Building Climate Resilience in Ghana's Sui River Landscape

The Sui River landscape in the Western North region of Ghana spans 244,000 hectares—including five forest reserves—and is one of West Africa’s most important cocoa-growing areas. However, the practice of clearing local forests to make room for cropland is accelerating deforestation across the region, threatening the very ecosystems that local communities depend upon for their livelihoods. Due to poor land management and aging trees, per-hectare cocoa production has decreased, and climate change is bringing further challenges—from unpredictable weather patterns to increased outbreaks of pests and diseases. To help farmers tackle these urgent issues head-on, the Rainforest Alliance has teamed up with global agribusiness Olam Ghana and Partnership for Forests (P4F), a program funded by the UK government to support deforestation-free production of tropical commodities.