Accra: Betty Adza’s earnings from her coffee farm have increased more than a thousand-fold over the past five years. Once making barely GHS 500 (about US$47.66) per season, the single mother and her group members now earn upwards of GHS 17,000 (about US$1,620), thanks to farm expansion, access to ready markets, and alternative income opportunities.
According to Ghana News Agency, Betty is just one of many women transforming their livelihoods and landscapes through climate-smart agriculture and ecosystem restoration, a nature-based solution to climate change and environmental degradation, which is also a national priority. For Sylvia, another member, learning the craft of coffee-making at Kawa Moka opened new doors. She now runs a small business, baking coffee-flavored cakes and training young girls who, like her, grew up orphaned or in poverty.
In the lush highlands of Leklebi, Sylvia and her cooperative of women farmers press coffee seedlings into the earth beneath a canopy of young shade trees. They sing as they work, songs of renewal and purpose, and practice organic techniques, participating in every step of the value chain, from nursery to harvest.
The initiative is part of a broader project by One Tree Planted in Ghana, focused on restoring degraded lands, protecting biodiversity, and empowering women. Since 2021, the organization and its partners have planted more than four million trees across the Volta, Western, and Eastern Regions of Ghana. Women make up over 60 percent of the workforce, contributing to nursery management, planting, monitoring, and environmental education.
‘When women are empowered, nine out of ten returns go back into the home. They invest in their children’s education, family nutrition, and healthcare,’ says Emi-Beth Quantson, Founder of Kawa Moka Coffee. ‘Empowerment also creates more income opportunities for young women, reducing early and multiple pregnancies and protection against domestic violence. Our partnership with One Tree Planted helps us grow not just trees, but futures.’
What began in the Volta highlands is now spreading westward. Across Ghana, a women-led environmental movement is gaining strength, from forest farms to coastal wetlands. In the Western Region, women in rubber boots plant mangrove saplings to stabilize shorelines and support fisheries, says Eunice Adofo Boanya, One Tree Planted’s Africa Project Manager.
Moving inland to the Eastern Region, others are restoring farmlands with native timber and fruit trees, reversing years of deforestation and land degradation. ‘These women, farmers, mothers, traders, are the unsung heroes of a bold movement to reforest degraded lands and protect livelihoods,’ Boanya adds. Women, as primary caregivers and economic drivers, are often hardest hit by biodiversity loss and environmental degradation, yet they are also the most responsive.
The restoration work goes beyond tree planting. It tackles deep-rooted social challenges, offering alternative livelihoods in communities where deforestation was once driven by charcoal burning and illegal mining. ‘Restoration reduces pressure on women, improves food security, and deters youth from migrating or engaging in harmful activities,’ Boanya says.
Madam Lydia Opoku, Acting Executive Director of Ghana’s Forest Services Division, praised One Tree Planted’s efforts as a major contribution to Ghana’s Tree for Life Initiative, which aims to plant 30 million trees nationwide. Mr. Samuel Appiah Ofori, One Tree Planted’s Africa Project Manager, emphasizes that lasting change requires deep community integration.
Across Africa, One Tree Planted has supported more than 215 projects, planted over 36 million trees, and created more than 100,000 green jobs. ‘Locally-led restoration works, and collaboration is the backbone of every successful effort,’ says Mr. John Ngahu, Interim Africa Regional Director of One Tree Planted. ‘When I see what’s happening in Ghana, and compare it to our work in the Mau Forest Complex back home, the message is clear: communities can regenerate landscapes.’
Mr. Matthew Jeffery, Chief Programme Officer at One Tree Planted, states, ‘These forests are genetic banks. Restoration projects, whether in cocoa farms or wetlands, help protect this heritage while addressing climate change.’ Jeffery says One Tree Planted is committed to working with governments, nonprofits, and local leaders to ensure the trees survive, not just sprout.
Perhaps the most powerful outcome of all is that these women are transforming their relationship with the land, from exploitation to regeneration. Their hands plant seeds, their actions sow resilience, equity, and their minds sow hope for generations to come.