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Key findings from Ghana NCAP Project

Climate Scenario Modeling

Projected evolution of average annual rainfall

Temperatures are expected to increase in Ghana, and by 2080 changes are expected to be the highest during the January to May period (about 4.1°C) and smallest during the summer months (about 3.5°C). The chart above shows average annual rainfall for each of the six ecological zones. Rainfall levels decrease over time for each zone. By 2080, rainfall is expected to decrease between 10% and 16%, with the steepest reductions expected in the rainforest deciduous forest areas of the country.

Vulnerability to Climate Change – Key Linkages

In order to better understand the underlying linkages between climate change and the vulnerability of key groups in Ghana, two studies were undertaken. For information on climate-poverty links in Ghana please see this page, while a summary of climate change issues affecting women is given below:

Main Socio-Economic Pressures Facing Women

Gender and Vulnerability

Given the variety of women’s daily interactions with the environment, they are the social group most implicated by environmental degradation, which includes impacts from climate change. The two key issues that emerged from the study are women’s lack of knowledge of the causes and impacts of climate change and inadequate capital for women for their economic activities. As key stakeholders, women could enhance their roles in national development by being better informed and improving the scientific and technological basis of their livelihood activities with respect to climate change. For more see the Gender and Climate Change page.

Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments – Key Socioeconomic Sectors

For findings from vulnerability assessments in key socioeconomic sectors in Ghana please follow the links below:

Public Health

Fisheries

Agriculture

Land management.

Water Management

Energy

Key Results and Findings for Phase 2

The second phase of the NCAP effort unfolded over the period 2006 to 2008 and sought to build upon and extend the results of the first phase through a closer examination of specific adaptation options and how these could be integrated into policy and planning dialogues. Climate change related impacts do not recognize sectoral boundaries, and Ghana’s traditional, sector-specific planning will be inadequate to meet future climate change challenges. The ‘business-as-usual’ model will potentially miss both salutary and negative interactions between activities undertaken in different sectors. However, since expertise is typically localized within sectoral government offices, university departments, and institutions, a key challenge for effective adaptation planning is to make good use of this expertise while promoting cross-sector interactions.

The Akropong Approach: cross-sectoral planning

Akropong Approach

NCAP Ghana research team introduced a new approach to cross-sector project planning. Dubbed the Akropong Approach (Kemp-Benedict and Agyemang-Bonsu, 2008), it offered a conceptual framework to integrate technical inputs, financial data, and stakeholder perspectives into a unifying, consensus-building, policymaking process. At the methodological level, the Akropong Approach sought to combine several methods that have proven useful in planning activities into an integrated evaluation framework, as outlined below.

  • Logical framework analysis: The Logical Framework Analysis (LFA) facilitates problem identification and policy planning, with an emphasis on tangible objectives with concrete indicators to measure the effectiveness of the policy. The main new element in the approach proposed in this paper is the modified cross-impact analysis. This approach starts with the following assumptions: a) each sector has already taken into account the interactions between its own activities when devising the sector plan; and b) many cross-sector activities do not have important interactions, and only a few should be discussed in detail.
  • Multi-Criteria Analysis: Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) is then used to determine overall preferences among alternative options, where the options are intended to accomplish several objectives. Another step in the approach is scenario analysis, which includes both quantitative and analytical, and qualitative components (i.e. creative and forward-thinking description of possible future events that might affect the outcomes of the policies).

Adaptation Prioritization

Prioritisation of adaptation options

The key output of using the Akropong Approach within the series of workshops described above was a nationally prioritized list of adaptation activities as shown in Table 4.1 below. At the end of the prioritization process, there was a clear perception across the participating stakeholder groups, whatever their level (e.g. minister or farmer) or affiliation (e.g. agriculture, health) that the potential impact of climate change on Ghana’s economy is a clear threat to achieving the nation’s desirable development objectives.

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Methodology of Ghana NCAP Project

Ghana NCAP Project

Netherlands Climate Assistance Programme (NCAP)

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Lessons learned from Ghana NCAP Project

NCAP Ghana Sectoral Assessments

Public Health

Fisheries

Agriculture

Land management.

Water Management

Energy

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