. To minimize the risks the following action will be taken; i) identify all potential risks and actions to mitigate these through group discussions with all stakeholders, ii) develop a conflict resolution mechanism together with the stakeholders, iii) educate and assist these smallholder farmers to register their private teak plantations with official government agency (i.e. Forest Service Division in their respective districts), thereby enabling them to have property rights and receive extension services. The budget amount from ITTO is US$567,022; the contribution from the executing agency is US$80, Of ITTO budget 32.4% is allocated to personnel and 12.5% to capital items

6 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS REDD FC FSD FAO FORIG UEF NGO HIPC GTA MTS GTMO Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Forestry Commission Forest Services Division Food and Agricultural Organisation Forestry Research Institute of Ghana University of Eastern Finland Non-Governmental Organisation Highly indebted Poor Country Ghana Timber Association Modified Taungya System Ghana Timber Millers Organisation - 5 -

7 MAP OF PROJECT AREA Figure 1: Map of Ghana showing the study districts in highlight - 6 -

8 PART 1. PROJECT CONTEXT 1.1 Origin This proposal originated from the studies of Osei-wusu Bempah (2011), Nsiah (2010), Boateng (2008) and Djagbletey and Adu-Bredu (2007). These studies have been conducted largely in the forest-savannah transitional zone of Ghana where the proposed sites of the present project are also located. In all these studies, the main concerns of farmers growing teak on their own farmlands included lack of funds to invest including lack of micro-finance schemes to support them, difficulty with marketing including lack of knowledge of timber prices and carbon markets, sale of trees before rotation and restrictive policies related to sale and transport of harvested teak. In Djagbletey and Adu-Bredu (2007) study in Nkoranza district, 100 teak farmers out of 190 in 5 communities were surveyed; while in Boateng, (2008) study, 70 farm forest plantation practitioners in 10 communities in 3 different districts (Afigya-Sekyere, Offinso and Atwima) were surveyed. Dagbletey and Adu-Bredu (2007) studied the extent of adoption of tree (teak) growing on farmlands/agricultural lands despite the perception that teak degrades the land and remove undergrowth vegetation. The major findings of this study were that, teak plantations were mostly owned by indigenes and inter-planted with a mixture of food crops. The reasons for the intercropping were weed control, land suitability for crops, financial consideration, and soil fertility. The problems farmers encountered with the growth of teak were high maintenance cost, early canopy closure, dry weather, wildfires and insect pest. Decline in food crop yield was also reported with stand development. This was attributed to early canopy closure, soil fertility decline and annual wildfires. To address these problems and ensure sustainability of teak plantation on farmlands, application of either inorganic fertilizer or organic manure and the use of mounds to improve the decline in crop yield were suggested. Wider spacing (6.0 x 2.0 m and 4.0 x 4.0 m) and introduction of leguminous trees were also suggested in order to prolong cropping of the stands for food crops. In Nsiah (2010) study in Offinso districts, 165 smallholders of farm forest plantations from 5 communities were interviewed while 332 farmers from 52 local communities engaged in restoration of portions of 5 degraded forest reserves in Osei-wusu Bempah (2011) study were surveyed. Nsiah (2010) studied internal and external factors that induce farm household s decision to establish forest (teak) plantation and the financial contribution of the established plantations to household s income and livelihood strategies. The major findings in this study were that; education of household head, amount of household s labor, size of household landholding, ownership of permanent land, availability of non-agricultural land and household participation in previous plantation development projects were important internal factors that positively influenced the establishment of teak plantations on private farm lands; while the external factors were availability of market and buyers; and farm household satisfaction with market prices for teak plantation. Factors this study finds to discourage farmers from establishing teak plantation were prohibitive rules and regulations guarding the harvesting and transportation of timber from private farmlands; and uncertainty in tree tenure outside state forest reserves due to unclear forest policy in relation to Timber Resources Management Act, 1998 (Act 547). For instance, section 4 (2) of the Act 547 grants the ownership of private planted trees to the owner. However, from the results of Nsiah (2010) study, most of the farm households feel this Act does not separate planted trees from the legal controls of naturally growing trees which require a Timber Utilization Contracts (TUC) and a Registered Property Mark to harvest. For example, Act 