Governance for sustainable forest-related livelihoods in Ghana’s High Forest Zone

Despite rapid deforestation and biodiversity loss in Ghana’s High Forest Zone, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) still contribute substantially to people’s cash and non-cash incomes. However, the over-exploitation of forest resources and a lack of local management will continue to lead to forest degradation and lost species. This poses several challenges for forest governance.

Timber contributes about 6% to Ghana’s Gross National Product and 11% to its export earnings and therefore plays an important role in Ghana’s economy. It also creates about 100,000 jobs through direct employment in the legal timber industry and an estimated 130,000 jobs in chainsaw milling. The issue of how timber contributes to rural livelihoods is increasingly gathering interest among forest actors in Ghana in view of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between Ghana and the EU to
combat illegal logging. This infosheet examines the role of naturally grown timber in rural people’s livelihoods.

Having lost 90% of its tropical rainforest in fewer than 50 years, reforestation schemes are becoming increasingly important in Ghana as a  means of restoring tree cover and sources of livelihoods. These schemes may also become important in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD). This infosheet provides an overview of the various schemes and the actors and
livelihood benefits associated with them.
 

Who are involved in forest governance and use, and what are their roles and interests? This infosheet provides a brief description of the actors in the Ghana’s High Forest Zone. It results from a study undertaken by researchers from the  Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

The Modified Taungya System (MTS) improves people’s access to farmlands and offers them a 40% share of timber revenues. Serious concerns exist, however, about the long-term contribution to people’s livelihoods. Intercropping is no longer an option when the trees overshadow the crops and the last plots of land are soon to be used up. It then takes time before the sale of the timber generates any income. Various challenges have to be overcome to ensure that the MTS continues to impact positively on people’s livelihoods. This is the key message of this infosheet based on an MSc study carried out at the University of Amsterdam under the Tropenbos Ghana programme.