ghana climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment

nations in that it is politically stable, yet its governance structures are weak and its public sectorunderperforms, especially in the northern savanna zones. Clarification of land tenure, tree tenure, and carbonrights is necessary for smallholders to access capital and make long-term investments in conservationpractices, agroforestry, and improved crop varieties and inputs. Access to knowledge and assistance fromextension workers is needed for farmers to modify their cropping systems. Community-based approaches toidentifying climate change adaptation strategies as well as strategies for enhancing food security have beenimplemented in the northern regions and appear to hold promise.Focusing food security investments entirely on commercialization, mechanization, and large-scale agriculturewill result in adverse social impacts unless the needs of small farmers are simultaneously addressed. A multiscaledapproach to agricultural development appropriate to the local socio-cultural context should beconsidered. Farming for profit will require concentrating agriculture on fewer larger farms to take advantageof economies of scale, mechanization efficiencies, and market access. Such commercialization orrationalization of agriculture may be desirable from a national development perspective. However, given thetraditional land tenure system and the insecurity of many smallholders, development of large-scale farms byoverseas investors may displace many smallholders. Moreover, the food insecurity of local populations couldbe worsened in bad crop years if they are priced out of the market for food. Given the likelihood that oil,fuel, and petroleum-based agricultural chemicals will increase in price in the future and most smallholderscannot afford such inputs without subsidies, questions of economic viability also arise. Commercializationand large-scale agriculture also pose uncertainties with or without climate change interactions with regard toenvironmental effects and long-term sustainability.ENERGY SECTORWood-based fuels (charcoal and firewood) are the dominant source of cooking fuel in Ghana with >90percent of households in most districts using them as their main source. Charcoal use is greatest along thecoast and in urban centers, though most households (>50 percent) in most districts use firewood as theirmain source of cooking fuel. Firewood dependency is greatest in the Guinea Savanna ecological zone(comprised of the Upper West, the Northern, and the northern portion of the Volta regions), where >80percent of households in most districts use firewood for cooking. Although much of the firewood reportedlycomes from dead wood on farm and fallow land, fuelwood harvest is about 7.5-8.5 times the estimatednational volume of timber harvested for other purposes, a clear warning sign of the fuelwood pressure onGhana’s forests and the threat it poses for deforestation, forest degradation, and climate change. Althoughagroforestry and CDM projects may have potential for addressing the wood-based fuels issue through treeplanting, emphasis should also be placed on reducing fuelwood consumption through the development anddistribution of affordable, efficient cook stoves that are compatible with Ghanaian cooking practices andfood tastes and by improving forest management to promote sustainable fuelwood harvesting and use.Hydropower is an issue of some concern in the contexts of climate change, potential for regional conflict, andnational energy strategies. Clearly, the issue of future hydropower production from Akosombo (and Kpong)dams is complex, is not simplistically related to potential climate change, and is replete with trans-boundaryimplications. First, the water development focus between the two major countries in the Volta River Basin isfundamentally different. Burkina Faso has and is concentrating effort in the Basin on improved use andincreased retention of water for agriculture with demands in that country (as well as northern Ghana)expected to increase rapidly. In contrast, Ghana’s primary objective is to keep Lake Volta at optimal levels forpower production. Clearly, potential exists for major conflict. Second, past meteorological data andhydrological modeling indicate water levels in Lake Volta are highly sensitive to even small changes inrainfall. Rainfall projections of global climate models are mixed, adding to the uncertainty; however, trendsfrom historical data indicate fairly dramatic decreases from long-term averages. Third, the design ofAkosombo dam was premised on one of the wettest periods on record affecting optimal power productioneven during relatively short or modest dry periods in an inherently variable precipitation regime. Fourth,water allocation agreements are lacking among Ghana and the other riparian countries in the Lake VoltaBasin. Finally, the future power production at Akosombo dam clearly will affect Ghanaian choices for10 GHANA CLIMATE CHANGE VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT