Day: April 22, 2024

Tunis: "It is a privilege for us to welcome Tunisia in the 15th edition of the Taobuk-Taormina Book Festival, due in 2025," Festival President and Artistic Director Antonella Ferrara told TAP at the end of a meeting held on Monday in Tunis to present the 14th edition of this festival. Renowned for being a crossroads of encounters, exchanges and cultural connections, and for having welcomed great masters of thought, art and culture such as Frensh-Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jalloun and German-US pianist and composer David Garrett, Taormina, she pointed out, will be in the spotlight during this four-day festival whose theme is "Identity." This festival will see the participation of over 200 artists, writers, scientists, actors, painters, musicians, philosophers and economists, including Norwegian writer Jon Fosse, winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize for Literature French author Yasmina Reza, American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, Serbian contemporary visual artist Marina Abramovic and Italian dancer Nicoletta Manni. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse

The Tropical Biology Association (TBA), together with the Institute of Nature and Environmental Conservation (INEC) Ghana, is running a practical restoration training programme on Ghana's threatened tree species, for conservation practitioners and managers. The 10-day training programme, funded by the Fondation Franklinia, aims to build the capacity of the participants to commit to conserve threatened tree species and restore their habitats. About 20 participants who are undertaking mangrove restoration, natural regeneration, and other forms of forest reestablishments in the country, are taking part in the training programme. It would cover topics such as Planning Impacts of Restoration Projects, Understanding the Links between Restoration and Ecology of Forests to achieve Long-term Conservation Outcomes, Different Restoration Approaches, and When to Apply them. Again, participants would be exposed to Monitoring Impacts, as well as Communicating the Importance of Conserving Ghana's threatened tree species . Dr. Rosie Trevelyan, Director, TBA, at the opening of the training programme in Kumasi, emphasized the need to take forest life seriously. She said forests contributed to providing stable climate, clean water, protecting plants living in them, and fighting atmospheric greenhouse effect among others, adding that the TBA believed that education was an important tool for conservation. 'We rely on and benefit from forests and if they are gone, we will suffer. We really have to conserve the forests that are left for the benefit of the people as well as our life, but because we have lost so many forests, we can do some action to restore them,' she observed. Dr. Trevelyan was optimistic that as the conservationists received knowledge on restoration, they could help in Ghana's quest in addressing challenges of conserving threatened tree species. Mr. David Kwarteng, Director, INEC-Ghana, said over 10 percent of Ghana's native tree species were threatened and that formulating effective strategies to conserve, an d restore these species in their natural environments were both critical and urgent. Explaining the genesis of the training, he said Fondation Franklinia funded a workshop that gave birth to the threatened tree conservation action plan. One of the key gaps that was identified by the action plan was the lack of capacity to undertake restoration using threatened trees (trees that need urgent conservation attention and are at the verge of extinction). He said in response to that, the training workshop was put together to train Ghanaian conservation practitioners and managers who were directly undertaking restoration on the field. Mr. Kwarteng mentioned that participants as part of the programme would visit the Bobiri Forest, INEC's restoration sites, and KNUST Botanical Gardens to learn the different restoration approaches and silvicultural practices being used. Source: Ghana News Agency

Mr Gorgisberg Fiagbenu, the Assembly member of Adidome Central electoral area has advanced moves to fight against drug abuse among the youth in the enclave.  Mr Fiagbenu raised the concerns about the alarming trend of young individuals, aged 14 to 25, dropping out of school and succumbing to the lure of substance abuse, particularly marijuana and other hard drugs in Adidome. Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Assembly Member noted the Adidome market as a hotspot for such activities and pledged to collaborate with local security agencies to crack down on the menace. Recognising the crucial role of parental guidance in shaping the trajectory of young lives, he emphasised the urgent need for enhanced parental control, and involvement in their children's lives. Mr Fiagbenu disclosed to the GNA that plans were underway to launch comprehensive sensitisation programs targeting both youth and parents. 'These initiatives aim to raise awareness about the detrimental effects of drug abuse, while also high lighting the proactive measures being implemented by security agencies to address the issue,' he explained. Mr Fiagbenu urged parents to support and guard their wards away from destructive behaviours and foster a culture of responsibility and accountability within the Adidome community. Source: Ghana News Agency

