Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) is a rapid, low cost and easily replicated approach to restore and improve degraded agricultural, forest and pasture lands. The study was conducted in low (500–1500 m.a.s.l) and mid (1500–2300 m.a.s.l) altitude agro-ecologies of Tigray region assessing farmer’s perception and reasons to practice FMNR. Purposive sampling was used to select three peasant associations (PA’s) from each agro-ecology. Simple random sampling was used to select respondents from household heads practicing FMNR. There were 15 respondents from each PA. Total respondents used for the study in both agro-ecologies were 90. All the data required for the study was collected through in-depth household survey and group discussions. Forty two percent (42.2%) of the respondents had 21–30 years of FMNR experience. Seventeen percent of the respondents with FMNR experience were from lowland and 26% were from mid land agro-ecology. FMNR has been practiced for more than two decades in the study areas. In both low and midland agro-ecologies, motivation of the respondents to practice FMNR was the training received from expert’s (37.1%) and neighbors’ success (29.2%). In the lowland, respondent’s main purpose to practice FMNR was fuel wood and fruit collection (49%) while in the midland the objectives were for fuel wood (50%), soil conservation (47%) and fodder (47%). FMNR has enormous importance in the livelihoods of the rural people especially in providing fuel wood, food/fruits, construction materials and farm equipment.
The study was conducted in the Upper-East region of Ghana. The objective of the study was to assess the sources, harvesting and marketing of browse plants, and challenges associated with their harvesting and marketing. Four districts were randomly selected in the region. Three categories of semi-structured questionnaires were separately administered to respondents in sixteen Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) administrative zones (communities) and in four livestock and browse marketing centers in the study area. In all, a total of 200 respondents comprising of 80 small-holder livestock owners, 60 harvesters and 60 marketers of browse plants were interviewed. Six (6) browse species were identified as the common ones utilized by livestock farmers in the area. Gliricidia sepium was identified as the most common and preferred species. Community range lands are the major sources of these browse plants for harvesters and users. Both young and the elderly people of the opposite sex are involved in the harvesting and marketing of browse plants in the area. However, the female population forms the greater proportion (55%) in the harvesting and marketing of browse plants. Indigenous tools such as cutlasses, knifes, axes and sickles are used in the harvesting of browse plants in the area. Harvested plants are preserved by sun-drying, hay and silage preparation. Bush fire and low rainfall were considered as major factors limiting the harvesting and utilization of browse plants in the study area.
Background Two of Ghana’s ecological zones—Guinea-savanna zone (GSZ) and Forest-savanna mosaic zone (FSZ)—are practically homologous in terms of structure and floristic composition, with some differences. The various sub-ecosystems that make up these areas are being depleted and losing their natural values due to various threats. There is little understanding about the fire trends in these areas due to a lack of data and poor accessibility to existing fire statistics. This study aimed to contribute to the understanding of the trends of area burned and active fire in the Guinea-savanna and Forest-savanna mosaic zones in order to inform policy-makers about sustainable management options. We used the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) daily active fire (MDC14ML) and burned-area (MCD64A1) products to characterize the fire regime in terms of seasonality, intensity, density, burned area, frequency, and trends during the study period of 2001 to 2021. Results This study indicated that fire activity started in October and peaked in December (GSZ) and January (FSZ). The mean proportion burned was approximately 39.95% (burned area of 2659.31 km2; FSZ) and 60.05% (burned area of 3996.63 km2: GSZ), while the frequency was approximately 42.87% (1759.95 of active fires; FSZ) and 57.13% (2345.26 of active fires: GSZ). In 2018, GSZ recorded the largest burned area (19 811.2 km2, which represents an average of 825.5 km2 of the total area burned from 2001 to 2021) with 4719 active points detected. FSZ recorded its greatest burned area in 2015 (8727.4 km2; which represents an average of 363.6 km2 of the total area burned from 2001 to 2021) with 5587 active points recorded. In addition, it was found that specific times of the day (1000 h to 1420 h) recorded the majority of burned areas. In overview, between 2001 and 2021, burned areas increased by an average of 1.4 km2 (FSZ) and 4.6 km2 (GSZ), and the number of active fires increased by an average of 4.7 (FSZ) and 4.4 (GSZ) active fires per km2. Conclusions In conclusion, burned areas and active fires are increasing in both ecological zones. This study demonstrated the relevance of remote sensing to describe spatial and temporal patterns of fire occurrence in Ghana and highlighted the need for fire control and fuel management by the policies and institutions (e.g., Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service) in these important and vulnerable zones (GSZ and FSZ). This is especially true in the Forest-savanna mosaic zone, which is increasingly affected by the disasters of wildfires and records more active fires than GSZ, indicating that this zone is becoming more and more vulnerable. Therefore, rigorous continuous monitoring is essential, and collaboration between organizations fighting for the conservation of natural resources in the field is strongly recommended.
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