Top 10 sustainable green business ideas selected under MoMo4C for further development

• Initiatives that build adaptive capacities or climate resilience
• Initiatives that can help curtail cocoa-related deforestation
• Initiatives that promote crop and income diversification
• Initiatives that seek to promote value addition and sustainable production value chains

The call was advertised on three major local radio stations and information centers throughout the Sefwi Wiawso, Juabeso, and Bia landscape. Flyers were developed with the details on the green business call and shared on the various social media platforms of Tropenbos Ghana. Hard copies of the application forms were made available at the Business Advisory Centers (BAC) in the various district assemblies (Sefwi-Wiawso, Juabeso, and Bia West). The application form was also downloadable from the Tropenbos Ghana website.

A total of 140 applications forms were picked up by applicants, 120 were completed and submitted (114 hard copies and 6 online). Out of the 120 applications received, 22 came from women. A landscape-level selection panel constituting all BAC heads and a business expert was put in place to screen all the applications. Twenty-Four (24) green business ideas/proposals were pre-selected. A second round of pre-selection was done to enable the applicants and the landscape-level selection panel to meet face to face to discuss and understand their business ideas/proposals. A total of 15 promising green business ideas/proposals were pre-selected by the landscape-level selection panel for further assessment.

Further, a business expert panel was constituted to select the 10 most promising green business ideas/proposals based on priority climate action initiatives that target agriculture/forestry (cocoa-related deforestation), sustainable value chains/productions, sustainable energy usage, and efficiency, and climate-smart finance. The selection was based on the following minimum criteria;

• The legality of the business
• Sustainability of the business
• Involvement of women and youth
• Social acceptability/legitimacy
• Sustainability of sources of raw materials

The 10 selected business ideas/proposals are;

1. Abdule Aziz-Ecotourism
2. Betsy Badu Kwarteng-Green House Vegetables
3. Samuel Atta Agyeman-Soap Making
4. Arkong Frederick-Oil Palm Processing and Plantation
5. Wilhelmina Nunu-Organic Cassava Cultivation and Processing
6. Prosper Gyamfi-Cocoa husk Processing
7. Brenya Isaac-Compost Fertilizer
8. Anyormi Emil-Cocoa Agroforestry
9. Yeboah Emmanuel-Bee Keeping and Processing
10. Vincent Banaako-Fish Farming and Processing

All the above business ideas/proposals will go through business case development and also, bankable business plans are being developed to assess economic feasibility and profitability.