The Savannah Women Integrated Development Agency (SWIDA-GH), a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the Northern Region, has organised capacity building workshop for selected farmer groups in the Savelugu Municipality of the Northern Region on bushfire prevention mechanisms.

The workshop sought to equip participants with the necessary strategies and procedures in preventing and dealing with possible bushfires on their farms as means to enhancing sustainable agriculture in the Municipality.

It was part of the SWIDA-GH's "Women Climate Justice Solutions in Agriculture Project", that seeks to promote climate change issues among women in agriculture, and also build their capacities to overcome challenges associated with climate change to boost their agricultural production.

The project is being supported with funds from Global Fund for Women (GFW).

Mr Prince Kwame Tamakloe, Executive Director of Save-Self Ghana, who facilitated the workshop, took participants through creation of fire belts, firewalls and fire traces around their farms, and said the three mechanisms were essential in preventing fire outbreaks on their plantations.

He said "We are in the dry season and so it is important that every farmer creates any of these fire preventive mechanisms to protect their farms from getting engulfed by fire in order to safeguard their livelihoods".

Hajia Alima Sagito-Saeed, Executive Director of SWIDA-GH, said it was vital to broaden the knowledge base of farmers on bushfire and its preventive measures on their farms in the dry season, hence, the idea behind the workshop.

She said the bushfire preventive measures were significant in combating bushfires and urged them to adopt the practice to ensure that they sustained their farms.

She noted that it would be beneficial and consequently improve on their socio-economic wellbeing as individuals, families and communities as whole.

Hajia Sagito-Saeed called on law enforcement agencies to strictly put in force, laws that prohibited individuals from deliberately causing bushfires, and added that, such individuals must be severely sanctioned.

Some of the participants expressed gratitude to the SWIDA-GH for the intervention, and pledged their commitments to impart the knowledge they had acquired to other farmers in their communities.