ghana climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCountries in Africa are among the most vulnerable globally to the effects of climate change because of thedependence of much of the population on agriculture, particularly rain-fed agriculture, and widespreadpoverty that renders them unable to withstand climate stress. Additional constraints (disease burden, debtburden, political instability, and conflict) reduce the adaptive capacity and increase the vulnerability of ruralpopulations. Recurrent drought in many countries has demonstrated the effects of climate variability on foodresources. Widespread poverty in many countries places many people facing food insecurity even in goodtimes. Additionally, climate variability and change threaten other resources including water, forests, andfisheries. Communities in coastal areas will be impacted by projected rise in sea-level of up to 1 m in thiscentury; some countries already experience coastal erosion and flooding.The West African country of Ghana is located on the Gulf of Guinea and extends northward from a lowlyingcoastal zone through the Volta River basin to the savanna zone on the border with Burkina Faso.Ghana is bordered on the west by Côte d’Ivoire and the east by Togo. Ghana’s economy relies on agriculture,which accounted for >25 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008 and employed half of theeconomically active population. The main exports are cocoa, gold, timber, diamonds, bauxite, manganese, andhydropower. Ghana is designated a Low Income Country, making it one of only four West African countriesthat are not classified as Least Developed Countries. Among Ghana’s advantages are its political and socialstability as well as internal energy resources and natural resources in demand in world markets.This Climate Change Assessment of Ghana was prepared by a team of US Forest Service scientists andGhanaian counterparts, based in part on interviews with government officials, staff of non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs), and representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs) over a two-week period. Inaddition to interviews, the Team collected geospatial and demographic data from agencies and electronicpublic sources, as well as conducted an extensive literature review. The Assessment was focused at two levels,a national overview and a targeted assessment of the northern savanna zones, comprised of the threenorthern administrative regions in Ghana (Northern, Upper West, and Upper East). Additionally, the Teamexamined the coastal zone and the energy sector in light of recent development of oil and gas resourcesoffshore in the Gulf of Guinea.CLIMATE OVERVIEWThe climate of Ghana is dominated by the interaction of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) andthe West African Monsoon. The ITCZ, also known as the Equatorial Convergence Zone or Inter-TropicalFront, is a region of calm winds separating the northeasterly and southeasterly trade winds. The location ofthe ITCZ annually moves, reaching its northernmost extent during the northern hemisphere summer and itssouthernmost extent during the northern hemisphere winter. The principal feature of the climate of Ghana isthe alternate wet and dry seasons caused by the movements of the ITCZ and West African Monsoon. Insouthern Ghana there are two distinct wet seasons, but Northern Ghana has only one.Available temperature data indicates a warming climate in Ghana with the drier northern area warming morerapidly than southern Ghana. Since 1960 for Ghana as a whole, mean annual temperature rose by 1.0°C. Therate of increase generally was more rapid in the northern than southern regions. The frequency of “Hot” daysand nights in Ghana increased from 1961 to 2003. A “Hot” day or night is defined by the temperatureexceeded on 10 percent of days or nights in the current climate. Annual rainfall in Ghana is highly variablemaking identification of long-term trends difficult. In the 1960s, rainfall in Ghana was particularly high anddecreased to particularly low levels in the late 1970s and early 1980s. There was no evidence that extreme rainevents have either increased or decreased since 1960.GHANA CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT 1