UNCDF has provided the The Sekyere Affram Plains District community water, through the borehole constructed by the Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunity in Ghana - (GrEEn) project, with COVID-19 relief funds. The borehole means the community no longer has to trek to a stream miles away to fetch water for cooking and drinking. This water source was unreliable, drying up during the dry season; it was also unhealthy. Because it was also used for cattle, the water was usually muddy by day’s end.

The Sekyere Affram Plains District is the poorest in the Ashanti region; its residents have no source of livelihood beyond subsistence farming. Asibi Adongo, a 50-year-old married woman with seven children, remembers when the land was fertile and the yield from an acre meant she could sell the extra for more income for the family. But that is no longer the case, and Asibi is not quite sure why.

She is, however, extremely happy with the water UNCDF has provided. The new borehole has helped the people of the community tremendously, notes the community’s chief. He points out too that the people used to have medical issues associated with skin rashes and stomach pains. Since using the potable water from the borehole over the past two months, he has not heard anyone complaining of such ailments anymore.The borehole serves a population of about 915 people.

The “Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana – (GrEEn)” is a four-year action from the European Union, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana, UNCDF and SNV. The project aims at creating greater economic and employment opportunities for youth, women and returning migrants by promoting and supporting sustainable, green businesses in selected regions (Ashanti and Western). GrEEn is implemented under the European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) for Africa.

GrEEn will contribute to addressing the root causes of irregular migration by supporting sustainable and climate resilient local economies, green jobs and development in regions of departure, transit and return. The objective of GrEEn is to create local financial ecosystems that facilitate the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and enable the transition of local economies to green and climate resilient development.

Read more GrEEn success stories HERE