Sustaining the gains of the EU LEAN Project in Kassena-Nankana West

 Over the past four years, the Kasse­na-Nankana West District (KNWD) in Ghana’s Upper East Region has been a major beneficiary of the Euro­pean Union-funded Landscapes and Environmental Agility Across the Nation (LEAN) project.

It is a project being imple­mented by World Vision Ghana, in collaboration with Rainforest Alliance, Tropenbos Ghana, and EcoCare Ghana. It is an initiative which has proven to be a game changer as it contin­ues to make tangible impacts on both the environment and the livelihoods of the people.

The KNWD is one of the districts in the country which visibly shows signs of the nega­tive impacts of climate change, manifested by degraded land, and severe poverty, especially in areas such as sanitation and housing. However, since the rollout of the LEAN project across 25 communities—in­cluding Navio, Nania, Babile, Samwo, Kanania, and Gbe­wni—residents have witnessed significant improvements.

The project’s community-led approach has proven to be a game changer with over 425 hectares of depleted land hav­ing been restored through the training of 500 Community Fire Volunteers and 500 lead farmers under the Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) initiative.

These efforts have led to improved forest and land management, with early rainfall recorded this year—a welcome change from previous years of dry spells.

The benefits extend beyond the environment as more than 6,000 smallholder farmers have been supported through diver­sified livelihood programmes such as the Savings for Trans­formation (S4T) model. One memorable story published in The Ghanaian Times highlight­ed a mother from Kadognia who revealed that, but for the project, her child would have dropped out of school. Her testimony speaks volumes about the life-changing impact of the initiative.

As the LEAN project offi­cially closes this year, its legacy must not be allowed to fade. We on The Ghanaian Times more than side with Joseph Edwin Yelkabong, World Vision Gha­na’s LEAN Project Manager’s call on communities to take ownership of the progress and ensure sustainability. This call must be heeded.

We strongly echo this mes­sage and urge the Kassena-Nan­kana West District Assembly to incorporate the LEAN project’s successes into its medium-term development plan. Institutional support at the local level is cru­cial to maintaining the momen­tum created by World Vision Ghana and its partners.

Environmental sustainability and improved livelihoods are not mutually exclusive, indeed, they go hand-in-hand. The LEAN project has demon­strated that with commitment, collaboration, and community involvement, even the most vul­nerable areas can rise above the challenges of climate change and poverty.

As a nation striving for inclu­sive development, we must pri­oritise initiatives that empower communities to live with dignity and resilience. The seeds of sustainability have been planted in KNWD. Let us water them— collectively.