In drought-stricken northern Ghana with only one rainfall regime that last, maximum 5 months, peoplelive in extremepoverty and hunger and malnutrition is rife.The period immediately following the rainy season until crops are mature is critical in terms of household food availability. Most households have depleted their food stock by then and often have reduced to one meal a day, with the rest of food needs supplemented from the wild plants in their surroundings. The Baobab tree is a significant source of food for the local communities and has provided socioeconomic gains for women who harvest and process the fruit.
Over the past few years, scientist tested several baobab trees across the continent and within the past years have discovered that the trees are dying at an alarming rate and such situation has brought it under threat category. This is attributed to climate change, and also perhaps because of lifespan of the trees. In northern Ghana, the population of baobab trees is declining at a high speed because of heavy exploitation and least regeneration. No attempt on regeneration is attributed to intensification of agriculture, increased frequency of bushfires, grazing by livestock and over-exploitation, especially for leaves. Trees that are favored for leaf harvest are frequently mutilated to prevent them from producing flowers. Seedlings less than 2 meters in height are often pulled up by children and cutting off the bark which leads toinfection and ultimate death.Due to over exploitation and slow regeneration rate the baobab population is declining.
This project seeks to establish a baobab tree nursery to grow and nurse baobab tree seedlings in the Upper East Region of Ghana to address multiple and complex issues related to impact of human activities and climate change on baobab trees. The nursing and replanting of baobab trees will sustain the baobab tree plantation for environmental sustainability, socioeconomic profitability, health and wellbeing of communities, and employment, particularly for women.
The underlying purpose of the project is to build an understanding of potential opportunities and challenges of supporting women with an employment opportunity to nurse and market baobab tree leaves, and expand replanting baobab trees to improve and increase food security and economic livelihoods.
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