547 does not allow private holding of TUCs. This leads to the uncertainty in tree tenure and insecurity for individuals to establish forest plantation on their farmlands, because the Act (547) is not clear on whether a TUC can be issued to the private individual forest plantation owner. Further, Nsiah (2010) and Osei-wusu-Bempah (2011) find that farm forest plantation has the potential to enhance the socio-economic well-being of farmers. For instance, the analyses of these studies showed that households stand to gain monetary benefits and livelihood assets from these farm forest plantations. In view of these potential gains, they suggest the promotion of the farm forest (teak) plantation establishments by the households to improve upon their livelihood and the local environmental conditions. To do this, the 2 studies stressed on efforts to improve household s access to information on teak markets and prices; micro-finance schemes to provide financial assistance to individual teak growers; and the development of cooperative trading networks in order to strengthen the bargaining powers of the households. Over the 4-5 year period of these studies, the concerns of these tree farmers appear not to have been addressed hence their continuous recurrence in the different years and studies (Insaidoo et al. 2012). The present project is designed to help address these concerns of the smallholder teak farmers and empower them to engage in profitable teak farming on their farmlands. This is to be achieved through improvement in the market access and economic returns for their investment in the teak growing. In this way, - 7 -

9 it is expected that environmental conservation, particularly on farmlands and livelihood improvement would be enhanced. 1.2 Relevance Conformity with ITTO s objectives and priorities The current project is in compliance with the ITTA (2006) Article I objectives of (c) Contributing to sustainable development and to poverty alleviation (e) Promoting improved understanding of the structural conditions in international markets, including longterm trends in consumption and production, factors affecting market access, consumer preferences and prices, and conditions leading to prices which reflect the costs of sustainable forest management (j) Encouraging members to support and develop tropical timber reforestation, as well as rehabilitation and restoration of degraded forest land, with due regard for the interests of local communities dependent on forest resources (k) Improving marketing and distribution of tropical timber and timber product exports from sustainably managed and legally harvested sources and which are legally traded, including promoting consumer awareness (m) Encouraging members to develop national policies aimed at sustainable utilization and conservation of timber producing forests, and maintaining ecological balance, in the context of the tropical timber trade (q) Promoting better understanding of the contribution of non-timber forest products and environmental services to the sustainable management of tropical forests with the aim of enhancing the capacity of members to develop strategies to strengthen such contributions in the context of sustainable forest management, and cooperating with relevant institutions and processes to this end; (r) Encouraging members to recognize the role of forest -dependent indigenous and local communities in achieving sustainable forest management and develop strategies to enhance the capacity of these communities to sustainably manage tropical timber producing forests; and (s) Identifying and addressing relevant new and emerging issues. The present project also conforms to the ITTO cross-cutting actions (ITTO action plan ) of (a) Support research and development studies and projects to improve understanding of the marketplace, efficient product processing, industrial and community utilization, the valuation and trade of forest goods and services, and better forest management in general (m) Enhance the capacity of forest-dependent indigenous and local communities to sustainably manage tropical timber-producing forests and engage in viable forest enterprises, including by improving linkages with commercial trade and government sectors Further, the project has the following Forest Industry component (Goal 2, Action 8) Undertake research into wood properties and end-use requirements, paying particular attention to the properties and availability of lesser-used species and timber plantation species and the potential markets for them Relevance to the submitting country s policies This proposal is relevant to the National Forest and Wildlife Policy (1994) which has among its objectives as to manage the existing forest estate for sustainability of timber and non-timber resources and to expand the nation s forest cover for increased yields of domestic and industrial products, rehabilitation of denuded lands, protection of water catchments and stream banks and enhancement of the natural environment. It is also relevant to the sectoral programme on Forest Resources Development which has as one of its objectives as to promote achievement of a 10% increase in the area of forest and tree cover through afforestation, reforestation, industrial plantations and agroforestry. In addition the proposal is relevant to Ghana poverty reduction strategy paper (GPRSP). The GPSRSP document emphasizes the need to: Protect, rehabilitate and sustainably manage the national land, forest and wildlife resources through collaborative management and aimed at increasing the incomes of rural communities who own these resources

