Tales of AfricaAdapt

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‘Mosques, markets, even cemeteries werecarried away by the sea,’ says Saliou Bâof the Thiawléne CRC. ‘Radio JOKKOprogrammes increased people’s awarenessof the problem and, as a result, people havestopped collecting sea sand, a practice thatwas aggravating the problem. A sea wall wasbuilt 20 years ago, but it had started to sink.Following the awareness programmes, thecommunities started to strengthen the wall,but large-scale actions are also needed.’Journalist and CRC presenter Pouye Moussasaid that because 99 percent of Thiawléne’sinhabitants fish for a living, climate changehas heightened the scarcity of fish in additionto coastal erosion. People have died whileThe sea wall built by the community in Senegalfishing in high seas because fish are no longeravailable close to shore.Aliou Sy, a member of the Thiawléne CRC,and his family have been living in Rufisque since1904. He said there used to be a forest wherethe sea is today. An area previously known asArafat has been swallowed by the sea. About50 years ago almost 200 houses were carriedaway by the sea and families had to move.‘If nothing is done, we will meet the samefate,’ Sy warns. ‘We were told that theproblem was caused by climate change, butI think it was worsened by the refilling workthat was carried out at the port of Dakar in1984. As a result, the sea water that shouldhave been around the port is at our place.’A municipal councillor and member of theCRC, Adama Diop Absa says that every yearthe sea encroaches onto land, damagingbuildings, causing flooding and spreadingdiseases. ‘We were told by radio JOKKOjournalists that it was due to climate change.Elevating the house floors with sea sand asprotection is not a sustainable solution. Thepeople have gathered to initiate projects tofight this phenomenon.’Madame Andama Diop Absa, Municipal Councillorand member of CRC12 Tales of AfricaAdapt
Adapting in GhanaA local NGO, People’s Dialogue on HumanSettlements (PDHS), has coordinatedtwo awareness-raising projects funded byAfricaAdapt for communities in Ghana. Oneof the communities is Old Fadama, the largestsquatter settlement in the country. The otheris New Takoradi, a fishing community ofabout 40,000 people in western Ghana. PDHSfacilitates the provision of secure and decenthousing for the urban poor, particularly slumdwellers.PDHS has used the AfricaAdapt website toaccess information on climate change andcompile a manual for training peer educatorsin Old Fadama. Programme Coordinator,Mensah Owusu, says that the urban poor arethe worst affected by the impacts of climatechange. He believes that most of the activitiesof slum communities are climate dependentbecause they occupy marginal lands whereliving conditions are deplorable. Owusu saysthat the capacity of marginalised communitiesto adapt to climate change is lower than thatof other groups of people. In Old Fadama,the People’s Dialogue works to highlight thelack of basic services, especially shelter andsanitation. Sanitation is of major concern inOld Fadama because people have no refusecollection facilities and are forced to dumpwaste indiscriminately.In New Takoradi, PDHS has createdawareness in the community about the causesand impacts of sea erosion and rising sealevels. Prior to the project, some people inthe town attributed dwindling fish stocks tosuperstition. After discussions and trainingsessions, they now appreciate that some oftheir practices – such as polluting the water,using dynamite to kill the fish and using smallnets – have contributed to the problem.‘Dubars’ (community gatherings) have beeninstrumental in the sharing of knowledge ofthe impact of climate change in these twoslum communities in Ghana. The gatheringsfacilitate the exchange of information betweenCSOs and communities. People have alsolearnt by doing.‘Communities are not empty vessels,’ saysOwusu. ‘There is a lot of information in thecommunity that can be gathered and used.We have used a dubar to learn from them andthem from us.’Exchange visits between the communitiesof Old Fadama and New Takoradi havehelped the two groups learn from eachother about best practices. In Old Fadama,the communities worked together toestablish savings clubs, which meet weekly todiscuss solutions to challenges faced by thecommunity. While promoting the culture ofsaving small amounts of money on a daily andHousing and sanitation conditions in Old Fadamaweekly basis, the savings clubs also provide aforum for mobilising the community.The communities testified that informationsharing has led to behavioural changes interms of environmental management. HarunaAbu, and officer with the Ghana Federation13
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Page 7 and 8: Building the networkAfricaAdapt is
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Page 26 and 27: Jacqueline Nnam2009 to presentKnowl
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