Ghana Fights Deforestation by Planting 5 Million Trees in 1 Day

By Catherine Garcia

STUDENTS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, celebrities, and politicians in Ghana all came together to revitalize the country's forests.

As part of the Green Ghana program, 5 million trees were planted on Friday (June 11th), with the government giving free seedlings to individuals, schools, and organizations. Government statistics show that in 1900, Ghana had 20 million acres of forest cover, and today, that has dropped to about 4 million acres.

The forests are being ravaged due to smallscale mining and rampant illegal logging, and now is the "time for action," Ghana's Minister for Lands and Natural Resources Samuel Abu Jinapor told Agence France-Presse. "The aim of Green Ghana is to save us now and our future generations. We can't fail our future leaders."

The government, which will sustain this program for the next fi ve years, gave extra seedlings out to students like Rosemond Asante, 12, so they could also plant with their parents at home. Asante told Al Jazeera they were "happy to be part of this beautiful event," adding, "I love trees." www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ghana-fi ghtsdeforestation-by-planting-5-million-trees-in-1-day/ ar-AAL3mXJ?ocid=msedgntp Image credit: UCLA, legonconnect.com, issuu, ghanayello.com

Irrigation from page 39I i ti

production. This is more so as water availability becomes increasingly erratic in many regions due to climate change and pressures from population growth.

This calls for investments in storage infrastructure – both built and natural – to ensure reliable access to water. This in turn provides a basis for encouraging farmers to invest in irrigated agriculture, thus reducing risks associated with adoption of new technologies or practices.

This also calls for new approaches to how irrigation Thisalsocallsfornewapproachestohowirrigation development is financed and implemented in Africa. There’s a need to combine both large and small scale approaches to irrigation development to meet the twin goals of improving food and water security. https://theconversation.com/big-irrigation-projectsin-africa-have-failed-to-deliver-whats-needednext-160360

Image credit: Flinders University, blogs.ei.columbia. edu, ces.de, upworthy