Redefining today’s damongo | Youth turns to Tech and Agric

Young women in the capital of Savannah Region, Damongo are re-mapping and positioning the wildlife community into a cultural and spiritual journey. The men are growing food and going green.

Before 2019, the Savannah Region was only known as the seat which hosts the Overlord of the Gonja Kingdom; the Yagbonwura, the mole park and for producing the first Northern President voted into power through democracy.

Now that the digital wave is sweeping across the regions in Ghana, the region hasn’t been left out, despite starting the race late. Since 2020, Ivalley Hub has helped people, especially young women, discover more about technology and entrepreneurship in Ghana’s emerging digital job market.

TeleVet is a web App for pet/farm animal health and Savannah Tours is an initiative co-founded and led by Abubakari Sherifatu, a senior high school graduate. Ms Sherifatu together with her team under Savannah Tours is mapping out existing historical sites which are slowly fading out due to lack of investment in the region’s tourism sector.

250 kilometers of roads have to be constructed in order to gain access to two additional waterfalls that are currently inaccessible to tourists and even workers.

Bona Kyiire told Prince Barak of Justice FM

On the Savannah Tours web app, users can find places such as Salaga slave market, Mole waterfalls, a Community of wells, and Hiking areas, just to mention a few. And navigate around the region’s tourist sites in a search bar. Preserving historical sites is another way of time travel thus acknowledging traditional existence and land rights in our everyday life.

The 4,577 most prestigious and protected square kilometres of land have been a safe space for biodiversity to strive unfortunately there are minor human activities threatening the survival of biodiversity.

On 5th March 2020, the Savannah Integrated Biodiversity Conservation Initiative (SIBC) project was launched in the Savannah Regional capital of Damongo. The project is aimed at bringing together green economic activities towards the improvement of the livelihoods of some selected communities surrounding the Mole National Park and the conservation of biodiversity within and around the park and also contributes to ensuring sustainable financing mechanisms for the management of the Mole National Park.

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According to the Federation of Ghana Bee Keepers Association, Ghana’s honey potential is at 500,000 tonnes per annum, worth about $1.5 billion.

With the increasing demand for honey in Europe and Asia, whose bees are endangered due to environmental challenges and industrialisation, the competitive search for organic honey in other areas has increased drastically. In 2011, the European Union (EU) certified Ghana to join other African countries accredited to export honey to the EU market.

Edward Acquah of Daily Graphic

Under the World Food Programme Sustainable Livelihoods Project, Swida Ghana has been helping female beekeepers in the installation of their beehives at communities selected for bee centres. The bee centres are found in communities that have had many women make the best of beekeeping as a venture. The beekeeping centres will serve as demonstration centres for women from neighbouring communities. As we anticipate the colonising of the hives.

Ivalley has also been engaging young farmers in the region, aiming to support digital transformation in the region. So far under the hub Base Innovation Program and Covid19 recovery program, young farmers only used their mobile devices to call and text. After months of training at Ivalley Hub, digital record-keeping, research into seeds and seedlings, target buyers and delivery to clients are basic skills Sofo Aliu has acquired.

Sofo who is a nurse by profession before venturing into farming has long-term plans for his farming career and plans on giving back to his community by supporting widows with vegetable farms to manage and connecting them to markets in and around the region.

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