Multi-stakeholder meeting held to discuss Forest Investment Programme in Ghana, June 2011

Mary Ama Kudom-Agyemang

Ghana is one of three African countries scheduled to benefit from a new investment scheme, known as Forest Investment Programme (FIP) that will finance efforts at addressing climate change induced problems in the forestry sector. The others are Burkina Faso and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

To shape Ghana’s FIP Investment Plan, a Joint Mission by the Government of Ghana and Development Partners, was held in the first week of June in Accra, bringing together key stakeholders including representatives of government ministries, academia and research institutions, private sector institutions, civil society and local communities to dialogue and analyse relevant development plans, policies and strategies.

What is FIP?

FIP is an initiative of the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), created to finance pilot programmes of new approaches that have significant potential to address climate change issues in developing countries. The SCF is one of two Funds set up under the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) – a financing mechanism designed to commence transformational change towards low-carbon and climate-resilient development.

The main financial channels of the CIF are the Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), namely the African Development Bank (AFDB), International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the World Bank (WB). The other CIF Fund is the Clean Technology Fund targeted at improved demonstration, deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies for green house gas (GHG) emissions reductions within country investment plans.

As part of the preparatory process for FIP, beneficiary countries are to develop Investment Plans with the assistance of the three MDBs in consultation with development partners, private sector, local communities and civil society organisation (CSOs). The African Development Bank (AFDB) is the lead MDB for the FIP process in Ghana.

Ghana and FIP

Ghana’s process started in March 2010 and is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and other relevant ministries, institutions and agencies. Activities undertaken so far include discussions on financing modalities, definition of roles and responsibilities of all relevant partners, and identification of gaps. Initial stakeholder consultations on the FIP with the private sector, civil society and local communities were held in November 2010.

At the Joint Mission in June 2011, the stakeholders discussed the linkages between FIP and on-going initiatives such as Ghana REDD, reforestation activities, the production of Climate Smart Cocoa and the proposed development of a Low Carbon Plan for Ghana and agreed that opportunities exist for collaboration. For instance, the initiatives could jointly develop mitigation and adaptation strategies based on national circumstances and development aspirations.

They noted that institutions and bodies like the Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), the Centre for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (CERSGIS) and the National Climate Change Committee could bring their experience and professional expertise to bear on FIP. The stakeholders further assessed the opportunities for participation of local communities to enhance transparency and accountability in the decision making process among other things. They also examined the need for inclusion of safeguard measures in the implementation of FIP activities, to mitigate negative social and environmental impacts, and encourage positive ones.

Next steps

The next step is the development a draft proposal of the Ghana FIP Investment Plan for endorsement, after which project-based activities will be identified for approval and implementation. FIP will support activities including land tenure reforms, law enforcement, restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forests and chain of custody certification.

FIP will additionally support investments outside the forestry sector that are necessary to reduce pressure on forests in the areas of alternative energy, livelihoods and poverty reduction, and agro forestry and rural development.

GFP country exchanges: Ghana and Burkina Faso

GFP has been involved in the process of disseminating information on the FIP processes and encouraging learning exchanges on this topic between Ghana and Burkina Faso.