The city of Accra came to a standstill
due to the magnitude of monsoon floods earlier this year. The city stood
perplexed to a staggering toll of loss of over 200 human lives,
irreparable damage to public and private properties indefinitely
stalling business activities costing millions of Cedis to the national
economy. Soon, fingers were raised at the Government for poor city
development planning and an obsolete drainage system. Amidst all this, a
hidden issue still lurks around intensifying the consequences of floods
year after year. This crucial yet often overlooked cause is the issue
of Climate Change!
Understanding the Climate Change phenomenon
Some of the known impacts of climate
change have been depletion of the ozone layer, the Arctic ice caps
melting, sea levels rising, summers getting hotter and rainfall being
erratic. However, these phenomena are often considered as distant ones,
affecting the lives of ‘others’ and not really us.
During a parliamentary discussion on 19
th February 2014
[1],
one of the members of Parliament highlighted the importance of drawing
the public’s attention to the issue of climate change. He pointed out
that often the public understanding of climate change is anecdotal and
not factual. Especially in rural areas where most people view calamities
such as floods, droughts and low agricultural yield as God’s will and
not an effect of a serious global problem like climate change. This
article (the first among the series of articles addressing climate
change in Ghana), is an attempt in the direction envisaged by the
Ghanaian Parliament to widen the horizon of the common man bringing into
light unforeseen ramifications of climate change in Ghana.
Some
of the known impacts of climate change have been depletion of the ozone
layer, the Arctic ice caps melting, sea levels rising, summers getting
hotter and rainfall being erratic. However, these phenomena are often
considered as distant ones, affecting the lives of ‘others’ and not
really us.
The National Center for Atmospheric Research
[2]
in USA has reported that one of the direct and sooner consequences of
climate change is increased frequency of heavy rains causing floods in
some areas and droughts in other. The simple science behind this process
is that global warming causes a rise in temperatures, which results in
more evaporation and consequently higher moisture content in the
atmosphere causing heavy rains. Similarly, an increase in the number of
droughts is also due to rising temperature and high rate of evaporation,
which decreases soil humidity. Floods and droughts lead to soil erosion
and land degradation respectively turning agricultural lands infertile,
thus causing scarcity of lands for cultivation.
In Ghana, similar effects of climate
change have already manifested in the Northern, Upper-east and
Upper-west regions. In these regions, the majority of the population
comprises of farmers, greatly dependent on rainfall for their
livelihood. Inconsistency in the amount or timing of rainfall causes
either floods or droughts, directly affecting agricultural productivity.
The UN Refugee Agency
[3]
(UNHCR) reports that millions migrate from rural areas to urban areas
around the world as a consequence of natural disasters or environmental
issues caused by climate change. UNHCR refers such migrants as “climate
refugees” or “environmental refugees”.
Climate change is a phenomena with
ripple effects, often affecting a number of distant things to the extent
that it looks absurd to connect the end results to the initial causes
of climate change. This is the major reason why most people either fail
to acknowledge the significant effects of climate change or view the
warnings by environmentalist as exaggerated.
Below are five major ripple effects of climate change which are no doubt having some kind of an impact on your life right now
- Rural-Urban Migration
Migration from the north to south
Ghana in search of better job opportunities and standards of living has
been a common practice over the past many decades. However, in recent
times there has been an increase in the number of climate refugees
migrating to the south. In a research survey
[4] conducted among 203 migrants from the Savannah in Northwest Ghana
[5],
majority of the migrants decided to migrate because of environmental
reasons such as scarcity of fertile land, poor soil quality, low crop
yields, environmental degradation, water shortage, poor water quality
and sudden natural disasters.
Accra’s largest slum ‘Old Fadama’ nicknamed as ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’
[6]
along the banks of the Korle lagoon is home to more than 80,000
migrants. Such illegal settlements pose challenges such as waste
disposal, sewage disposal, water and environmental pollution and put
further pressure on existing drainage infrastructure; thus heightening
risk for floods. Most of these settlements were demolished recently when
the officials discovered that the clogged lagoon prevented excess rain
water from flowing into the sea, thus increasing the severity of floods.
Another chain effect of climate change which is also posing a threat to internal security of Accra
[7]
is the increase in rate of unemployment and poverty. The migrants,
often unskilled workers, are disappointed to discover that cities demand
skilled labourers. This has led to a high unemployment rate in the city
pushing these migrants into the high poverty zone. In February 2015,
the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) reported unemployment as the
biggest socio-economic problem confronting Ghanaians of all ages and
sexes. The most visible signals of unemployment are: armed robbery,
prostitution, streetism etc.
[8].
The frequent news reports of criminal activities in the city such as
armed robberies and burglaries, are therefore not surprising!
Figure 1.1: Ripple effects of Climate Change
- Food Shortage Leading To High Rate of Import
In 2013, Ghana spent a staggering US$1.5
billion on imports of basic food items such as rice, tomato, sugar,
cooking oil, frozen fish and poultry
[9].
With nearly 60% of the population engaged in agricultural sector, the
country still struggles to achieve self-sufficiency in the agricultural
sector. To achieve agricultural self-sufficiency, the fundamental change
required is to encourage existing farmers to get into commercial
farming and also to create opportunities for the younger generation to
choose agriculture as their choice of occupation. However, if the
current trend of migration of farmers continue, then the future beholds
more acute shortage of basic food items which in turn will catapult the
rate of imports. Ultimately, the burden of paying exorbitant price for
basic food items will fall upon the vulnerable sections of the society,
including the migrants in the cities.
