Mr Jean-Claude Mukadi, the Acting Country Director of World Vision Ghana, a child-focused organisation, has paid a working visit to the organisation's project communities in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region. World Vision Ghana and its partners have empowered rural communities in the district through the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) approaches and other alternative livelihood interventions to restore degraded landscapes and forest reserves, to mitigate climate change, desertification, and drought as well as reduce hunger and poverty. The visit was, among other things, to get first-hand information about the implementation of these projects, their impacts on the beneficiaries and their communities, sustainability strategies and challenges to inform future project designs. Additionally, the visit was also to monitor and interact with the asylum seekers currently hosted at Tarikom as a result of the disturbances in Burkina Faso and assess the interventions provided by World Visio n Ghana as part of response strategies to support the asylum seekers. Speaking to the media, the Acting Country Director, expressed satisfaction that the FMNR and alternative livelihoods projects were impacting positively on rural communities and contributing to improving lives of women and children. 'We are satisfied with results of the project by listening to what the community members were sharing in terms of achievements in their lives through the projects,' he said. 'For instance, the FMNR has provided the farmers with medicinal plants that they are harvesting to treat diseases and this is something we were not aware but the needs are still great and if we can do more, the better it will be for the communities.' Mr Mukadi urged the beneficiary communities to own the projects and work with the major stakeholders for sustained benefits. At the Resettlement Centre, where World Vision Ghana, had renovated a basic school and had also provided Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities for the asylum seekers, the Acting Country Director called for more support to help the asylum seekers, particularly women and children, live dignified lives. Through the interventions, about 30 hectares of degraded forest reserve and landscape at Adonsi community, have been restored while lead farmers have been trained on best farming practices and supported with ruminants such as goats and rabbits to rear. Apart from that, World Vision Ghana has also supported the Kamega smallholder farmers (Kamega Water Users Association) to fence their 10 hectare garden which was supporting about 176 farmers to produce vegetables and food crops such as onion, tomatoes, okro, kenaf, cabbage, lettuce, cassava and rice, among others. Mr Joshua Baidoo, the Strategy and Integrated Programme Director, World Vision Ghana, said apart from working to ensure the wellbeing of children in their operational communities through various strategic interventions, his outfit had worked to integrate children of the asylum seekers into the Ghana's educa tional system. He said the project also provided school infrastructure, furniture and WASH facilities as well as school uniforms and recreation facilities to support the education of the children and worked with the World Food Programme to support the upkeep of the asylum seekers and families to help them venture into income generating activities. The lead farmers commended World Vision Ghana and its partners for the interventions and added that apart from the training on environmental protection, the projects were impacting positively their livelihoods, contributing to restoring degraded landscapes and forest reserves and protecting economic trees such as dawadawa, mangoes and shea. Source: Ghana News Agency