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News from Ghana
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Our board members Barima and Wilko Brink returned from a working visit to Ghana. In January 2023 they presented our Barbarugo idea to plant 25,000 hectare of Bamboo Agroforestry to several Ghanaian governmental organisations and NGOs in Ghana: the National Development Planning Commission, reporting on Ghana’s progress on SDGs, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Carbon Market Office (CMO) resides under EPA, the Ministry of Energy, the Volta River Authority and the BUI Power Authority, the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, the Forest Commission, INBAR and a number of local Chiefs who hold stool land. Because of the positive reactions received we decided to go ahead and are now looking for external funding. We aim for partners that are keen on obtaining carbon rights. Furthermore Barima and Wilko visited our Barbarugo bamboo nurseries in Assin Kwaata, Oda and Tamale. In underlying newsletter you can read all about their trip.
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Tamale, the NGO capital of Ghana
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Wilko Brink went to Tamale as part of the working visit. He spoke to our local team Peter Langenberg, Diana Atempugre, Alex Kiipo and Chief Solomon and met several potential partners for our Bamboo Agroforestry Project; Marcus McGilvray of Whizzkids United, Clement Motorwmasen of Green Gold Ghana who, among other things, started a moringa plantation and Nuku studio.
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They train local photographers and photograph sustainable projects. Together we achieve more. All these parties pursue the same goal as the Barbarugo foundation. We strive for greening the world, a better climate and more local employment. Barburugo NGO has the advantage in Tamale that many NGOs work from Tamale in Northern Ghana. Peter Langenberg has built a bamboo shade area in the courtyard of Little Africa Lodge, run by Marcus McGilvray and his wife. As many expatriates visit the lodge they can see the example of using bamboo. Now one after the other NGO comes to get bamboo from our plantation. Many are surprised that bamboo grows this far north at all.
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On the picture you see Diana Atempugre who, in addition to managing the nursery in Tamale, sells bamboo harvested from the plantation. Her client is an American missionary who uses this bamboo for the repair of a small dam in Northern Ghana. An earthen wall that functions as a dam will be reinforced with bamboo and boulders. The dam was destroyed in 2021 due to the rapidly rising water during the rainy season.
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Bamboo plantation in Tichelli
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Our bamboo plantation is located outside of Tamale and is actually a 1-hectare test site (left on picture) where Barbarugo started planting bamboo 9 years ago. Now it is an oasis in a savannah area. It is a relief to stay in the shade and coolness under the bamboo and native trees.
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The photos tell you exactly why. We want to make the north of Ghana green and cooler again. The 15 meter high bamboo and the native trees create a forest where the ambient temperature is at least 4 ⁰C lower than in the open space with its scorching heat of 40 ⁰C. But more is needed. We see it as a contribution to the GREAT GREEN WALL of vegetation 7,700 km long from Senegal to Djibouti. The aim is to hold back the Sahara and save land from desertification, creating jobs and increasing food security.
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It is pleasant under the trees. Pictured from the left are Peter Langenberg, who has been in Tamale, Ghana since 2016, our board member Wilko Brink, the local chief and landowner, Alex Kiipo, who, with Peter Langenberg leads our Barbarugo NGO Tamale team and Clement Motorwmasen who runs a moringa tree plantation in Northern Ghana. We will collaborate with him. He supplies us moringa cuttings. Moringa is a super food. Barbarugo supplies him with bamboo cuttings. This way we can create a more biodiverse landscape. The bamboo and moringa go well together.
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In our previous newsletter we already reported about the nursery in Tamale. The cultivated bamboo now looks beautiful and is ready for the planting season in May 2023.
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We have purchased a so-called carbonizer to carry out tests. This device of almost 1,000 kg has now arrived at its destination in Northern Ghana. And yes, what do you do if you don't have a crane at your disposal on site, but you do have a lot of people? Then you go for a creative solution and arrange some car tires on the carbonizer to land gently from the truck to the ground. The team in Tamale will soon test whether we can use this carbonizer to process bamboo into biochar and bamboo charcoal. We are curious about the samples and whether bamboo charcoal can be sold locally. The samples are intended for a number of potential customers in the Netherlands. We sincerely hope that if there is sufficient interest in Ghanaian farmers, we will be able to tap into a new sales channel.
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This is how the carbonizer will look after installation.
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What is biochar?
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Biochar is a type of charcoal. It can be made by burning organic material with a low oxygen content in a special machine, a process called pyrolysis. Biochar can be incorporated into the soil just like compost, improving the structure and water retention of the soil. That is why biochar is also called the black gold. Biochar is a good substitute for peat in the production of garden soil. Peat may no longer be excavated in Europe because this leads to enormous CO₂ emissions. With the carbonizer that is now being built in Tamale, we can also make biochar from bamboo in addition to charcoal from bamboo.
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During their working visit to Ghana, Barima and Wilko Brink spoke with the Ghana Carbon Market Officer. He indicated that he sees opportunities for our 25,000 hectare Barbarugo Bamboo Agroforestry plan. We have been advised how to register the project as a project that can qualify for internationally tradeable carbon rights and we have been introduced to parties that can offer large areas of land. Now that these important conditions seem to have been met, we are looking for an external party who wants to work with us. Now we focus on 25,000 hectares!!!
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Of course we also ask for your support. Together we can do more.
Bank account NL05RABO 0174 9693 41 in the name of Stichting Barbarugo. Thank you.
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