10 Enhanced community involvement in the management of forest and wildlife and savannah woodland resources and improve the benefit flows to communities from resource sales. Increased community and farmer adaptation of improved land and water management techniques. Further this project contributes to the goals and specific objectives of the national forest plantation development programme (NFPDP) of Ghana: which are Goal: to develop a sustainable resource base that will satisfy the future demand for industrial timber and enhance environmental quality, thereby relieving the pressure on the natural forest and also to accelerate the greening of the country. Specific objectives: i) To restore the forest cover of degraded forest lands; ii) To generate employment as means to reduce rural poverty; iii) To improve environmental quality and provide an opportunity for the country to tap the emerging benefits from the climate change market for carbon sequestration; iv) To reduce the wood deficit situation in the country; v) To enhance production of food crops and contribute to food security in the country This project further contributes to the Ghana s Forest Investment Project (FIP) whose overall objective is to enhance carbon stocks in the off-reserve areas in the High Forest Zones by engaging communities in approaches that also generate direct financial benefits and other environmental benefits for them leading to reduced deforestation and forest degradation in the landscape. Various projects in the Forest Sector have been completed and some of them are still being implemented to support the achievement of the objectives of various policies mentioned above. Tables 1 and 2 show the past and ongoing programmes and projects oriented to the development of Ghana s forestry sector. The strategy and activities in this proposal are designed so as to complement these recent and ongoing projects. Table 1: Major current forestry projects in Ghana supported by multi and bilateral donors Project Agency Donor Natural Resources Management Programme (NRMP) - Ministry of Lands & Multi-donor supported Ghanaian national forestry sector programme Forestry programme implemented project-wise Forest Sector Development Programme (FSDP) part Forestry Commission DFID of the NRMP Protected Area Development Programme (PADP) part Wildlife Division European Development of NRMP - First phase has ended 2002 Fund The Forest Protection and Resource Use Management Forestry Commission GTZ Project (FORUM) Wildfire Management in the Transition Zone (WMTZ) Forestry Commission, The Government of part of NRMP Resources Management Support Centre Netherlands Table 2: The major previous or currently ongoing ITTO supported projects in the forest sector Project Agency Status (start /finish) Evergreen Club of Ghana / ITTO Youth in Forestry Project Evergreen Club of Completed (1995/) PD008/94 Rev.2 (F) Conservation and Provenance Plantings and Integrated Pest Management to Sustain Iroko Production in West Africa PD003/95 Rev.2 (F) Forest Fire Management in Ghana PD032/98 Rev.1 (F) Establishment of a Wood Workers and Craftsmanship Village PD046/96 Rev.2 (I) Manpower Development for the Ghana Wood Industry Training Centre PD012/98 Rev.2 (I) Silviculture and Economics of Improved Natural Forest Management in Ghana PD004/98 Rev.1 (F) Ghana Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Furniture and Wood Products Association, Ghana Timber Export Development Board (TEDB) Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Completed (1995/) Completed (1998/2003) Completed Completed Completed (1999) - 9 -

11 Reforestation of the Abutia Plains by Indigenous Communities in the Volta Basin PD048/98 Rev.1 (F) Handbook on Tree and Wood Identification of 100 Lesser- Used and Lesser-Known Timber Species from Tropical Africa with Notes on Ethnography Silviculture and Uses PD044/98 Rev.2 Rehabilitating Degraded Forest through Collaboration with Local Communities PD030/97 Rev.6 (F) Participatory Tropical Forest Development by Women in Indigenous Communities PD049/98 Rev.1 (F) Processing and Utilization of Logging Residues through Collaboration with Local Communities and Forest Industries PPD039/02 Rev.2 (I) Fire Fight Initiative: Prevention Rather than Cure PPD044/02 Rev.1 (F) (Pre-Project with a component in Ghana) Feasibility of Introducing and Developing Non-Destructive Testing Technologies and Methods for Assessment and Monitoring of Timber/Wood Structures in Various Structural and End-Use Applications in West Africa PPD004/00 Rev.3 (I) Development of the Integrated Forestry Compendium: a Knowledge Base for Forest Management and the Forest Industry PD087/01 