Oda-Kotoamso Community Agroforestry
Project (OCAP)
Introduction
Samartex Timber & Plywood Co. Ltd.
is one of the first Ghanaian timber companies that implemented a
collaborative strategy for Off-Reserve management by the
establishment of the Oda-Kotoamso Community Agroforestry Project –
OCAP. The Project is a partnership between the Company and the
Oda-Kotoamso community. The German Development Service (DED) has
provided technical support since 1999 through the attachment of an
agroforestry advisor.
The Project operates on the basis that
the farmer is in need of daily income for himself and his family.
Pure timber plantations on their own cannot provide this income as
the farmer would have to wait until the trees can be sold, a minimum
of 15 years wait.
The OCAP intervention is in setting up
an agroforestry system that allows the farmers to invest in highly
profitable trees as a long term investment whilst intercropping these
trees with short and medium term food and cash crops.
PROJECT RATIONAL
Samartex as a responsible wood
processing company recognizes the need to have a long-term plan for
continuous supply of timber in order to maintain its business. The
off-reserve provides half the nation’s timber products but they are
heavily degraded and ultimately designated for agricultural purposes.
Unfortunately, there is no management plan for forests in the
off-reserve areas. This makes the area more susceptible to
degradation as farmers have the right to cut and burn the trees when
establishing their farms.
The agricultural productivity in the
area is widely based on traditional farming practices, which imply
slash and burn (shifting cultivation). Low productivity of the soil
combined with a steady population increase leads to shorter fallow
periods, as a result of which soil fertility is no longer able to
regenerate naturally. The peasant farmers in the rural areas of Ghana
are poor and fertilizer inputs are expensive therefore appropriate
Agroforestry practices, which require less fertilizer inputs but
ensure sustainable production of food and animal products provide a
relief for them.
The improvement in living standards of
the farmer within the operational areas of Samartex is of paramount
importance in order to provide sustainable development for both the
communities and Samartex. It is out of this concern that OCAP was
born.
THE SAMARTEX ODA-KOTOAMSO COMMUNITY
AGROFORESTRY PROJECT (OCAP)
Against the background of the alarming
rate of deforestation taking place in Ghana, SAMARTEX TIMBER &
PLYWOOD CO. LTD, based in the Western Region of Ghana, initiated an
Agroforestry Project - The Oda-Kotoamso Community Agroforestry
Project (OCAP) in collaboration with the people of Oda-Kotoamso. The
Project is being implemented within the vicinity of Samartex
concessions, in the Wasa-Amenfi District of the Western Region, 10 km
north of the district capital Asankrangwa.
The objectives of the Project are to:
Develop, through Agroforestry,
alternatives to shifting cultivation, in order to reduce the
pressure on the remaining forest resource.
Promote sustainable natural
resource management within a forest environment.
Facilitate forest and biodiversity
conservation.
Facilitate the development of
alternative sources of income for the rural population.
Diversification of farm output and
development of new products.
Agro processing and creation of
market access for farmers from district to international level.
OCAP works in collaboration with
various stakeholders: Chiefs (traditional land owners), individual
farmers, German Development Service (DED) and Samartex Timber and
Plywood Co. Ltd. The District Assembly, Forest Services Division
(FSD) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) have
representatives on the steering committee of OCAP. The committee
meets on quarterly basis to discuss project developments.
The Agroforestry concept as promoted by
OCAP involves capacity building of the rural community with regard to
ecologically sound and economically viable farming practices.
Emphasis is also placed on Non-Timber
Forest Products (NTFPs), as an important commodity to alleviate rural
poverty.
PROJECT COMPONENTS
At OCAP farmers are encouraged to
select from a wide range of activities:
AGROFORESTRY
The Agroforestry component is
considered the most important in the project; this is so because of
the multidisciplinary nature, which encompasses most of the above
listed components. It supplies the farmer with food crops, cash crops
as well as timber in the long run from the same piece of land. Over
350 households are involved in plantation development through
Agroforestry and planting both exotic and indigenous species.
