CRIS trains 120 rural farmers in sustainable land use and livelihood empowerment

CRIS trains 120 rural farmers in sustainable land use and livelihood empowerment

As a part of effort to empower rural farmers, especially women, in sustainable land management practices and livelihood empowerment, the Centre for Rural Improvement Services (CRIS) has provided empowerment training for 120 farmers in agroforestry.

The farmers, consisting largely of 80% women, were drawn from Dakompilayiri and Kunkuya in the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District of the Savannah Region and taken through series of sustainable land use and livelihood interventions.

With full funding from UNDP GEF SGP, the project, launched on 4th August, 2023, has an overall goal of providing sustainable livelihood empowerment opportunities to the rural farmers, whilst making effort to conserve the fast fragile environment within the Savannah ecological zone.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Rural Improvement Services (CRIS), Amos Mahama Seidu, emphasized the importance of sustainable land management towards the future prospects of rural farmers, especially women, since a depletion of the land means these groups of vulnerable people will be totally cut off from possible sources of livelihood - farming, hunting and gathering.

He stressed on the need to sustain the project beyond the implementation window.

The farmers were registered into groups of 20 members during the inception training of the project, comprising six women VSLAs, two Widow's VSLAs,two men groups and six existing VSLAs cooperatives.

Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to this reporter on the sidelines of the training program expressed profound gratitude to the donors UNDP GEF SGP)for the intervention.

They believe it will go a long way to empower them to be self relient whilst adopting measures to conserve the common environment for future farming and other purposes.

Source: Ananpansah Bartholomew Abraham