New Rural Service Centre to advance climate-resilient cocoa farming in Ahafo Region

Proforest facility in Asumura will extend practical services for farmers and strengthen sustainable land-use governance

Proforest has commissioned a new Rural Service Centre in Asumura, Asunafo North Municipality in the Ahafo Region, to expand support for cocoa farmers seeking to improve productivity, strengthen climate resilience and protect forests.

Established under the Building Deforestation-free Climate Resilient Cocoa Landscape programme with funding support from the Walmart Foundation, the Centre will provide technical training, farm-management services and a local platform for community leadership and social and environmental governance.

The Asumura facility builds on Proforest’s first Rural Service Centre, commissioned at Dadiesoaba in the Asutifi South District in 2024. That Centre now provides technical training and farm-management services for farmers and surrounding communities.

Hon. Joseph Akparibo, Municipal Chief Executive of Asunafo North, said: “This project being carried out within the framework of the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme (GCFRP), is closely aligned with the Government’s Agriculture for Economic Transformation Agenda and its flagship Feed Ghana Programme. Feed Ghana seeks to raise productivity, strengthen food security, create jobs, supply raw materials to industry and connect farmers to markets.”

Abraham Baffoe, Executive Director, Global and Africa, Proforest, said: “Through our collective efforts, we are demonstrating that sustainable production, environmental stewardship, and community development can go hand in hand. Let us continue to demonstrate that together, we can build a prosperous, climate-resilient, and deforestation-free landscape for current and future generations.”

Walmart Foundation, the funder of this project emphasised the importance of collaboration. “We are very proud to support this work and look forward to seeing how farmers use it to help grow more sustainable cocoa and how the community uses it to help advance local governance of the landscape initiative”, said Simon Hall, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Walmart Foundation.

The Asumura Rural Service Centre marks an important step in strengthening climate-resilient and deforestation-free cocoa production in the Ahafo Region. By bringing technical training, farm-management support and community-led governance closer to farmers, the facility will help improve livelihoods and productivity while promoting responsible land use and forest protection. It also demonstrates the value of collaboration among communities, government, development partners and the private sector in building a more sustainable and resilient cocoa landscape for present and future generations.

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