FAWAG backs Mahama’s ban on wooden school furniture

The Furniture and Wood Products Association of Ghana (FAWAG) has backed President John Dramani Mahama’s proposed ban on wooden school furniture, calling it a timely and eco-friendly policy.

Speaking in an interview on Channel One, the Administrative Assistant of FAWAG,  Christopher Dadzawa described the decision as “wonderful and welcome news,” citing the heavy toll school furniture production takes on Ghana’s forests.

“We received this announcement by the president to reduce the use of wood products for furniture in our schools. We are all aware that school furniture made of wood takes a very huge volume of wood from our forests,” Dadzawa said.

President Mahama announced the initiative on June 5 during World Environment Day celebrations, pledging to replace wooden furniture with environmentally friendly materials such as recycled plastic and metal.

He highlighted the contradiction of promoting reforestation while simultaneously depleting forests for wood products in schools, promising a directive to phase out such practices.

“To reduce deforestation, I will issue a directive to stop the use of wood for producing school furniture. Going forward, we will adopt environmentally friendly alternatives such as recycled plastic or metal,” Mahama stated.

Mr. Dadzawa applauded the president’s environmental motivation, noting it aligns with national efforts to preserve forest cover and promote sustainability.

“The president was quick to give the reasons for that decision… to promote our forest cover and contribute to sustaining the environment,” Dadzawa noted.

However, he clarified that while FAWAG supports the shift, it may be impractical to eliminate wood entirely from school furniture, explaining that some components would still require wood even in metal-based designs.

“When we are working with metal for school furniture, it is not the whole 100 per cent that is metal. Some components of the furniture would be in wood,” he added.