Nkoranza: Mr Francis Owusu Antwi, Bono East Regional Minister, has called for intensified carbon credit activities to help reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions. He explained that carbon credits allow industries to emit a regulated amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, while promoting measures that ultimately reduce overall emissions. Mr Antwi expressed concern about the growing impact of climate change in the country, noting changes in weather patterns, extreme temperatures, erratic rainfall, and the increasing frequency and intensity of weather events such as floods, dry spells, and thunderstorms. According to Ghana News Agency, Mr Antwi noted that those impacts had serious implications on the nation's economy, food productivity, and economic livelihoods, necessitating urgent measures of mitigation. He emphasized the need to introduce and mainstream carbon credit activities during a presentation of tree seedlings to farmers at Nkoranza in the region. The Ministry of Food and Agricult ure presented over one million economic tree seedlings to be distributed to farmers in the Bono, Bono East, and Savannah regions, under the Agroforestry for Carbon Credit project. Mr Antwi stated that Bono East was contributing to carbon offsetting activities by participating in the National Tree Planting Exercise, having planted over 355,480 tree seedlings. He indicated that the 11 politically administrative District and Municipal Assemblies in the region were also ordered to enact bye-laws to fight bushfires. The regional directorate of agriculture was promoting climate-smart agriculture technologies and innovations, encouraging practices such as minimum tillage, agroforestry, and burying fertilizers in the soil. As the leading producer of cashew and mangoes, the region was absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide, Mr Antwi highlighted. He commended the government for the implementation of the Feed Ghana, Nkoko Nketenkete programmes, as well as irrigation and buffer stock projects. Mr Antwi urged beneficiarie s of the Agroforestry for Carbon Credit Project to adhere to its governing principles and encouraged project managers to release resources to beneficiaries on time. Madam Anitha Narahari, the Deputy Country Director for the World Food Programme, emphasized the programme's dedication to building resilient livelihoods, strengthening food systems, and creating long-term economic opportunities for smallholder farmers across Ghana. She noted that the implementation of Phase II of the Changing Lives Transformation Fund Agroforestry Carbon Credit Programme was expected to impact approximately 15,000 farmers, with 10,000 farmers directly receiving seedlings.
- May 25, 2026
