Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and ... - ITU

Ghana’s government data centre will provide scope for hosting services and applications, which in turn
could provide a solid base for the development and implementation of innovative ICT applications related
to climate change adaptation needs.
These five areas of ICT development suggest the emergence of an enabling ICT architecture that can serve
as the basis to foster the use of ICT tools towards the achievement of Ghana’s climate change adaptation
goals.
To further explore the links between ICTs and adaptation in Ghana, as well as the way in which that
emerging architecture can be used to strengthen adaptive capacities and resilience, the following subsection
identifies the main climate change impacts felt in the country.
2.2 Climate change impacts in Ghana
Ghana is located in one of the world’s most complex climate change regions. At the intersection of three
hydro-climatic zones, and subject to the impact of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Inter-Tropical
Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and West Africa monsoon, the country is highly vulnerable to climate change,
variability and uncertainty.
The increase in the frequency and intensity of rainfall, floods and landslides, along with the occurrence of
extended periods of drought, intense temperatures and heat, have been linked to changing climatic
patterns. Such extreme and unpredictable events have devastating consequences for Ghana’s socioeconomic
development and food security, particularly for millions of people whose livelihoods depend on
agriculture and livestock.
The intensification of extreme weather events such as excessive rainfall has led to the overflow of Ghana’s
major water bodies. For example, for the first time in twenty years, the level of the Akosombo Dam
Reservoir, which provides electricity to Ghana and its neighbouring West African countries including Benin
and Togo, rose to 274.8 ft, close to the maximum of 278 ft in 2010. Consequently, regions which have
communities close to the Volta River or lying along the path of the river towards the south of the Hydro-
Electric Power Generator were flooded. It is estimated that in 2010, over 377,652 people were internally
displaced due to the floods, one of the most severe catastrophes that Ghana has ever had to face. The
consequences were even more severe considering that some areas which were affected by the Akosombo
spillage had already been hit by flood waters from the Bagre and Kompeanga dams in neighbouring Burkina
Faso. According to the Volta River Authority (VRA), there are significant possibilities that the floods will
reoccur if erratic rainfall patterns continue.
As in the case of other developing countries, the impacts of climate change and variability in Ghana
contribute to intensify the pre-existing challenges of poverty and rural marginalization, rapid urbanization
and growth of informal settlements, land depletion and fragile ecosystems, among others 40 .
While the future projected changes in the climate are still uncertain, studies 41 suggest a temperature
increase between 1.0 to 3.0°C by the 2060s, and 1.5 to 5.2°C by the 2090s, as well as severe changes in
seasonality, among others (Box 10).
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