Destruction of NTFPs threatens livelihoods - Manager

Tamale, April 29, GNA - Mrs Janet Sinayo, Project Manager of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP), has described the wanton destruction of those products as a major threat to the livelihoods of people in the three northern regions.

Speaking to the GNA in Tamale on Tuesday, she said the absence of laws to protect NTFP, which included all biological materials such as shea, honey, baobab, tamarind, dawadawa, moringa, black berry and ebony, had aggravated the problem.

Mrs Sinayo said when given the necessary attention these products could support the nation's economic growth.

'The potential role of the NTFPs in improving nutrition and health, reduction of poverty, income generation, export earnings, employment and biodiversity conservation have received very little attention, specifically in the northern part of the country,' she said.

Mrs Sinayo advised the public to use those foods judiciously adding that dawadawa, shea and baobab were some of the major NTFPs exploited across the three northern regions.

'Despite the increasing awareness and recognition in the country, NTFPs and their potentials in the Northern Savannah and Guinea Savannah regions have been largely neglected to say the least; attention have been focused on the tropical south, which must be reversed,' she said.

Mrs Sinayo noted that about 8,000 shea and honey producers were already working with four local partner organizations and they needed some support to help increase the number for revenue generation to alleviate poverty.

She said a socio-economic survey conducted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation revealed that an average household living close to the forest drew as much as 50 per cent of its total annual income from the forests, with NTFPs serving as primary and secondary sources of income for about 59 per cent of poor households.

GNA