The Centre for Rural Improvement Services (CRIS), a non-governmental organization based in Damongo in the West Gonja Municipal of the Savannah Region, has trained 90 farmers in climate-smart cashew plantation strategies under its Farmer Field Schools (FFS) program.
The beneficiary farmers, who were drawn from the two communities in Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region, also received support under the project to invest in Integrated Climate Smart Cashew Plantations.
Under the Farmer Field School, which is a farmer-centered and participatory approach to learning various farming practices, farmers are organized into groups to meet regularly with their facilitators to observe, talk, ask questions, and learn together.
It is sometimes called, "School without Walls" geared towards equipping the farmers with a lot of practical experiences and also used in Non-Farm Income Generation activities such as handicrafts.
A total of 1600 cashew seedlings were supplied to the farmers with full ploughing cost for 15 hectares of farmland under the project to empower the farmers into more production.
The Zonal Agric Extension Officer, Mr. Hakim Seidu who led the training took the farmers through various stages of Climate Resilient Strategies and good Agroforestry practices and encouraged them to take advantage of the support package provided under the project to increase their production and promote climate resilience.
Mr.Amos Mahama, Executive Director of the Centre for Rural Improvement Services (CRIS), stated that farmers must be smart in exploring the various climatic conditions for sustainable cashew production and livelihood enhancement.
He emphasized the significance of cashew production in improving the economic livelihood of the people in the area, noting that cashew production has emerged as a viable option for climate conservation and livelihood improvement in rural areas.
The enthusiastic farmers, who were elated about the intervention, thanked CRIS and its partners (UNDP) and the Small Grants Global Environmental Facility (SGP GEF) for coming to their aid with such a timely project.
They said the project, in the long run, was going to change the economic and livelihood fortunes of farmers in the beneficiary communities while conserving the climate for sustainable future use.
