19/05/2025
Field visits in Ghana mark a key milestone for GALILEO Living Lab implementation
Group picture with Sankofa /KKFU representatives at Goaso
As part of the rollout of the GALILEO project in Ghana, the country team—led by our partner, the University of Ghana—successfully conducted a series of field visits to proposed Living Lab sites across four key regions: Eastern, Ashanti, Ahafo, and Central. Carried out in March and April 2025, these visits represented an important milestone in introducing the GALILEO project to local stakeholders and establishing the groundwork for future Living Lab activities.
The first site visit took place on March 4 in Aponoapono-Suhum, followed by visits to Goaso and Assin Fosu–New Edubiase on April 9 and April 10, respectively. The main objectives were to present the GALILEO project to relevant local actors, identify key cooperatives and enhance our understanding of existing agroforestry practices and innovations in each region. Among the key stakeholders engaged, were executives and management teams from ABOCFA—an organic and Fairtrade-certified cocoa cooperative—and KKFU cooperative, a GALILEO project partner. Both cooperatives are implementing partners of the Sankofa Project, which is reintroducing the Dynamic Agroforestry (DAf) system to cocoa farming communities in Goaso, Bibiani, and Sankore. Additional participants in the visits included representatives from the regional and district Departments of Agriculture (R/DDA), the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), and private-sector agro-input dealers.
Visit to a cocoa DAf farm near Goaso
Group picture with CHED officer, Goaso
Discussions during the visits confirmed that cocoa agroforestry has been practiced in these regions for over a decade, offering a strong platform on which to build GALILEO’s proposed innovations. Importantly, the team identified a pool of potential actors—including innovator, target, and control—to be engaged in upcoming project activities, particularly through ABOCFA and the Sankofa Project. To formalize this collaboration, a brief Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is currently being prepared to outline roles and commitments between GALILEO and its local partners. Public sector representatives from the R/DDA and CHED expressed full alignment with GALILEO’s objectives and pledged their support to facilitate the successful implementation of the project.
Group picture with KKFU coop members at New Edubiase
Group picture with members of ABOCFA
The field visits in Ghana marked a critical early step in planning GALILEO’s work and activating multi-stakeholder engagement in the Living Labs. They enabled the project team to build valuable relationships, assess existing agroforestry initiatives, and identify committed partners and farmer groups for the next phase of implementation. With strong public and private sector interest, established agroforestry practices, and positive stakeholder engagement, the groundwork is now in place for successful implementation of GALILEO activities in Ghana.
All project activities will be published on the project’s social media accounts. Stay tuned!
