By Alex Ababio | Ghanaian Watch
KUMASI – It was just after noon in Moshie Zongo, one of Kumasi’s oldest and most densely populated slum neighborhoods. The heat rolled in like a wave, bouncing off rooftops and walls, with no trees in sight to offer shade or relief. Fatima Alhassan, a mother of four, sat outside her wooden structure, fanning her toddler as beads of sweat ran down her neck.
“We hear about tree planting on TV, but no one comes here,” she said, glancing at the dusty road that cuts through the community. “We live with heat every day. The children suffer the most. At night, it’s like an oven.”
Fatima’s frustration reflects a larger reality across several slum communities in Kumasi—places like Aboabo, Asawase, Asafo, Moshie Zongo, and parts of Anloga Junction—where residents feel left behind in Ghana’s national greening efforts.
While officials proudly launch ambitious tree planting campaigns in elite parts of Kumasi, the city’s poorest neighborhoods remain barren, baking under intensifying heat worsened by climate change and lack of green cover.
Kumasi’s Tree Campaign: A Green Dream or a Selective Reality?
The Ashanti Region, under Ghana’s 2025 National Tree Planting Campaign, is targeting 10 million trees as part of the nationwide “Make Ghana Green” initiative.
The Forestry Commission says the country aims to plant 30 million seedlings this year alone, up from the 25 million reported in 2024, with a national survival rate of just under 60%, according to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.
Yet, in Kumasi’s informal settlements and mining-affected zones, residents say they rarely see seedlings—or forestry officials.
“If you go to the Kumasi Golf Park, the trees are lined beautifully. Same at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital,” says Ibrahim Zakaria, a youth volunteer from Aboabo. “But come to the inner city slums. The only trees here are the ones our grandfathers planted.”
Indeed, on Green Ghana Day this year, the official ceremonies were again held inside of Kumasi Gold park, and in some planting activities were undertaken in well-developed areas, like Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital .
The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, and Kumasi Mayor, Michael Boadi, popularly known as King Zuba, led symbolic plantings at the Kumasi Golf Park and the Komfo Anokye Emergency Unit. The Forestry Commission’s Ashanti Manager, Clement Amoah Omari, expressed confidence that “85% of our regional target has already been achieved.”
But where does this 85% live? Certainly not in Asafo or Race Course, where illegal structures dominate, and green space is virtually nonexistent.
Heat Waves, Health Risks, and Climate Inequality
Slum communities in Kumasi face unique vulnerabilities as global temperatures rise. Without trees, homes made from wood, metal sheets, or plastic warm rapidly during the day and retain heat long into the night.
“We’re seeing more heat-related illnesses, especially among children and the elderly,” says Professor Kofi Tekyi Newton , Acting Dean School of Public Health at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). “In these areas, the temperature can be several degrees higher than in leafier parts of Kumasi. It’s an environmental injustice.”
Data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency confirms that average temperatures in Kumasi have risen by 1.3°C over the past two decades. Extreme heat events, once rare, are becoming more frequent, particularly in urban slums and illegal mining zones where deforestation and land degradation are unchecked.
Obuasi, Bekwai, Jacobu, Manso Nkwanta, and other mining areas in the Ashanti Region have witnessed rapid deforestation, worsening their vulnerability to climate shocks.
“In galamsey-affected communities, we’ve not only lost forest cover but also water bodies,” says
Prof Jonathan N. Hogarh, an Environmental Scientist and Researcher at the Department of Environmental Science , Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
“The land is stripped bare. Re-greening must be paired with strict environmental enforcement.”
Why the Slums Are Left Out
So why aren’t trees being planted where they’re needed most?
Forestry officials point to land tenure issues, space constraints, and the rapid movement of slum dwellers as barriers. But local activists say it’s more about political will and poor planning.
“There’s no excuse for ignoring poor neighborhoods,” argues Janet Mensah of the Green Roots Initiative, a Kumasi-based environmental NGO. “We can plant trees along roads, in school yards, even in corners of markets. We just need the mindset shift.”
Janet’s team recently launched a micro-greening project in Moshie Zongo, where schoolchildren are planting mango and neem trees in their schools and homes.
“It’s small, but it’s a start,” she says. “The children take care of the trees. They feel proud.”
A Call for Equity in Greening
Academics and civil society leaders are calling for a more inclusive approach to the Green Ghana campaign—one that ensures participation from low-income and vulnerable communities.
“Tree planting must not be an event, but a movement,” says Prof. Nana Ama Browne Klutse, a climate policy lecturer at the University of Ghana. “If we’re serious about adaptation, we need to re-green the places where people suffer most. That means the slums and degraded mining towns.”
She continues, “We need to shift our indicators of success. It’s not about how many trees we plant at once, but how many survive, especially in hard-hit areas.”
In a 2024 study published by Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, over 68% of urban slum residents in Kumasi reported having no access to green spaces. Meanwhile, areas with vegetation saw up to 40% lower surface temperatures during heatwaves.
Solutions: Greening from the Ground Up
Despite the odds, some grassroots initiatives are taking root. In Asawase, a local youth group called “Shade for Tomorrow” has begun working with landlords to plant shade trees in shared courtyards and walkways.
“We buy seedlings ourselves and get advice from forestry officers,” says Abdul Mumin, the group’s coordinator. “People now ask us to come to their houses. We see that when one tree grows, the whole family benefits.”
The group also uses storytelling and song to teach children about the importance of trees. Their message? “No tree, no shade. No shade, no life.”
To amplify such efforts, experts suggest:
Urban Greening Policies: Make tree planting part of city by-laws and require all public schools and clinics in slum areas to have a green space.
Funding for Grassroots: Support local NGOs and youth groups working in poor neighborhoods with tree seedlings, water systems, and training.
Monitoring Survival Rates: Beyond planting, invest in tracking survival of trees, especially in areas vulnerable to drought and heat.
Public-Private Partnerships: Encourage businesses and religious institutions to adopt greening projects in low-income areas.
A Hopeful Future
Back in Moshie Zongo, Fatima Alhassan’s eyes light up when asked what a tree could change for her.
“It would give us shade. The children can sit under it, even eat or do homework outside,” she says with a smile. “It may not be much to others. But for us, it’s everything.”
The dream of a greener Ghana must include everyone—rich or poor, downtown or slum. Because in the end, climate change doesn’t discriminate. And neither should our trees.
Have you seen a small green project in your community? Share your story with us via WhatsApp(0245148781) or email (alexisababbio@yahoo.com or ghanaianwatch@yahoo.co.uk) and get featured in our next “Greening Ghana from Below” series.