Feed the Future Ghana AgNRM Quarterly Progress Report (FY 2018|Quarter 1)

It is the main vehicle within the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ghana's Feed the Future portfolio to address issues of environment and natural resource management (NRM) in northern Ghana. Winrock International implements AgNRM in partnership with TechnoServe (TNS), Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC), and Center for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies (CECOTAPS). The project supports USAID|Ghana's Development Objective 2 and the Ghana Feed the Future Multi-Year Strategy. The project's approach focuses on mutually reinforcing, systemic changes that align with and augment the Government of Ghana's (GoG) Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy, and the Nature, Wealth and Power (NWP) framework. The Winrock AgNRM team will achieve the project goal of poverty reduction through sustainable increases in wealth and nutrition from natural and non-traditional agriculture products by addressing environmental, agricultural, governance, and NRM challenges. The AgNRM project interventions are expected to result in transformative change: adoption of improved practices, technologies, and behaviors; better functioning value chains and governance structures; more equitable access to land and resources; and increased capacity of organizations to improve NRM, address drivers of environmental degradation, and enhance rural livelihoods. AgNRM project activities are being implemented under four project outcomes: 1) Increased Incomes from Natural Resource Products; 2) Improved Food and Nutritional Security; 3) Increased Farmer and Community Security/Access to Land and Natural Resources; and 4) Strengthened Environmental Stewardship. During the first quarter of FY 2018, the project helped land users to negotiate and demarcate land use agreements, with three agreements signed. The AgNRM team worked with Dorimon to negotiate the boundary of its core conservation zone and to finalize and adopt its first Constitution. The project identified potential sites for two new CREMAs, Bongo-Nangodi-Tilli-Widnaba and Sekote-Datuku-Kusanaba-Binaba-Zongoyiri, in the Eastern Biodiversity Corridor (EBC) after extensive consultations with traditional and government leaders. The project also made progress in implementing its activities, including concluding sales with major shea buyers, entrepreneurs attending trade fairs to sell their NRP products, and 20 institutional cook stoves being donated to shea processing groups in the AgNRM CREMAs. The project finalized the Land Use Impact Planning Tool Kit for Northern Ghana and worked with Dorimon to finalize and adopt its first Constitution. Additionally, the project identified potential sites for two new CREMAs in the Eastern Biodiversity Corridor (EBC) after extensive consultations with traditional and government leaders. The AgNRM team also continued to evolve to meet the project's needs by creating new staff positions and adjusting others. New positions have been identified that Winrock believes will enhance implementation efforts, including Community Resource Management Area (CREMA) Mobilization Officers, an additional Communications Specialist, and Office Managers for AgNRM's satellite offices. The project will recruit additional personnel in the coming months. In addition, three new project vehicles are expected in Q2, which will help with project logistics and facilitate activity implementation. The project faced some challenges in Q1 of FY 2018, including several outstanding issues related to land use agreements and the negotiation of the boundary of Dorimon's core conservation zone. However, the project team worked to address these challenges and made progress in implementing its activities. The project will continue to work to address these challenges and make progress in achieving its outcomes.