THE AFRICA-ASIA ADAPTATION FORUM 1-2 OCTOBER 2012 NAIROBI KENYA FRANCIS NANABANYIN MILLS NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION

OUTLINE  Introduction  Geography/ of Ghana  The climate /vegetation of the three northern regions  Drought- a historical perspective  Policy Response-national and in the three northern regions  The Pilot African Adaptation Programme project in the Sissala District

INTRODUCTION  Ghana, like many other African countries, faces enormous social, economic and environmental challenges that are likely to be exacerbated by the impacts of . At both the individual and the national levels, climate change is of serious concern because of the nation's over dependence on climate-sensitive sectors, such as hydro-power generation, agriculture, fisheries and wildlife resources.  Projections indicate that temperature will continue to rise. INTRODUCTION  In Ghana, the experience of continuous drought conditions in 1982/83 causing wild bush fires throughout most parts of the country causing extensive damage to farms, forest, flora and fauna and the land has triggered a number of actions at all levels, national ,regional, district and individual.

INTRODUCTION  Reductions in rainfall is already impacting on -fed agriculture and hydro-power outages, causing significant decreases in industrial production. The rural poor, especially in the northern , affected by frequent droughts and annual flooding, are forced to adopt non-sustainable measures such as migration, farming and building in flood plains. These in turn increase their vulnerability and make the fight against poverty increasingly difficult.

GEOGRAPHY/CLIMATE  Location Ghana lies between latitudes 4o 44' and 11o 15' N and longitudes 3o 15' W and 1o 12' E with a land area of 238,539 km2.  Administration The country is divided into ten regions ,with each region subdivided into districts . Accra is the capital.

 Climate The climate of Ghana is tropical, influenced by two prevailing winds which determine the two main -the dry and wet seasons Wet - last from May to October, peaks in August in the south and from June to September in the north, Dry season- starts from September, peaks in January,length and severity decreases southwards

THE TEN REGIONS OF GHANA Vegetation and agro ecological zones of Ghana  Ghana is divided into six agro-ecological zones, namely Sudan, Guinea and Coastal Savanna zones, the Forest-Savanna Transitional zone, the Semi-deciduous Forest and the High Rainforest Zones. The three northern regions fall within the first two agro-ecological zones. Vegetation and agro ecological zones of Ghana

 The Sudan Savanna-this covers an estimated area of 1,900 km2 and consists of short drought and fire resistant deciduous trees interspersed with open savanna grassland. Grass cover is very sparse and in most areas the land is bare and severely eroded. Vegetation and agro ecological zones of Ghana  The Guinea Savanna –this also covers almost the northern two-thirds of the country with an area of 147,900 km2. The vegetation consists typically of a ground cover of grasses of varying heights interspersed with fire resistant, deciduous, broad- leaved trees at the forest margins. This grades into a more open grassland with widely spaced shorter trees towards the north. Vegetation and ecological zones CLIMATE AND VEGETATION IN THE DROUGHT PRONE THREE NORTHERN REGIONS

 The Sudan Savanna zone is characterized by a uni-modal rainfall regime lasting 5-6 months and a long dry period of 6 - 7 months in a year. Average annual rainfall, temperature, relative , wind speed, sunshine hours and solar radiation are 885 mm, 28.6oC, 54%, 81 km/day, 7.9 hours and 20.4 MJ/m2/day respectively. Potential evaporation is 1652 mm per annum and the annual aridity index is 0.60.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION IN THE DROUGHT PRONE THREE NORTHERN REGIONS

 The Guinea Savanna experiences a similar rainfall pattern as in the Sudan Savanna zone. Average annual rainfall, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, sunshine hours and solar radiation are 1033 mm, 28.1oC, 61%, 138 km/day, 7.3 hours and 19.6 MJ/m2/day respectively. Potential evaporation is 1720 mm per annum and the annual aridity index is 0.60.

Drought adaptation measures: a historical perspective  Drought is a naturally occurring phenomenon when precipitation falls below normal recorded levels. Human activity can however influence climatic change and accelerate drought and its attendant desertification. The adverse effects of drought and desertification on land resource production systems and water resources lead to poverty and suffering for people in the affected areas.

 Efforts towards drought management and mitigation should be directed, among others, at the development of early warning systems, contingency plans for drought relief schemes, contingency crop planning and dry season farming.

Drought adaptation measures: a historical perspective  The Pre-independence Era Two main policies were pursued A. Forest Conservation  Aimed at halting desert encroachment and mitigate drought conditions. Forest reserves were established to:  protect the headwaters of streams  Shelterbelt reserves were created in the path of the prevailing north-south drying winds  Act as barriers along the fringes of the forests  Provide timber and wood products in accessible areas for demands not met in the protective reserves. .

