from Radio Netherlands Worlwide RNW – Africa desk / 12 April 2011 – 3:16pm
By Kent Mensah, Accra, Ghana
Over three million rural Ghanaians depend on the forest to survive. Forestry plays a significant role in the provision of food, fuel, clothing, shelter, furniture, natural medicine, potable water supply sources and bushmeat for the rural dwellers. But Ghana’s forests are being depleted at a fast rate, and this despite several millions in foreign currencies being spent to save them. This leaves many worried.
Indiscriminate felling of trees for firewood and charcoal to either sell or for domestic use is a routine for most locals in Ghana. At the same time it’s a major contributing factor eating up the forests. About 69 percent of all urban households use charcoal for cooking and heating and the annual per capita consumption is around 180 kg. The total annual consumption is about 700,000 tons, 30 percent of which is consumed in the capital Accra, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
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