Rev.1 (M) Development of Energy Alternatives for the Efficient Utilization of Wood Processing Residue: Co-Generation and Briquette Production PPD053/02 Rev.2 (I) Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development of the Timber Industry in Ghana PPD063/02 (I) Increasing Productivity and Quality of West African Teak Plantations using Genetic Diversity and Sustainable Management EU-INCO funded project (WAFT) (ICA4-CT ) Alternative pest management strategies for development of indigenous species plantations in Ghana Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation through Collaborative Management with Local Communities African Environmental Regeneration Movement Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG 31 st December Women s Movement Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Completed (1999) Completed (1999) Completed (2005) Completed (2000) Completed (2002) IUCN Completed (2002/2004) Wood Industries Training Centre Forestry Commission of Ghana Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Forestry Research Institute of Ghana FORIG Pending Finance Pending Finance Completed 2003 Operational 2003 Operational 2002 Operational 2005 Operational 2009 PD 530/08 Rev.3 (F) Phase II of ITTO Project [PD 30/97 Rev.6 (F)] Management of Forests Established through Rehabilitation of Degraded Forests by Local Communities in Ghana (Ghana) Forestry Research Institute of Ghana- FORIG Operational Target Area Geographic location The activities of this project are located in the forest savanna transition zone of Ghana including Nkoranza North and South, Offinso North and South and Tano North and South administrative districts (Figure 1). The 2 Offinso districts are in the Ashanti region, while the remaining four districts are in the Brong Ahafo region. In all these districts, approximately 20 communities are selected on the basis of presence of individual teak farmers with their teak stands/farms in these districts

12 1.3.2 Social aspects The population of the Offinso North district according to the 2000 population and housing census report, stood at 64,414 and by the annual growth rate of 3.4%, it is projected to be about 96,211 in The population with access to safe drinking water in this district is approximately 22,800, equivalent to 23%. A larger segment of the remaining population relies on stream water for domestic use. This situation has serious health implications since these streams are heavily contaminated with agro-chemicals. There is also incidence of water borne diseases in this district. Waste Management is poor in the district and it is characterized by heaped refuse dump sites, unkempt surroundings and inadequate toilet facilities. All these indicate the general poor nature of this district. The population of the district is basically rural with only 31 per cent living in settlements with population 5,000. There are only four settlements with populations of more than 5,000. The population is concentrated along the major trunk roads which link the major settlements. The average household size is 8 as compared with the national figure of 5.24 persons for rural area. Each household has a large number of members to feed, clothe and house. Given the low average household income it is clear that most families are living a low standard of life as is evidenced by the expenditure pattern where a bulk of the family income goes into food, clothes and household energy needs. Sanitation in general is very poor. Sources of water in the Nkoranza districts include pipe-borne water, dam, streams, rivers, ponds and wells. These sources of water are very often polluted. Most people drink the water untreated Cultural aspects Akan culture dominates in the Offinso South and North districts. However there are migrant settlers from the north who also practice their culture alongside the Akan tradition/culture. Vast tracts of land are available for agriculture and other productive ventures and the Offinso municipal assembly has initiated policies aimed at making land easier to secure and be used by private investors from outside the localities. Nkoranza people speak Bono, one of the Twi dialects of the Akan origin. Since the majority of residents in the Nkoranza South District are indigenes, the Bono language is the lingua-franca in the area. All settlers who join the people are motivated to learn the language to be able to communicate well. The language therefore offers opportunity to explain development issues to the people, since over 90 percent of residents understand or speak the language. The culture is also not diversified. The people are therefore unified by the single language spoken which gives the area unique cultural features and traditions that give identity, selfrespect, and pride to the people. This promotes unity, stability and peace in the area. The head of the Nkoranza Traditional Area is the Omanhene or Paramount Chief, the supreme overlord. Next after the Omanhene are the Divisional chiefs, Ohene who take responsibility for the divisional areas. Each Divisional area comprises a number of villages (nkura). Each akura is inhabited