- Power Shortage
The outcomes of climate change have
surfaced in our everyday lives in an astonishing number of ways. For
instance, if we consider a common effect of climate change i.e. erratic
rainfalls, on one hand heavy rains are received over a short period
flooding the city and disrupting lives. On the other hand rainfall is
not consistent during the monsoon to efficiently operate the Akosombo
dam for instance. The normal water level required to operate the dam
efficiently is 278 ft., however, the authorities revealed that the
current water level is only 237 ft., just two feet above minimum
operating level!
[10]
This has resulted in increased ‘Dumsor’ (power shortage). For alternate
power supply, the Government has resorted to importing expensive crude
oil to power the thermal plants. So now one must be prepared to pay
higher power tariffs. Once more, high tariff rates will
disproportionately affect the poor sections of the society!
- Spread of Diseases
Another unpredicted and rather
surprising outcome of climate change is the rise in spread of
vector-borne diseases like malaria. The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) in its third assessment report
[11]
has confirmed that Africa would see an upsurge in spread of
climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria, yellow fever, meningitis,
cholera and dengue. The Regional Institute of Population Studies (RIPS)
at the University of Ghana has also indicated that climate change will
have dire consequences on the health of Ghanaians and the country’s
development
[12].
Furthermore, the research findings by the Institute point out that the
effects of climate change will lead to a high incidence of malaria and
diarrhoea, the transmission of schistosomiasis and other diseases
[13].
- Erosion of Coastal Regions
At the Fourth International Climate
Change Conference on Africa held at the University of Ghana in July
2015, startling research studies about manifestation of climate change
in Ghana’s coastal zone were revealed. The Volta delta region,
especially the Dangbe East District is the most vulnerable to erosion
and rising sea levels. Analysing the data of rising sea levels from
1929-1992, the research team concluded that sea level is rising by 3.1
mm per year along Ghanaian coast. A rise of sea level to 1 meter is
sufficient to inundate the Volta delta area. The towns of Ada and Keta
have witnessed effects of high erosion; one post office at Ada, for
instance has been submerged by the sea already. The fishing communities
particularly at Tema and Akosombo have been affected. They have lost
most landing sites for canoes to erosion. The unemployed Ghanaian
fishermen are forced to migrate to neighbouring countries such as Togo,
Cameroon and Nigeria for alternative livelihood. They are hired as
contract labourers with demeaning employment terms such as staying away
from family for 2-3 years and uncompetitive wages.
Conclusion
Ghana is one of the least contributors
to global warming but one of the most affected nations by climate
change. Being a lower-middle income country, Ghana strives to get into
the league of middle income countries
[14] and climate change should be tackled appropriately to prevent any retrogression in the development of Ghana.
The Ghanaian Government has taken
pro-active steps in adopting the National Climate Change Policy in 2014
to achieve sustainable development through equitable low carbon economic
growth. However, the policy lacks specific timelines for achieving
climate change adaptation strategies and hence it remains just a
compilation of broad guidelines. Aid has also been pouring into Ghana
in the form of Green Climate Fund from the United Nations to strengthen
the Ghanaian capacity to monitor and adapt to climate change issues.
Nonetheless, the issues of climate
change cannot be handled in isolation since its impacts are
multidimensional stirring across sectors including agriculture,
irrigation, fisheries, trade, power, health, industrial and
infrastructural development and social development. Consequently,
effective adaptation to climate change would be amending existing
policies of various impacted sectors to include sector-specific climate
change adaptation strategies.
[2]
‘The Impact of Climate Change and Variability on Heavy Precipitation,
Floods, and Droughts’, KEVIN E TRENBERTH, National Center for
Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA,
http://bit.ly/1DQvwHD
[5]
North-South migration in Ghana: What role for the environment?’, Kees
van der Geest, Environment, Forced Migration & Social Vulnerability,
http://bit.ly/1HJ6Dsx
[8]. ‘Paying attention to unemployment and social dislocation’, 3
rd August 2013, B&FT
[10] ‘Thermal power to the rescue as water level drops’ , B&FT, 27
th July 2015
[14] ‘FOREWORD: THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF GHANA’, National Climate Change Policy 2014
Source: IMANI Africa
Africa's deteriorating economic situation is baffling. The continent's untapped mineral wealth is immense. It has "40 percent of the world's potential hydroelectric power supply; the bulk of the world's diamonds and chromium; 30 percent of the uranium in the non-communist world; 50 percent of the world's gold; 90 percent of its cobalt; 50 percent of its phosphates; 40 percent of its platinum; 7.5 percent of its coal; 8 percent of its known petroleum reserves; 12 percent of its natural gas; 3 per cent of its iron ore; and millions upon millions of acres of untilled farmland. There is not another continent blessed with such abundance and diversity" (Lamb, 1983, 20). Angola, for example, "contains an estimated 11 percent of the world's known reserves of diamonds. Its diamonds are stunning: at an average price of about $140 a carat, with some reaching $350, they are second in quality only to Namibia's, and more than 12 times more valuable than Australia's" (The Economist, 14 September 1996, 68).
