A Climate Social Benefit: Schooling The Next Generation

A community in Ghana has supported a school with savings from an agroforestry initiative to educate their children.The things that we depend on and value, including forests, water, energy, wildlife, and agriculture are experiencing the effects of a changing climate.

There is therefore the need to engage communities as key agents in addressing climate change to leverage indigenous knowledge for climate solutions.

This is because implementing climate actions with equity does not only increase community resilience but also enables communities to derive extra social benefits.“We didn’t have a Junior High School (JHS).

We also received other community donations and the government will be adopting the school soon”, stated Osei Poku, Chairman of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at Akwaduro in the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly of the Ahafo Region of Ghana.The Akwaduro community is one of the communities involved in a local climate initiative being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Ghana Cocoa Board and Mondelez International.

I am happy to say that my firstborn has completed a Technical University and now working in Canada”, Naomi Nkansah, a project beneficiary in Akwaduro stated.The Headmaster of the Akwaduro M/A School, Mr Kwesi Bio confirmed the community’s support of the school and eulogized their contribution.“The members of the community have really done well with the JHS.

We wrote a letter to the Ghana Education Service (GES), and they are very happy with the community action as this demonstrates partnership to complement government’s efforts.

It is good to see how this community is maximizing the full social benefits of our forest restoration project to impact the next generation”, noted Stephen Kansuk, Head of Environment and Climate at UNDP Ghana.It is important to engage all actors to take action for nature to build community resilience to climate change impacts.