by groups of family lineages or abusua forming clans. Each clan in the village is headed by an abusuapanin, the elder of the family group. Nkoranzaman s Traditional Authority extends beyond the political boundaries of Nkoranza South District. It covers the political and Administrative districts of Nkoranza North, Nkoranza South, Kintampo North and South Districts. The land areas of these districts traditionally belong to the Omanhene of Nkoranza. There are two traditional councils in Tano North District, each of which has a paramount status. These are: Duayaw Nkwanta and Yamfo. Under each of the paramouncies, are a number of divisional chiefs and subchiefs. The chiefs, the custodians of culture and land, are the motivating force behind developmental projects in many communities. Fortunately, the District is not plagued with any serious/volatile disputes, land litigation and tribal conflicts, which hamper development. In spite of the heterogeneity in the District, there is generally peace, harmony and political stability in the District which auger well for the development of the District Economic aspects The predominant activity of the people in the Offinso north district is agriculture. It employs over 80% of the active population. Out of this figure, the youth constitute approximately 25%. Fishing is done on a limited scale whilst livestock production is basically on free range. Poultry is also done on a limited scale. Most of the population is engaged in food crop production. However, large tracts of fertile land is not cultivated due to the fact that they heavily depend on the use of hoes, cutlasses etc. The major crops cultivated are maize, plantain, cassava, yam and vegetables. The most dominant vegetable cultivated is tomatoes. The farmers experience postharvest loses because of the perishable nature of the produce and also because there are no ready markets for the produce. There are no storage facilities. The district has a good prospect for a

13 tomato processing plant. In the Offinso forest district, private forest plantations on farmlands/agricultural lands are located in different parts. They are mostly teak farm holdings of varying sizes. They range from over 32 hectares, to less than 8 hectares per farmer etc. Some of these farms began in 1997 and the farmers are supported by other farmers. However one major problem these farmers encounter is inadequate financing in the establishment of these plantations. Aside these individuals and local communities growing teak on their farmlands in this district, a foreign company (FORM Ghana) in this district has planted 2,190 hectares of teak and 376 hectares of indigenous species as of 2012 and employed over 500 local workers. The target is to re-forest 10,000 hectares of the degraded forest reserves. As in most parts of the country, land in the Nkoranza District is controlled mainly by stools and families. Hence, chiefs and family heads act as custodians of all lands. They hold these lands in trust for and on behalf of citizenry and family members respectively. Most of the farmers interviewed, 82% had no problems with lands acquisition as land is easily obtained from chiefs and family heads provided one can pay the rent charges. 18% of farmers interviewed, however, complained of difficulties of high rents and inaccessibility to fertile lands. Population pressure on land is forcing farmers to reduce fallow periods and to adopt sedentary agriculture. The impact on land therefore has been rapid decline in soil fertility and serious land degradation. The major crops cultivated in the Nkoranza South districts include maize, yam, cassava, groundnut, cowpea, watermelon, onion, rice, plantain, cocoyam, and vegetables. However, maize and yam are the most widespread in the district. In terms of hectares cultivated, maize occupies 36.9% of the total cultivated land in the district. Yam and cassava occupies 24.6% and 21.1% respectively whilst rice occupies 4.6%. Cashew, which is a major tree crop in the district, occupies 2.1% of the cultivated land in the district. Other crops occupy smaller areas. The cultivated area for the various crops has been increasing over the years. Crops like watermelon, tomato, and cassava, which have been attracting higher prices in recent years, are increasingly being cultivated by farmers. About 15% of the population is engaged in commerce as a major occupation. The major Commercial activities in the District include marketing of food stuffs, Agricultural inputs, second hand clothing, footwear, provision, medical and agro chemical selling, general spare parts, beverages and toiletries. The major setback of marketing in the district has been high cost of transportation. In the Nkoranza districts, majority of small holder farmers grow teak on their farmlands. They intercrop with other foods crops at the early stages of establishment. The age of the plantations ranged from three years to 16 years with the size ranging between 0.4 ha and 3.6 ha. Larger percentages of the farmers plant the teak trees at a spacing of 3.0 x 3.0 m, 4.0 x 4.0 m and 2.0 x 2.0 m. Tano Districts (2) are potentially endowed