An Accra High Court has struck out the case involving Mr Adjenim Boateng Adjei, a former Public Procurement Authority Chief Executive Officer, and his brother-in-law, Mr Francis Kwaku Arhin. This is after the State withdrew the 17 counts of corruption related charges against them. There were eight counts of using public office for profit and nine counts of directly and indirectly influencing the procurement process to obtain an unfair advantage in the award of a procurement contract. Mr Arhin was charged with one count of using public office for profit. They pleaded not guilty to all the charges and were granted a GH?5million bail each with two sureties each. Madam Adelaide Obiri Wood, Principal Prosecutor, told the court that after 'further investigation the Prosecution does not intend to proceed with the case against Mr Arhin'. She said the Prosecution had since filed a fresh charge sheet with only Mr Adjei as the accused, a copy of which was brought to the attention of the Court at the last sitting. T he Prosecutor said administratively, it had come to their attention that the new case had been assigned to a different Court -Criminal Court Two. 'We have since taken steps to serve Mr Adjei with the new charge sheet. We have also duly informed his lawyers of the new Court and the time fixed,' she added. Madam Wood said under the circumstances and the reasons given, they prayed to withdraw the present case before the Court to commence with the new case. Mr Kwame Acheampong Boateng, counsel for Mr Adjei, said they were disappointed for the delay in the trial. 'We are still in the soup, so we will not talk much,' he added. Source: Ghana News Agency

Some beneficiaries of the Land of Opportunity Global Mechanism (LOGMe) project in the Upper West Region have indicated that the project interventions have had a tremendous impact on their economic and social lives. They said aside improving the vegetation, environment and protecting their water bodies, the project had also provided them with secured sources of income and food for improved family nutrition. Madam Sahada Chanbua, a beneficiary from the Nanchalla community in the Sissala East Municipality, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) at the community during a field visit to the project sites that through the project they were able to meet the education and health needs of their children. The project is being implemented in eight communities, six in the Upper East Region and two in Sakalu, and Nanchalla communities, in the Sissala East Municipality. The beneficiary communities received diverse landscape restoration and economic interventions including tree planting, solar-powered mechanised boreholes, an d fenced areas for dry-season vegetable production. Others were beekeeping, shea processing machines, energy-efficient cooking stoves, skill empowerment in briquette production and education on Good Agronomic Practices (GAPs) among others. Madam Chanbua said through the beekeeping intervention, which was for only the women beneficiaries in the community, they made GH?5,200.00 in two years with which they supported their families, saved in their Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) and reinvested part of it into the beekeeping business. She added that the community also received a shea processing machine, which had helped enhance their shea business and they planned to process the shea into butter, pomade, and soap to sell. Madam Chanbua said they also received a roller planter, energy-efficient cooking stoves and training on briquette production among others, which had helped improve their livelihood. At the Sakalu community, Madam Saadia Tahiru, a beneficiary, indicated that through the project t hey were trained to produce grass briquettes and use energy-efficient cooking stoves, which reduced their cost of buying charcoal to cook. She explained that the project also cultivated plots for each beneficiary and provided them with improved seeds and inputs coupled with the knowledge of GAPs, so they could sustain their agricultural production beyond the support. She said the garden they received from the project would serve as a source of economic activity for them during the off-season. The beneficiaries could not hide their joy in commending the IUCN and its partners and funders for the intervention as it helped enhance their socio-economic livelihoods. Madam Félicité Chabi-Gonni, the Regional Coordinator of the LOGMe project, expressed satisfaction with the project implementation in the communities visited and its impact on the beneficiaries' lives. She said it was achieving the expected results considering the project plan and the work done so far after three years of its implementation. She ex plained that the field visit had enabled them to see what had been done and to hear from the beneficiaries how it was transforming their lives, which corroborated with what was planned and the data they received in the report. Madam Chabi-Gonni appreciated the Italian government for showing interest in improving the livelihood of people in the three countries through the LOGMe project. Mr Godwin Evenyo Dzekoto, the Northern Sector Manager of A Rocha Ghana, stated that producing the grass briquette for family consumption and sometimes for sale would prevent the women from felling trees to produce charcoal. He explained that with the abundance of grasses in the area, which would have otherwise been burnt, the women could maximise them to produce the briquette through which they could earn a decent livelihood. Mr Isaac Kofi Razak, the Extension Officer at the Sissala East Municipal Agricultural Directorate, expressed hope that the livelihood interventions the project had provided would prevent the women from felling trees to produce charcoal as a source of livelihood. The project was dubbed: 'Creating Lands of Opportunity: Transforming Livelihoods through Landscape Restoration in the Sahel' and is known as: 'Land of Opportunity Global Mechanism' (LOGMe). The Italian Ministry for Ecological Transitions provided funding for the project through the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It was implemented in Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Niger to contribute towards meeting the land degradation neutrality targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The IUCN led its implementation in Ghana in partnership with A Rocha Ghana, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (CSIR-SARI), and in collaboration with the Water Resources Commission and the Ministry of Agriculture. Source: Ghana News Agency