The CSC is delighted to present the next case study in our ongoing series demonstrating the impact of Commonwealth Alumni.
This case study features Emma Baah Agyapong, a co-founder of the Environment and Agroforestry Foundation (EAF), who leads fundraising, project implementation, and training activities to reverse deforestation and improve communities’ livelihoods in Ghana. Over the years and through multiple funded projects, Emma and her team have created sustainable impact by restoring degraded forests and reforming traditional farming practices along the Bono East, Savannah, and Upper West Regions.
Emma was awarded the Distance Learning Master’s Scholarship in 2015 to study remotely for her Master’s in Tropical Forestry from Bangor University. Throughout the Scholarship, Emma built professional networks, acquired practical knowledge in conducting research, and gained valuable skills in working with communities to conserve forests. Emma reflects that the Commonwealth Scholarship enabled her to gain confidence, knowledge, and skills to identify and solve problems and implement a participatory approach to working with locals from different cultures and mindsets.
‘My confidence level increased after the program, which also increased my ability to identify problems and find ways of solving such problems … I learned social forestry as one of the courses … I knew that managing natural resources is not done only by decision-makers. The forest-fringe communities, too, are a part of it.’
Upon completing her studies in the UK, Emma co-founded the Environment and Agroforestry Foundation (EAF), a non-profit organisation in Ghana, to help local communities conserve forests and generate long-term social and economic benefits. With her UK supervisors’ support, Emma secured three rounds of funding from the Rufford Foundation between 2017 and 2021, which enabled her to implement a series of changes to restore community forests and enhance local livelihoods in Ghana’s transitional zone. As a result of these Rufford projects, the communities experienced significant transformation, with increased environmental awareness and knowledge, thousands of tree seedlings planted, established self-regulated governance structures, and improved livelihoods. Emma felt this had been the most significant change to the local communities and beyond due to her Scholarship.
‘Through my initiatives, the lives of local communities have been improved through the introduction of alternative livelihoods such as agroforestry, beekeeping woodlot establishment, etc. Several hectares of degraded lands are benefitting from restoration which is benefitting the community, region and the nation as a whole.’
From 2020 to 2022, Emma and her EAF team also collaborated with local communities to design a reforestation project benefitting four communities in the Savanah Region of Ghana: Kuuri, Kulmasa, Maluwe, andTelekura. From February 2023 to 2024, they seek to reinforce the conservation of community-protected forests in the Black Volta Basin by promoting biodiversity. Recently, Emma led her team in securing the funding for a six-year project – ‘Restoring Farmland and Riparian Forest Restoration & Livelihood Improvement in Bono Region of Ghana’ (2023-2029). This project seeks to build participating communities’ capacity to restore farmland and improve their livelihood beyond the project lifecycle.
Emma’s work contributes to two of the CSC’s development themes: Strengthening resilience and response to crises and Science and technology for development. Emma is also working to address multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals. These include SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 13 – Climate Action, and SDG 15 – Life on Land.
