preprints.org > social sciences > other > doi: 10.20944/preprints202406.1006.v1

Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 14 June 2024 / Approved: 14 June 2024 / Online: 14 June 2024 (15:21:28 CEST)

In this study, we primarily assess the relationship between social safeguards and the living standards of local communities in different ecological zones of Ghana. This research aims to assist policymakers and stakeholders to make informed and appropriate decisions when developing social safeguards for emission reductions projects. Principal component analysis was employed to develop a living condition index, after which we generated a second construct based on the number of factors affecting living conditions. The results showed that access to sharecropping, literacy, extension services, financial institutions, a mobile phone network, and markets have significant positive relationships with the living conditions of local communities in Ghana. In addition, 78% of the social safeguards described in Ghana’s REDD+ Strategy, Forest and Wildlife Policy, Benefits Sharing Mechanism, and Forest Plantation Development Strategy are aligned with the determinants of local communities’ living conditions. The findings suggest a need to enforce benefit-sharing mechanism, better forest governance, and tenancy reforms in order to prevent the overexploitation of landowners and avoid elite capture. Furthermore, farmers must be linked to financial institutions in order to obtain credits. Additionally, we must seek to provide local communities with better access to markets and mobile phone networks in a way that allows them to carry out their livelihood activities effectively and efficiently. These measures help to reduce the risk of REDD+ actions and ensure sustainability.

REDD+; safeguards; agroforestry; Ghana Living Standard Survey; principal component analysis

Social Sciences, Other

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