Enhancing food security and poverty reduction in Ghana through non-timber forest products farming: Case study of Sefwi Wiawso District

Project Report from the year 2008 in the subject Forestry / Forestry Economics, , course: Human Ecology, language: English, abstract: Food insecurity and poverty are the greatest global challenges facing the world today. Their redress is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development in developing countries, particularly in Africa. Poverty continues to be pervasive, intractable and inexcusable in the developing world particularly Sub-Saharan Africa. Extreme poverty ravages the lives of one in every four in the developing world (i.e. 1.2 billion people). The farming of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) is being promoted as a potential solution to the current high rates of malnutrition and poor health of the rural population, the degradation of tropical forests and the spread and intensification of poverty. However, the role of NTFPs in rural development in Ghana remains largely undervalued and understudied. This paper examines the contribution of NTFPs farming in enhancing poverty reduction, food security, sustainable forest management, and livelihoods improvement in the Sefwi Wiawso District (SWD) of the Western Region of Ghana. An exhaustive literature review and analysis of field data collected through administration of questionnaires, interviews and stakeholder consultations indicate that NTFPs are an important tool for addressing poverty amongst marginalised, forest-dependant communities in Ghana. 86% of farmers in SWD depend on NTFPs for income, food and medicine. The results of the study support the call on decision makers and development actors to put NTFPs management on national, regional and district development agendas.