Agroforestry, as implemented by OCAP, places emphasis on the
cultivation of annual food crops, cash crops and timber trees on the
same piece of land.
Demonstration farms form an important
aspect of the project as they have been a clear indication to the
farmers that although trees are planted more densely on some plots,
decent food crop yields are obtained whilst degraded lands can be
planted with economically important species.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
OCAP’s approach to achieving the
stated objectives comprises:
Close collaboration with
traditional landowners in order to produce agreements stating in
detail the individual ownership rights of farmers, thus fostering
their interest in planting and tending timber trees.
Organization of community meetings
in which participants are educated about their rights with regard to
planted and standing trees.
Promotion, in a participatory way,
of ecologically viable farming systems that can act as alternatives
to shifting cultivation and increase production per unit area.
Building capacity of farmers and
opinion leaders through training in e.g. Participatory Rural
Approach and Participatory Learning Approach (PRA / PLA), improved
farm management and communication strategies.
Introduction of income generating
activities through the creation of markets for NTFPs and the
development of food processing facilities. Here, gari-processing,
bee keeping, fish farming, passion fruit and black pepper currently
generate income.
Strengthening the linkage to other
institutions such as Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Forest
Services Division (FSD), FORIG, Universities and other NGO’s.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The community has reached an
understanding about the environmental impacts of unplanned farming
practices.
The project has provided cheaper
means of accessing land by facilitation of agreements between the
chiefs and farmers.
The project has created employment
for about 150 youth including women working on NTFPs.
Shifting cultivation has reduced
in and around the project communities. This is evidenced by the fact
that 95% of our farmers neither practice slash and burn nor shifting
cultivation.
Farmers in and around the project
area have benefited from our weekly extension services provided by
project staff.
The income levels of the
communities have increased following the introduction of beekeeping,
snail farming and fish farming.
The gari-processing units, set up
in June 1999, have provided employment for 30 women and 10 men. This
activity generates an income of ˘18 million a month at the peak
of the season.
Four Msc. and one Ph.D. student
have researched into various problems at the project site thereby
imparting useful suggestions to solving problems. The project has
also investigated the abundance of Thaumatococcus daniellii in
selected forest reserves. A number of students from other training
institutions have also visited the project on learning attachments.
Four hundred hectares of
plantations have been developed.
Farmers are currently operating
forty beehives, with an annual production of approximately 240 kg of
honey.
PROJECT OUTLOOK
The Project has made great strides
considering that it has only been in existence for a relatively short
period. A lot of work has been done and it is envisaged that given
the necessary inputs projects such as OCAP have the ability to
rehabilitate all degraded lands in the Wasa-Amenfi and Aowin Suaman
districts. A further boost is in the number of communities that have
shown interest and want similar projects to be developed in their
areas.
The OCAP success story has convinced
Samartex that the protection of the remaining forest resources in the
Western Region cannot be done without the active participation of the
farming communities.
New ideas for the project are in the
development of NTFPs e.g. Thaumatoccocus daniellii, essential oils
and citrus.
COOPERATION PARTNERS
It is encouraging that other
communities and institutions have shown interest in our project and
the process of implementation. It is obvious that Samartex alone
cannot meet the demand for expansion of the project to other
communities; this is one reason why Samartex is keen to find partners
to help promote this laudable project. So far AMSCO (African
Management Services Company - a branch of the UNDP), German
Development Services (DED) and the UNDP (United Nations Development
Programme) are engaged in various levels of cooperation with OCAP.
CONCLUSION
Plantation development is seen as the
key to guaranteeing timber resources outside forest reserves in
Ghana. We believe that through Agroforestry, large hectares of land
could be rehabilitated with economically viable species.
We are encouraged by the support we
have enjoyed and the interest shown by communities in having similar
projects implemented in their areas. Samartex sees itself as a
facilitator between support agencies and interested communities.
