Officials of Eco Restore, in collaboration with 40 women engaged in seed nurseries, recently completed a week-long training program on the grafting of shea seedlings. The training, held in Walewale, aimed to equip participants with the necessary skills to shorten the gestation period of planted shea trees.
Organized by Eco Restore, an organization dedicated to landscape restoration, in partnership with Bunge Loders Croklaan and a women's cooperative, the training was part of activities under the Green Climate Fund (GCF) funded by the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP). GSLERP, implemented by the Forestry Commission of Ghana (FC), the Global Shea Alliance (GSA), and USAID with funding from the Shea Sustainability Initiative (SSI), seeks to enhance forest carbon stocks and address deforestation and forest degradation challenges in Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone.
The training covered modules on grafting processes, rootstock selection, identification, and harvesting of good scions, as well as transportation and care of scions, grafting seedlings, and post-grafting care. Mr. Adam Osman Wumbei, Operations Manager at Eco Restore, emphasized the importance of the training in raising awareness about reducing the gestation period of shea trees planted on farms. He pledged to replicate the initiative in other communities where Eco Restore operates and explore additional methods of shea propagation in future training sessions.
Mr. Salifu Aminatu, Lead of the Tibora Cooperative and a nursery worker, praised the training for enhancing farmers' knowledge on accelerating shea plant fruiting. He highlighted the growing demand for shea products and stressed the importance of increasing shea fruit production to meet market needs.
The initiative aims to empower women in shea seedling grafting and promote sustainable shea value chains, contributing to both environmental conservation and economic empowerment in Ghana's Northern Savannah Zone.
