My project on Archeapple plantation and the need to foster it for sustainable development in my community Sombo
(Original)

Timothy Nambazing
(Age 14, Ghana)
Wa Municipal Model Junior High School, Upper West Region

The Archeapple tree has a lot of economic and social benefits to the people of Sombo. Sombo is a farming community located in the Nadowli District of the upper west region (of Ghana). It lives within the savannah grass land vegetation belt. The trees here are sparely planted. They are mostly made up of trees which can withstand drought. The Archeapple tree is one of the common tree found in this area due to its desert like nature. Another good reason why it is common is that it is a domestic plant and most household depend on it for shade.

I have a special interest in the Archeapple plantation because of the economic and social benefits it has. For example some people depend on the Archeapple fruits for thier lunch during the hunger season. The fruits are also sold for income and also dried for soup which goes powerfully with "Konkonte." The leaves are also used in preparing bele bele and its dry sticks for firewood.

Socially the leaves are used to purify the xylophones after funeral rites. In fact most death are laid in stage under Archeapple trees in my village not to talk about the shade that are mostly used by the people on the funeral ground. It normally has a large shade that can contain so many people at a time. Children also use the cover to play Oware which is a local game.

Despite these economic and social benefit, the Archeapple trees are destroyed daily at an alarming rate. Human activities are the main causes of the disappearance of　these　important trees. They destroy them when they are building houses, constructing of roads, clearing of farmland and cutting them for firewood and gardening. Another major source for its destruction is the weather conditions. Sometimes too much rainfall with heavy wind may destroy these trees. The other problem is pest and other caterpillars that sometimes destroy the leaves. Bush burning is another source of the destruction. I was sad in 2006 August when I got to my village and two out of the four Archeapple trees that were around my house were gone. One was destroyed by wind and the other one due to the construction work in our family house.

To foster sustainable development of the Archeapple tree, I decided to plant five to replace the two that were destroyed. When I nursed the seedling, two germinated. So I went to my grandmother who advised me to sow them directly. I did that and five of them germinated. I fenced them to prevent them from being destroyed by animals. However three of them have already been destroyed by cattle leaving two which are growing very well.

Another step I took to foster sustainable development was to encourage my friends to also plant some. So far three of my friends by names Herman, Joe and Abigel have also planted two each. Our aim is to make sure that that the future generation will also enjoy the benefits of the Archeapple which we enjoy today.

In addition to this I and my friend have taken upon ourselves to weed around the Archeapple trees to prevent them from the destruction by fire. We also make sure that the fire belt is wide enough to prevent the trees from burning.

Furthermore I intend to form an Archeapple protection club. The aim of the club is to give education to the people to always do well and protect the few Archeapple trees that are left. Another reason for the club is to do away with the traditional belief that if you plant a tree and it starts to bear fruit you will die. We have made people to believe that it is not true. It rather helps to prevent global warming and the greenhouse effect in the community. We have also held a discussion with the chief and elders of the village to make by-laws to protect the trees.

The fact is that people leave their animals to roam freely and thereby they destroy people's properties including plants. The other by-law that will also be very necessary is the indiscriminate bush burning of the bush to destroy the trees. They should make a by-law in this regards to encourage people to plant trees.