Climate change adaptation in Ghana

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Ghana became a party to the UNFCCC in September 1995, and ratified the Paris Agreement in September 2016. [1] As a party to the Paris Agreement, Ghana is expected to develop a National Adaptation Plan that outlines strategies the country is taking to adjust to the changing climatic conditions.

Contents

Climate change adaptation involves adjusting or developing structure to help one live with the impacts of actual or expected future climate. The objective of adaptation is to reduce the impacts of the harmful effects of climate change (like sea-level rise, more intense extreme weather events, or food insecurity). It also includes making the most of any potential beneficial opportunities associated with climate change. [2]

It is estimated that climate change will add to the human and economic toll of floods and droughts in Ghana, which will have direct impacts on key development areas like food security, water resource management, health, and economic growth. [3]

Against this backdrop, the government of Ghana and other International Development Partners have set out approaches to determine vulnerability and adaptation priorities and to integrate this knowledge into development and sectoral planning. [4]

Key sector vulnerabilities

Food security

Ghana’s economy is heavily dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, which makes the protection and preservation of the natural environment a necessary pre-condition for the creation of a robust food system. [5] The agriculture and livestock sectors are the backbone of Ghana’s food security and economy, as they employ over half of the 32 million population of Ghana. [6] [7] Agriculture constitutes 33% of the country’s gross domestic product. The effects of climate change, as evident in rising temperatures and the extreme incidence of drought, are of particular concern, as they result in a range of direct and indirect impacts affecting the agriculture and livestock sectors. [3] In 2016, about 5% of the Ghana population faced food insecurity and about 2 million people faced the threat of becoming food insecure. [8]

Water resources

Water resources in Ghana are already affected by climate variability, and are highly vulnerable to climate change. Climate change may affect the quantity and quality of water available for human consumption at a given time, [9] as well as for agriculture, industry, and hydropower. Temperature increases may decrease river runoff, and changes in precipitation may affect both runoff and groundwater recharge. [10] Furthermore, with an estimated 25% of the population currently lacking access to clean water, climate change will only make Ghana's water crisis worsen. [11] The availability of fresh water is vital to Ghana's social and economic development, so it is important to understand the relationship between climate change and its affects on water resources in order to implement specific policies to combat it. [12]

Health

Studies have indicated that more than half of the diseases in Ghana are linked to climate vulnerability and climate change. [3] It is projected that climate change may lead to higher infection rates of diseases such as malaria and meningitis. As climatic conditions change, vectors of parasites that cause diseases such as malaria and yellow fever have been found in regions where they were not found originally. [13] The sensitivity of different populations to climate change-related impacts on health may be exacerbated by poverty-related issues such as malnutrition and poor sanitation. In addition, the country’s adaptive capacity, or its ability to anticipate, be prepared for, and respond to these impacts, are limited as factors such as a low number of health facilities and medical personnel will result in limited access to health care. [3]

National strategies, plan, and institutions

National strategies and plans

Institutional framework

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) [15] is an independent environmental regulatory agency within the Government of Ghana with the responsibility of ensuring Ghana’s environmental quality through environmental regulation and enforcement, and mainstreaming environmental concerns within the development process at the national, regional, and district levels. The implementation of climate change adaptation projects and the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation throughout the government and private sector are carried out by the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).

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References

  1. 1 2 "Ghana's Adaptation Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" (PDF). unfccc.int. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  2. ↑ website, NASA's Global Climate Change. "Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation". Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Climate Change Adaptation in GHANA" (PDF).
  4. ↑ Ameyaw, Lord; Ettl, Gregory; Leissle, Kristy; Anim-Kwapong, Gilbert (2018-11-28). "Cocoa and Climate Change: Insights from Smallholder Cocoa Producers in Ghana Regarding Challenges in Implementing Climate Change Mitigation Strategies". Forests. 9 (12): 742. doi: 10.3390/f9120742 . ISSN   1999-4907.
  5. ↑ "Overview". World Bank. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  6. ↑ "AGRICULTURE SECTOR PROFILE" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-03-21. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  7. ↑ "Ghana at a glance. FAO in Ghana". www.fao.org. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved 2023-03-21.
  8. ↑ Darfour, B., & Rosentrater, K. A. (2016). Agriculture and food security in Ghana. In 2016 ASABE annual international meeting (p. 1). American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
  9. ↑ Agodzo, Sampson K.; Bessah, Enoch; Nyatuame, Mexoese (2023). "A review of the water resources of Ghana in a changing climate and anthropogenic stresses". Frontiers in Water. 4. doi: 10.3389/frwa.2022.973825 . ISSN   2624-9375.
  10. ↑ Ankomah-Baffoe, Justice; Yawson, David Oscar; Okae-Anti, Daniel (2021-05-19). "Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Some Hydrological Processes of The Densu River Basin, Ghana". Ghana Journal of Geography. 13 (1): 147–166. doi: 10.4314/gjg.v13i1.8 . ISSN   2821-8892. S2CID   236355690.
  11. ↑ Awuni, Stephen; Adarkwah, Francis; Ofori, Benjamin D.; Purwestri, Ratna Chrismiari; Huertas Bernal, Diana Carolina; Hajek, Miroslav (May 2023). "Managing the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in Ghana". Heliyon. 9 (5): e15491. Bibcode:2023Heliy...915491A. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15491. ISSN   2405-8440. PMC   10149250 . PMID   37131451.
  12. ↑ Oti, Jonathan Opoku; Kabo-bah, Amos T.; Ofosu, Eric (August 2020). "Hydrologic response to climate change in the Densu River Basin in Ghana". Heliyon. 6 (8): e04722. Bibcode:2020Heliy...604722O. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04722. PMC   7452417 . PMID   32904314.
  13. ↑ "CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN HEALTH IN ACCRA, GHANA" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Ghana's National Adaptation Plan Framework" (PDF).
  15. ↑ "Integrity, dedication, service, teamwork... | Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana". www.epa.gov.gh. Retrieved 2023-03-22.
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