Consider cultivation of boabab trees in response to climate crisis – HTU

The Department of Agro Enterprise Development of the Ho Technical University has urged state and nonstate actors to consider the cultivation of boabab trees in response.

The Department said it had developed a domesticsted species, which could serve as a food security crop and absorb unwanted air that warmed and caused changes in the atmosphere, and asked stakeholders to go into its plantation.

It said its fruits are a rich source of food for different species of birds and animals, and could help restore lost biodiversity.

Dr Keneth Fafa Egbadzor, Senior Lecturer at Ho Technical University, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency at the opening of the National Climate Change and Green Economy Week in Accra.

It is under the theme: “Climate Change: A threat to our livelihood”.

Dr Egbadzor said boabab had similar importance in tropical agriculture as the exotic commodity crop cocoa, whose beans were exported and earned the country foreign exchange.

The tree, he said, had many uses, cutting across industries, such as medicine, food and beverage, cosmetics and arts.

Okatakie Nana Anim I, the President of the Royal Chiefs Association of Ghana (RCAG), said nature was adequately protected in the days when culture was at its best and effective.

“It was a taboo for the public to go into some selected forest resources due to some unique species of trees and animals. That was a mechanism to protect nature. Now people flout these rules due to modernization. “

Dr Kwaku Afriyie, the Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, said studies had shown that one’s ability to engage in environmental degradation was reduced by one-third through the enforcement of communal taboos.

He explained that the laws were rooted in deep thinking and prevented people from attempting to even get close to the facilities and the temptation to cut a tree or hunt for an animal.

“As our elders left nature for us, we need to bequeath to the young generation and promising world with nature intact but not a world in a distress state,” he said.

Dr Afriyie reiterated the call for increased funding and technology from developed countries for frontline countries like Ghana to implement actions to live with climate crisis impacts.

“We must protect our environment, physically, mentally and emotionally if we only want to continue to live or be alive. ”

Currently, developing countries need an estimated annual adaptation amount between $160 billion to $340 billion by the end of the decade, and up to $565 billion by 2050.

The World Bank Group’s new Country Climate and Development Report for Ghana says the country’s economic and human development is vulnerable to climate change.

On average, flooding affects around 45,000 Ghanaians every year, and half of Ghana’s coastline is vulnerable to erosion and flooding as a result of sea-level rise.

Without prompt actions, higher temperatures and heat stress will affect crop and labor productivity, and more erratic rainfall patterns will damage buildings and infrastructure.

Land degradation, water insecurity and local air pollution will also hamper human capital and productivity.

The West African country has achieved major development gains over the past three decades, but progress has slowed down.

The World Bank Report highlights that the country has not fully managed to convert its natural wealth into sufficient infrastructure, human, and institutional capital for sustained growth.