with mineral deposits including gold, diamond, clay and petroleum. Gold mining has been started by Newmont Ghana gold Ltd at Yamfo and Terchire. The high quality clay deposit in these districts has given birth to a lot of small and medium scale industries producing earth wares such as Bowls, Water Storage Pots, Flowerpots and Brick and tiles at Tanoso. Regarding official forest management, the Tano North and South districts are under the Bechem Forest district. From the records of the Forest Service Division in these districts (Bechem Forest District), over 10 private teak farmers in 6 to 7 different communities have so far been provided with documentation relating to marketing of timber from their teak stands. The sizes of these teak plantations on the private farmlands range from ha at varying ages with planting distances of mostly 3m x3m. In addition to timber dealers, one key buyer/customer for these teak plantation on farmlands in all these districts is the poles (telephone and electricity) treatments firms/companies (e.g. Dupaul; By-and-ways) in the nearby cities and towns (Kumasi, Bechem etc) of Ghana Environmental aspects Until the 1983 bush fires, the offinso district was covered by large tracts of forests and cocoa farms and was believed to be home of fairies (mmoatia). The disappearance of the thick vegetative cover has left the area exposed. For this reason the four (4) forest reserves in the district are fast depleting due to logging and illegal chainsaw operators. There is also a waterfall on a stream known as Afrensu waterfalls which remains undeveloped. The Boabeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary is located in now Offinso North District. Nkoranza South District lies within the transitional zone between the savannah woodland of northern Ghana and the forest belt of the south. The district was once a thick forest area but the vegetation has changed to that of savannah mainly due to the adverse effects of bush fires. The change in vegetation is also due to the rapid expansion of agriculture which adopts traditional crude method. Also due to uncontrolled operations of timber firms, the forests are being decimated

14 The savannah woodland and part of the areas of savannah re-growth largely characterize the eastern part of the district. The southern part of the district is largely marked by forest re-growth, made up of shrubs and grasses with few original tree species, especially silk cotton trees. Among the effects of the deforestation are the change in the rainfall pattern in the district and the disappearance of some forest resources such as snails, mushrooms and wildlife. The Tano South lies in the moist semi-deciduous forest zone and has gross forest area of sq.km with about sq.km of this under forest reserve. However, there is a vast emergence of guinea savanna and this is found in areas like Techimantia and, Subriso No. 3 where cattle rearing are predominant. In Tano North District, there are two main forest reserves namely; the Bosomkese Forest Reserve which covers a total area of sq km and Apaape Forest Reserve which also covers an area of approximately 19.04sqkm. In these reserves, one can find different tree species such as Odum, Mahogany, Ceiba, Cassia and Akasaa. 1.4 Expected outcomes at project completion Forest Plantation Development, particularly outside the state forest reserves has not been very successful, even though the rate of deforestation and forest degradation in these forest areas are comparatively higher. The forest plantation development fund (FPDF) created under the Forest Plantations Development Fund Act, 2000 (Act 583) was instituted to bring about success in this program, but it has met much difficulty due to misapplication. It is now being reorganised and restructured to overcome these challenges and difficulties and to be able to achieve the set objective as the important tool for securing a reversal of the natural forest depletion rate and the promotion and establishment of large areas of forest plantations. Largely, this project when completed will contribute significantly to the success of the forest plantation development, particularly on farmlands in the forest savannah transition of Ghana. In this regard, the expected outcomes at project completion are improved management of the teak plantations on farmlands, higher quality of the teak produced, better prices for the teak sold and higher incomes to the communities. Another one is farmers knowledge on Ghana s forest policies on farm forest plantation development and marketing increased. In general farmers would be empowered to be engaged in profitable teak farming. This would increase farm forest plantations and thereby reduce the rate of deforestation and forest degradation (DFD) and ultimately contribute to the global climate change mitigation initiatives. Other benefits from this project that would make the reduction in DFD possible are the strategies for involvement of smallholder forest plantation stands that would be developed in Ghana. These developed strategies are likely to contribute significantly to Ghana s REDD+ strategies and activities