The campaign, which is an initiative of the Environment and Resource Studies Department of the University, is to among other things, sensitize farmers and the entire residents of the Upper West Region, on the ravaging impact of bush burning on the environment.

Available records at the Upper West regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO), indicates that over 200 hectares of maize farms have already been ravaged by bush burning, while about 90% of the region’s forest cover is affected annually by the menace.

Addressing students and various stakeholders at the launch in Wa,the Principal of the Wa Campus of University for Development Studies, Prof Sylvester Galaa, challenged institutions mandated to combat the incidence of bush-fires in the country to review their strategies and come out with more innovative ways of curbing the situation.

He regretted that attempts by state institutions to rid the country of the devastating impact of bush-fires, have over the years not yielded the desired results, as many farmers especially in the northern part of the country, continue to count their losses to bush-fires.

“There is high incidence of bush-fires, and it seems to suggest that the strategies to combat it are not working as expected. Just some few days ago some farmers had to lose their crops and other incidences that were reported, indicating that there is a high increase”.

“This means that, agencies mandated to ensure that the menace is reduced, should review their strategies on how they are tackling the issue. You must begin to look for innovative ways to curb the menace”.

The Professor said the ERSD is changing its teaching and learning strategies by adding community awareness to that of the the classroom in a bid to change attitudes towards issues of climate change.

“It appears to me that the department of environment and resource studies is changing its teaching and leaning strategies about environment awareness creation by adding community awareness strategies to that of the classroom”.

A Marathon event was organized to climax the launch, and prices were given to the best 10 students who ended the race.

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By: Mahama Latif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post UDS Wa campus launches anti-bush-fire campaign appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The event was to draw the public’s attention to the devastating effects of bushfires and it effects on food production.

Chiefs, opinion leaders, officials from the District Assembly, MoFA, Ghana National Fire Service, farmers, community members and the media renewed their commitment to stop bushfires in the area.

The ADVANCE Regional Coordinator for Tamale, Francis Essuman, indicated that the project, which has already been rolled out is to help conserve the fertility of soils for increased food production.

“Through Feed the Future, the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, the ADVANCE project works to boost agricultural productivity and increase the competitiveness of maize, rice, and soybean value chains in Ghana.”

“ADVANCE promotes climate-smart agriculture to help farmers withstand climate change and increase their yields. One strategy is preventing bushfires by training smallholder farmers in effective agronomic practices. In the coming months, prior to the onset of Ghana’s dry season, ADVANCE will engage the media and appropriate and many other actors in the agricultural value chain to lead the campaign against bushfires,’ he said.

 Feed the Future is the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative. It focuses on smallholder farmers, particularly women and supports partner countries in developing their agriculture sectors to spur economic growth and trade that increase incomes and reduce hunger, poverty, and under-nutrition.

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Source: Mohammed Aminu Alabira/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post NGOs lead fight against rampant bushfires appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.