Measures adopted

 Watershed protection  Forest reservation  Fuelwood plantations  Demarcation, fencing and re-seeding of grazing areas.  Dam construction for seasonal irrigation farming and fish farming.  Soil conservation measures including contour bank construction on arable lands.  Sinking of wells  Construction of roads  Fish farming  Community participation  Introduction of appropriate land preparation methods

The historical perspective C’td

B. The Land Planning Approach Objective: to resettle populations in less degraded lands in order to undertake measures to restore the environment and resource conditions of the degraded areas. Soil Conservation and Land Planning Ordinance (1953). Achievements of the Land P/lanning approach

By 1959 seven land planning areas had been established in the northern savanna areas and the following had been achieved:  12,400 acres (4960 ha) of water impounded

 640 km of narrow based contour banks constructed serving 30720 acres (12288 ha) of land

Achievements of the Land P/lanning approach

 1976 acres (800 ha) of land unsuited to arable crop cultivation fenced and partially re-seeded as grazing camps

 4130 acres (1,670 ha) re-afforested

 790 acres (320 ha) of bonded rice fields and 300acres(120 ha) of dry season gardens developed  Mixed farms using bullock ploughs increased from 100 in 1949 to 3000 in 1959 (Pitman and Ramsey 1959).

The post independence era Major extended periods of dryness :  1968-73, 1982-85 and 1990-92 and 1983.  1981-1983, was very severe. 1. adversely affected land resources production systems in Ghana, especially soil quality, supplies, vegetation and crops. 2. The results were shortages in food production, famine and a general decline in human livelihood

National level response  Tree planting/afforestation schemes  Construction of small holder dams  Small scale irrigation schemes  Research into and provision of drought resistent crops  Zero burning sensitisation intensified  Enactment of laws against bush burning  Early warning systems

Response measures C’td  Zero grazing methods encouraged  Provision of bore holes  Mainstreamng of CCDRR/Adaptation into district and national devt plans  Promotion of the use of LPG as an alternative to charcoal  National Action Progamme for Dessertification and Drought(NAP The African Adaptation Progamme(AAP)in Ghana What is it ? A stategic innitiative aimed at creating an environment for more informed and capable adaptation decisions and practice. -Funded by Japan and operates in 20 african countries -National projects are designed to further develop country capacity to succesfully implement adaptation and DRR in line with national develpment goals

Project profile  Funding-Japanese Government  Total project budget-$2,790,900  Executing Agency-Minstry Of Environment Science And Technology(MEST)  Implementing Agency-EPA  Project partners- NADMO,Gmet,Mofep,NDPC,Care  Tech.Support- UNDP

UNDP AAP PROJECT IN SISSALA EAST DISTRICT Focus- on three main thematic areas:  Climate Change & Disaster Risk Reduction Awareness Creation  Providing Alternative Livelihoods to Women Groups;  Establishing Agro-Forestry Plantation Demonstration Farms. Two Non Governmental Organizations; Action for Sustainable Development (ASUDEV) and Youth Action for Reproductive Order (YARO) have also been chosen to partner the DA in implementing the Alternative Livelihoods to Women Groups and Agro-Forestry

SITUATION BEFORE THE AAP INTERVENTION  Little or no awareness on climate change issues  indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal production  Little or no conscious effort to grow trees  Women are culturally forbidden from owning cattle and sheep which are considered as ‘black animals’.  Little or no awareness on climate change issues  indiscriminate felling of trees for charcoal production  Little or no conscious effort to grow trees  Women are culturally forbidden from owning cattle and sheep which are considered as ‘black animals’.

PROJECT RESULTS /MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS  Nine(9) communities have increased knowledge on climate change adaptation and resilience  45 women groups with total membership of 225 trained on small ruminant production  225 small ruminants (sheep and goats) supplied to the 45 women beneficiary groups  Reduced socio-cultural barriers in the communities that inhibit women quest to engage in small ruminant production.  A total of 20 acres of 2000 mango plantation established  40 volunteers trained to fight against bush fires in 5 selected communities. SENSITIZATION OF COMMUNITY Distribution of small ruminants Project staff on monitoring Free range animals before project Project sensitisation team at banu community Pilot farms Pilot farms C’td Tree planting CHALLENGES  bad roads at the peak of the rainy season  Delay in the release of project funds hinder project implementation schedules

 The absence of standard and comprehensive reporting guidelines/formats posed challenge to partner reporting  The uncooperative attitude of some members of target communities challenging  Project could not cover many communities who had shown  Lack of fencing exposed the saplings to animals.  Lack of access to nearby sources water in the dry season .  Waned enthusiasm among communities , work on the plantations left to the plantation development committees thereby placing some untold pressure on them.  Inadequate motivation for the plantation development committees.  Weed control was a problem.

LESSONS LEARNT  The district’s climatic and geographical location exposes it to serious threats of climate change but few adaptation and resilience opportunities exist for the people  Women are enthusiastic and will defy the socio- cultural barriers to produce and own small ruminants to increase their incomes if they are given some support as done under this project. LESSONS LEARNT  A preparedness to accept adapting measures against deforestation due to the very significant level of knowledge acquisition and awareness on particularly the causes and negative effects of climate change, a situation that was hitherto non-existent.  A strong desire had been built on economic trees planting as a livelihood sustaining option , particularly mango trees, as individuals made requests for seedlings that could not be met.  There was a general willingness to release land by land owners (chiefs) of beneficiary communities for the plantations development.  Conclusions

 Drought as a consequence of climate change is a real threat to ghana,especially the three northern regions

 The ,in collabotration with international organisations ,District Assemblies,local communities and civil society organisations ,is putting adaptation measures in place to contain the threat Conclusions

 The adaptation measures adopted are : 1.Long term orriented 2.a continuous process 3.focuses on livelihood security 4. targeted planning 5.Focuses on finding alternatives 6.uses resources efficiently 7.results oriented and practical

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