By Takyi Ezekiel Paul, Program Associate, Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers (GhaFFaP), Ghana

In Ghana,  climate change variability has affected agriculture production,  forest-based production systems, and value chains, and has contributed to the ever-widening poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and forest deformation and land degradation. The combined effects of the heavy floods that occur during the rainy season, mainly destroying various production farmlands, and the long dry season, make it difficult for local communities to meaningfully adapt.

In northern Ghana and across the Savanna belt, water remains a critical resource for agriculture; however, the management and accessibility are out of reach for most farmers. Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed that every year, an increase in climate variability during the dry season induces farmers to change their farming systems in order to minimise the adverse effects of climate change. The region has one rainy season, lasting three to four months, followed by a nine-month period of dry season. To address water scarcity during the dry season, dams have been built.  Yet this intervention had no positive impact due to its limited catchment areas with no wider accessibility to the water by communities. With increasing rates of crop failures and prolonged doubts each year, youths –especially women– are abandoning their family farms and migrating to the city for jobs. Between untenable lands and a dwindling workforce, there is a growing existential threat to agriculture and forest-based livelihood production systems.

The changes in temperature, unpredictable rainfall, and the long period of drought in agrarian areas in the Savanna Region go beyond planting and harvesting and impact daily living. In Ghana, trees and shrubs are increasingly felled and used as a source of cooking energy and income, particularly in the northern parts of the country (Marchetta, 2011; Yaro, 2006). As trees and soil struggle to survive and are not as regenerative, the is growing scarcity of trees for cooking and encroaching loss of forest and land vegetation which exposes the land to erosion and detriments the soil’s fertility.

Ghana has the long-term goal to turn the dry, degraded and deforested landscapes into green, integrated and climate-resilient production landscapes. This includes transforming the long dry season period into a major production season, and ensuring year-round production through the provision of solar-powered medium irrigation systems in selected landscapes covering multiple communities within the northern savanna belt. Resources are put in place to farmers to promote deforestation-free year-round, provide solar-powered medium irrigation systems, encourage landscape restoration and agroforestry, and building of carbon assets and multiple value chain products that enables smallholders to adapt to the effects of climate change and build back better.

Key Actions by GhaFFaP towards delivering Climate Resilient Landscapes

Trainings: ROAM, NbS, Gender & women and youth Climate, Demonstration sites and tree nursery production, Agro-ecology, Agroforestry, Partnering with Ministry of Lands & Natural Resources on –Green Ghana Project and Policy –Engagements ongoing on tree tenure and protection of NTFPs as key agents of change.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI.