climate change, water and disasters

CLIMATE CHANGE, WATER AND DISASTERS Perspectives from Ghana’s Three Northern Regions Prepared By:

Delali B. Dovie

Other Contributors:

Conrad Weobong Francis Obeng Ben Ampomah

Sponsor:

WRC-CCA Report Series No. 1, 2010

CLIMATE CHANGE, WATER AND DISASTERS: Perspectives from Ghana’s Three Northern Regions

This is a publication of the Water Resources Commission of Ghana, under the project “Climate Change Adaptation through Integrated Water Resources Management in the Three Northern Regions of Ghana”.

© 2010 Water Resources Commission, Accra All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical for commercial purposes without prior permission in writing from the Water Resources Commission. Front Cover Photos (Delali Dovie) Top : 2010 Black Volta Flooding of Buipe, Central Gonja Bottom Left : Flooding in Nasia Basin of the White Volta, West Mamprusi Bottom Right : Dried White Volta Channel in Bognore, Bawku Central Back Cover Photos (Delali Dovie) Top : Dry Season Farming in Anayare River Basin, Kassena-Nankana East Bottom : Dried Dug-Out in Balungu, Bongo District Other Content Photos (Delali Dovie) Cover Design by

: Delali Dovie and Eric Sam

Typesetting

: Delali Dovie

Forthcoming (in 2011): Climate Change Adaptation: A Primer for Water Conservation, Flood Risk Reduction and Irrigation Strategy for Northern Ghana. WRC-CCA Report Series No. 2

Water Resources Commission, Accra


TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................................................................................................. I Acknowledgement ...............................................................................................................................II Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................ III Major Recommendations................................................................................................................... IV List of Acronyms ...................................................................................................................................V

1.

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................1

1.1.

Vulnerability to Climate Change .........................................................................................1

1.2.

Impacts of Climate Change and Variability .......................................................................2

1.3.

Definitions Adopted for this Report ....................................................................................3

1.3.1.

Flood and Flooding.................................................................................................................3

1.3.2.

Drought ...................................................................................................................................3

1.3.3.

Desertification .........................................................................................................................3

1.3.4.

Extreme Weather Event ........................................................................................................3

1.3.5.

Infrastructure...........................................................................................................................4

1.3.6.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) ..........................................................4

1.3.7.

Vulnerability............................................................................................................................4

1.3.8.

Hazard .....................................................................................................................................4

1.3.9.

Mitigation ................................................................................................................................4

2.

BACKGROUND – CONTEXT OF GHANA.....................................................................5

2.1.

Ghana’s Climate and Expected Trajectories .......................................................................5

2.2.

Inventory of Climate Change Impacts through Water Resources ..................................6

2.3.

Focus of Report........................................................................................................................6

2.4.

The Importance of the Three Northern Regions.................................................................7

3.

FLOOD DISASTER OCCURRENCE AND IMPACTS: LOCAL PERSPECTIVES ...8

3.1.

Regional Occurrence and Distribution in the North .........................................................8

3.2.

Flood Description, Severity and Effects...............................................................................8

3.3.

Coping and Adaptation to Effects of Flooding ................................................................10

3.4.

Indigenous and Local Indicators and Early Warning of Flooding ...............................10

3.5.

Flooding, Agriculture and Livelihood Linkages .............................................................11 Water Resources Commission, Accra


4.

DROUGHT DISASTER OCCURRENCE AND IMPACTS: LOCAL PERSPECTIVES ......................................................................................................................13

4.1.

Regional Occurrence and Distribution in the North ..........................................................13

4.2.

Drought Description, Severity and Effects...........................................................................13

4.3.

Coping and Adaptation to Effects of Drought ...................................................................14

4.4.

Indigenous and Local Indicators, and Early Warning of Droughts .................................15

4.5.

Drought, Agriculture and Livelihood Linkages..................................................................16

5.

LOCAL VIEWS ABOUT LOCAL RESPONSE TO FLOODS AND DROUGHTS.....17

5.1.

Pre-Disaster ..............................................................................................................................17

5.2.

During Disaster........................................................................................................................18

5.3

Post-Disaster.............................................................................................................................18

6.

LOCAL ANALYSIS OF STAKEHOLDERS, FLOOD AND DROUGHT DISASTER MANAGEMENT ..............................................................................................19

6.1.

Government..............................................................................................................................19

6.2.

Non-Governmental And Multi-National Agencies ............................................................20

6.3.

Local Communities..................................................................................................................20

6.4.

Enumeration of Agencies / Organizations Associated With Disasters, By Local People ........................................................................................................................................21

6.5.

Investable Community-Based Projects Linking Disasters .................................................22

7.

INDIGENOUS INSTITUTIONS IN DISASTER PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT ....................................................................................................................24

7.1.

Relevance in the Northern Regions.......................................................................................24

7.2.

As Mechanism for Coping with Disasters............................................................................24

8.

SYNTHESIS AND WAY FORWARD.................................................................................25

9.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.................................................................................................27 REFERENCES .........................................................................................................................28



I

Foreword The Water Resources Commission (WRC) of Ghana in 2009 launched a 2-year climate change project, Climate Change Adaptation through Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) with focus on the three Northern Regions of Ghana and funded with assistance from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). The project aimed to mainstream various aspects of climate change into WRC’s IWRM framework and to further strengthen adaptability towards changes in water resources availability at the basin and community level resulting from climate change and variability. The WRC in 2009 commissioned a study to catalogue disasters, preparedness and measures that have already been implemented by a diversity of stakeholders in the three northern regions (i.e. Upper East, Upper West, Northern). Traditional and indigenous responses of the local population to disasters were examined and their effectiveness and sustainability of own strategies evaluated. Four disasters were examined (i) floods / flooding, (ii) drought and dry spells, (iii) famine, and (iv) wildfires / bush fires, however this report lays emphasis on floods and droughts. The report, therefore, examines the effects of flood and drought disasters on the biophysical environment, and implications for the local human population. The livelihoods of human demographic groups and associated vulnerabilities were identified. The report reviews how local populations respond to the disasters or stress factors in (i) the short term, and defined as Coping, and (ii) long term, as Adaptation, and providing transition between these two, using information from the local people. The report further assesses and evaluates the efficiency, sustainability and patronage of available Early Warning Systems and Information, emphasising local indicators within external context. In-depth analysis of disaster preparedness and preventive plans in the northern regions and ways to improve them were documented with associated agencies / organisations, and their contributions. The report concludes by taking a look at disaster management as a process and thus requiring concrete and investable action plans towards building community resilience and diversified livelihoods. The report is intended to share lessons from local people in their own environments and who they work with in times of disasters, and understanding their environment, hence not all data may be consistent with popular knowledge, or science. Thus, providing an entry point for research, policy and planning, and practical interventions. Ben Ampomah, Ag. Executive Secretary WRC, Accra Water Resources Commission, Accra

II


Acknowledgement We are grateful to the Embassy of Denmark in Accra, representing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Denmark through its International Development Cooperation Agency, DANIDA for the financial support to the Climate Change Adaptation Project. This report on the inventory of climate change related disasters, how they are being managed and the way forward remains an important project output made possible by the DANIDA funding. We would also like to thank DHI Water, Environment and Health, Denmark for their technical support and the urgency with which they worked with the project coordinating unit within WRC. Additionally, we are highly appreciative of the leadership shown by the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources at the University for Development Studies (UDS) for making the assignment one of their own to deliver very relevant results. Several community opinion leaders, men and women, children and the deprived, traditional authorities and practitioners, indigenous groups, policymakers, researchers, the District Assemblies and their functionaries across the three regions were involved in the facts finding mission for which we are extremely thankful. We are also indebted to the following specific organisations working in the three northern regions for their involvement in the validation of the document with complementary data and other forms of support including a workshop discussion. They are: National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Forestry Commission (FC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), Hydrological Services Department (HSD), Ministry of Health (MoH), WRC White Volta Basin Office (WVBO), Research Institutions [i.e. UDS, Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Animal Research Institute (ARI), Crop Research Institute (CRI), and Water Research Institute (WRI)], NGOs (e.g. Centre for Human and Environmental Security (CHES), Catholic Relief Service, Care-Ghana, SNV, Action Aid, Association of Church Development Projects (ACDEP), World Vision). We owe many thanks to the following individuals for contributing to the processes that resulted in this report: Mr Conrad Weobong (UDS, Team Leader), Dr. Francis Obeng, Dr. Richard Yeboah, Mr Felix Abagale (UDS); Mr Ben Ampomah, Mr Aaron Aduna, Mr Joachim Ayiiwe, Ms Ruheya Rahman, Dr. Delali Dovie (WRC).



III

Executive Summary Natural disasters such as floods, droughts, wildfires and famine have characterised the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana for decades and are now becoming more frequent and intense. Whilst the disasters, especially flooding have led to seasonal stress among inhabitants, vulnerable communities have adopted own coping strategies contrary to perceptions that they always relied on outside interventions. Vulnerable communities have evolved mechanisms for coping with such situations, engaging their traditional institutions and practices. They have dealt with short term relief to sustained action and preparedness to address seasonal stresses and aftershocks usually not immediately visible to the outsider. External support agents, however, more often than not unaware of these existing mechanisms may tend to descend on disaster affected communities to set up their own structures to implement “brigade” type support for a short period and leave. Such interventions either miss the real vulnerable people because they are usually not readily visible or not able to speak out and at times rendering the support of most external interventions irrelevant. The emphasis of this report is on floods and drought as key indicators of the impacts of climate change through water resources in the three northern regions and the stress imposed on human security. Loss of crops and arable lands, livestock, seed and grain banks, destruction of physical infrastructure such as buildings, bridges, and roads, as well as the breaching of dams are a common feature of flood disasters. The drying of water resources, reduction in groundwater levels, land cover and vegetation reduction, and land degradation have been associated with droughts in the northern regions. Coping strategies have involved self help, solidarity of households and informal social networks based on neighbourhood, kinship, clansmen, friends and relatives, and religious ties. It has been found that the knowledge of local communities on disaster prediction and preparedness is unique and profound such that they can make interventions more effective. Thus, integrating indigenous knowledge and modern communication technology could offer a powerful means for effective response to disasters. Because disasters are recurring and perpetuated by the vulnerability of livelihoods, it is important that disaster management programming should focus increasingly on addressing the causes of vulnerability in order to mitigate the effects of disasters.



IV

Major Recommendations i. Heterogeneity of society should be given priority in disaster prevention and management at all levels of disaster preparedness planning. Thus, heterogeneity allows for the building of hierarchy and typologies for vulnerability targeting and that vulnerable people do not have the same need.

ii. Disaster management in practice should define levels for vulnerability targeting based on the expected degree of effects and the outcomes. Targeting, if appropriately done will provide specific interventions for vulnerable categories such as female headed households, small size households, households with lowest literacy rates and low income, households having more children, the elderly, the sick and physically challenged.

iii. Pre-disaster inventories and community mapping of hotspots of floods and droughts should provide the baseline for downscaling contingency plans to capture specific needs and interventions at the local level.

iv. Modern early warning systems should integrate traditional knowledge by developing a calibration system to match these two.

v. External interveners should work to strengthen the capacities of local institutions by providing community organisational development support that enables local people to better mobilise their resources and skills. Such support should lead to the development and implementation of localised action plans.

vi. Disaster prevention should help diversify livelihood options and build resilience. For water and farming, this could come through the adoption of innovative water harvesting and storage techniques, local seed exchanges, and integration of landraces with drought and water tolerant crop breeds.

vii. Disaster prevention and management should pay attention to obtaining as much information as possible about societal knowledge of coping, adaptation and livelihood mechanisms and associated management practices. It may be done through different methods, but one of the best ways is to ask and listen to the potential victims themselves. Such information, mostly inventories can be used to downscale national contingency plans to the community level, subcatchments, district, region, catchments and a feedback into national action plans for robustness.

viii. Prioritise disaster risk reduction at the national level through improved risk information and early warning, strengthen preparedness and response (community resilience), build understanding and awareness and reduce disaster risks in key sectors.



List of Acronyms ACDEP

Association of Church Development Projects

ADPC

Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre

ADRA

Adventist Development and Relief Agency

ARI

Animal Research Institute

AVC

Agricultural Value Chain

CBOs

Community Based Organisations

CDM

Clean Development Mechanisms

CDP

Clean Development Products

CDT

Clean Development Technologies

CEPS

Customs, Excise and Preventive Services

CHES

Centre for Human and Environmental Security

CRI

Crop Research Institute

CRS

Catholic Relief Services

DANIDA

Danish Development Agency

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

FAO

UN Food and Agriculture Organisation

FC

Forestry Commission

FSD

Forest Services Division

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GMet

Ghana Meteorological Agency

GMOs

Genetically Modified Organisms

GNFS

Ghana National Fire Service

GPRS

Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy

GPRTU

Ghana Private Road Transport Union

GWCL

Ghana Water Company Limited

GWP

Global Water Partnership

IPCC

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

IWRM

Integrated Water Resources Management

MDG

Millennium Development Goal

MMDAs

Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies

MoFA

Ministry of Food and Agriculture

NADMO

National Disaster Management Organisation

NCP

National Contingency Plan

NGO

Non-Governmental Organization

NR

Northern Region

SARI

Savannah Agricultural Research Institute

SMME

Small, Micro and Medium Enterprises

SNV

Schweizariacha Norman-Vereirigung

UDS

University for Development Studies


V

VI


UER

Upper East Region

UN

United Nations

UNDP

United Nations Development Programme

UNECA

UN Economic Commission for Africa

UNFCCC

UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

UNHCR

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

UNICEF

United Nations Children's Fund

UN-OCHA

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

USAID

United States Agency for International Development

UWR

Upper West Region

VIM

Vulnerability Identity Matrix

WASH

Water and Sanitation Health

WFP

World Food Programme

WRC

Water Resources Commission

WRI

Water Research Institute

WVBO

WRC White Volta Basin Office



1

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Vulnerability to Climate Change The new reality of development facing scientists and policymakers is understanding how the impacts of climate change and variability are being felt by society and the commensurate ways to intervene. These impacts may in fact manifest through the form and frequency of the occurrence of climate related disasters such as floods, droughts, wildfires, and famine. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2007 Report gives detailed climate projections for the 21st century that show that global warming will continue, and accelerate. It predicts that there would be a 1.8°C to as much as 4° C rise in global average temperatures by 2100 (IPCC 2007). As a result of global warming, the type, frequency and intensity of extreme events such as tropical storms, floods, droughts and heavy precipitation events, are expected to rise even with relatively small average temperature increases. Changes in some types of extreme events have already been observed, for example, increases in the frequency and intensity of heat waves and heavy precipitation events (Meehl et al. 2007). African countries are amongst the most vulnerable countries to climate change and climate variability, a situation aggravated by the interaction of ‘multiple stresses’, occurring at various levels, with accompanying low adaptive capacity (Boko et al. 2007). The climate of the continent is controlled by complex maritime and terrestrial interactions that produce a variety of climates across a range of regions, e.g. from the humid tropics to the hyper-arid Sahara. Climate exerts a significant control on the day-to-day economic and development activities of Africa, particularly for the agricultural and water resources sectors, at regional, local, human community and household scales. Many areas in Africa are recognized as having climates that are among the most variable in the world on seasonal and decadal time scales. Floods and droughts can occur in the same area within months of each other. Annual rainfall also differs significantly between neighbouring villages or farms. During the 1985 wet season, for instance, Flitcroft et al (1989) observed nearly a 2-fold difference in total rainfall between sites 14 km apart in the Sahel. There is also large temporal and spatial variability within seasons (Nicholson and Palao 1993). In general, the less the total rainfall, the greater the variability experienced (Jackson 1989). Temperatures in Africa are showing a greater warming trend since the 1960s. Although these trends seem to be consistent over the continent, the changes are not always uniform. Decadal warming rates of 0.29°C in the African tropical forests (Malhi and Wright 2004) and 0.1 to 0.3°C in South Africa (Kruger and Shongwe 2004) have been observed. In South Africa and Ethiopia, minimum temperatures have increased slightly faster than maximum or mean temperatures (Conway et al. 2004, Kruger and Shongwe 2004). Similarly, between 1961 and 2000, there was an increase in the number of warm spells over southern and western Africa, and a decrease in the number of extremely cold days (New et al. 2006). In eastern Africa, decreasing trends in temperature from weather stations located close to the coast or to major inland lakes have been observed (King’uyu et al. 2000). Water Resources Commission, Accra

2 1.2.


Impacts of Climate Change and Variability

The climate in Africa is predicted to become more variable, and extreme weather events are expected to be more frequent and severe. These include increasing risks of droughts and flooding (Few et al. 2004, Christensen et al. 2007) and inundation due to sea-level rise in coastal areas (Nicholls 2004, McMichael et al. 2006). Rainfall exhibits notable spatial and temporal variability, with large interannual rainfall variability over most of Africa and, for some regions, multi-decadal variability is substantial. In West Africa a decline in annual rainfall has been observed since the end of the 1960s, with a decrease of 20 to 40% noted between the periods 1931-1960 and 1968-1990 (Nicholson et al. 2000, Chappell and Agnew 2004, Dai et al. 2004). In the tropical rain-forest zone, declines in mean annual precipitation of around 4% in West Africa, 3% in North Congo and 2% in South Congo for the period 1960 to 1998 have been noted (Malhi and Wright 2004). Increased interannual variability has, however, been observed in the post-1970 period, with higher rainfall anomalies and more intense and widespread droughts reported (e.g. Richard et al. 2001, Fauchereau et al. 2003). In different parts of southern Africa (e.g. Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia), a significant increase in heavy rainfall events has also been observed (Usman and Reason 2004), including evidence of changes in seasonality and weather extremes (Tadross et al. 2005, New et al. 2006). Eastern Africa has been experiencing an intensifying dipole rainfall pattern on the decadal time-scale, characterised by increasing rainfall over the northern sector and declining amounts over the southern sector (Schreck and Semazzi 2004). The IPCC projects that by 2020, between 75 and 250 million people globally are to be exposed to increased water stress due to climate change (IPCC 2007), adversely affecting livelihoods and exacerbating water-related problems. Agricultural production, including access to food, in many African countries and regions is projected to be severely compromised by climate change and variability due to water stress. The area suitable for agriculture, the length of growing seasons and yield potential, particularly along the margins of semi-arid and arid areas, are expected to decrease. This would further adversely affect food security and deteriorate malnutrition on the African continent. In some countries, yields from rainfed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% by 2020, with countries facing a 2-9% decrease of GDP from agriculture (FAO 2007). Local fish supplies are predicted to be negatively affected by decreasing fisheries resources in large lakes due to rising water temperatures, which may be worsened by continued overfishing. Conscious efforts at adaptation are, therefore, required to minimise the expected impacts of climate change on society. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has shown some direction internationally to mitigate climate change and to adapt to its impacts (UNFCCC 2007). However, such direction will be meaningless unless properly and relevantly downscaled to, and interpreted within local contexts.



1.3.

Definitions Adopted for this Report

1.3.1.

Flood and Flooding

3

The term ‘flood(s)’ is used to refer to flood as a hazard or phenomenon. ‘Flooding’ refers to the disastrous impact of the flood. Normal floods are expected and generally welcomed in many parts of the world as they provide rich soil, water and a means of transport, but flooding at an unexpected scale (damaging flood) and with excessive frequency causes damage to life, livelihoods and the environment (ADPC and UNDP 2005). Local interpretations of flood represent the situation whereby precipitation exceeds evaporation and as such water remains on the ground above normal levels, and when there is excess water on the surface of the earth and causing harm. 1.3.2.

Drought

The phenomenon that exists when precipitation has been significantly below normal recorded levels, causing serious hydrological imbalances that adversely affect land resource production systems (Gitay et al. 2002). Local interpretations of droughts means longer periods of dryness (as opposed to shorter periods known as Dry Spells) and as such during these situations there is limited or no water and also categorised into hydrological and agricultural drought, causing damage to biophysical resources. 1.3.3.

Desertification

This is land degradation in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities. The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification defines land degradation as a reduction or loss in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas of the biological or economic productivity and complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest, and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i) soil erosion caused by wind and/or water; (ii) deterioration of the physical, chemical, and biological or economic properties of soil; and (iii) long-term loss of natural vegetation (Gitay et al. 2002). 1.3.4.

Extreme Weather Event

An extreme weather event is an event that is rare within its statistical reference distribution at a particular place. Definitions of “rare” vary, but an extreme weather event would normally be as rare as or rarer than the 10th or 90th percentile. Therefore by definition, the characteristics of what is called extreme weather may vary (Bates et al. 2008).



4 1.3.5.

Infrastructure

The basic equipment, utilities, productive enterprises, installations, and services essential for the development, operation, and growth of an organisation, city, or nation (Bates et al. 2008). 1.3.6.

Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM)

A way to maximize water quality and quantity to meet water needs for consumptive use and aquatic ecosystems by integrating water and land-use decision-making by local and regional agencies. IWRM is based on four principles that were formulated by the International Conference on Water and the Environment in Dublin, 1992. (1) fresh water is a finite and vulnerable resource, essential to sustain life, development and the environment; (2) water development and management should be based on a participatory approach, involving users, planners and policymakers at all levels; (3) women play a central part in the provision, management and safeguarding of water; (4) water has an economic value in all its competing uses and should be recognised as an economic good (Global Water Partnership, GWP 2004, Bates et al. 2008). 1.3.7.

Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes. Vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate change and variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity (Adger et al. 2007, Bates et al. 2008). 1.3.8.

Hazard

A potentially damaging physical event , human activity or phenomenon that has potential to cause loss of life or injury, property damage, socio-economic disruption of life and environmental degradation, among others. Disaster = Hazard + Vulnerability; Risk = (Hazard X Vulnerability)/Capacity. 1.3.9.

Mitigation

Short and long term actions, programmes or policies in advance of a natural hazard or in its early stages, to reduce the degree of risk to people, property and productive capacity.



5

2. BACKGROUND – CONTEXT OF GHANA 2.1. Ghana’s Climate and Expected Trajectories For the past three decades, the agro climatic regimes across Ghana are known to have experienced variations in terms of temperature and rainfall. Minia et al (2004) predicted in a model that temperature will continue to rise and rainfall decreasing in all agro-ecological zones of Ghana. It has similarly been observed that a 10% change in precipitation or a 1ºC rise in temperature can cause a reduction in water overflow of not less than 10%. Scenarios show that there will be reduction in water flows between 15-20% and 30-40%, for the year 2020 and 2050, respectively (WRI 2000, Minia et al. 2004, Owusu and Waylen 2009). Average annual temperatures are estimated to increase between 0.8°C and 5.4°C for the years 2020 and 2080 respectively, with accompanying average annual rainfall total estimated to decline by between 1.1%, and 20.5%. In Ghana, the challenge of climate change and variability and impacts are heightened by enormous gaps in scientific and institutional capacity linking vulnerability to climate change and variability impacts, adaptation and mitigation. The Northern Savannah is expected to witness the widest range of temperature variability (World Bank 2009), with accompanied significant influences on precipitation and rainfall. One of the greatest influences of climate change on the environment has been on desertification. About a decade ago, the estimated proportion of total land area of Ghana prone to desertification was 35% (about 83,489 km²) with the Upper East and eastern part of the Northern Region contributing 33% (about 78,718 km2) of the total land area of the country facing the hazard (EPA 2003). A recent assessment indicates that the land area prone to desertification has almost doubled. At the centre of these changes, projected to be on the increase especially in the northern regions is the diminishing duration of precipitation in that part of the country (Minia et al. 2004, World Bank 2009), with declining rainfall (Owusu and Waylen 2009). This is because water is the key medium that links atmospheric temperature rise to changes in human and physical systems. Climate change will alter the water cycle in many ways and thus alter the temporal and spatial patterns of rainfall with consequences for runoff, surface and groundwater storage, river flow regimes and estimated greater likelihood of extremes. Such extremes will be expressed through droughts and floods occurring in different places at various magnitudes and intensities (Bates et al. 2008). The major droughts of 1968-73, 1982-85 and 1990-92, in Ghana, particularly that of 1983 caused serious hydrological imbalances that adversely affected productivity of ecosystems and their characteristics, especially soil quality, fresh water supplies, vegetation and crops. The results were shortages in food production, famine and a general decline in human livelihood and loss of wildlife (EPA 2003). These droughts led to concomitant occurrences of wildfires (bushfires) reducing flora and fauna, resulting in diminished vigour of ecosystems and their functionality. This could be beneficial to some other life forms of the ecosystem as opportunity to regenerate through a natural disturbance process (but ought to be studied further through fire studies). Water Resources Commission, Accra

6


The numerous climate variability events occurring in Ghana are potential developmental risks, but are unfortunately considered often by society as “normal” and just part of land based livelihood activities (Dovie 2009). Nationally, growth and development strategies that emphasize poverty reduction are often alienated from the influences of extreme weather events and how to respond to them (e.g. GPRS). These perceptions are worsened by the scanty scientific activities that seek to bring the issue of climate change impacts to the doorsteps of the poor in society, policymakers and development planners. 2.2.

Inventory of Climate Change Impacts through Water Resources

The 2007 IPCC report emphasises water as the eye of the climate management storm as global warming and related climate changes are predicted to present significant challenges over the next century (IPCC 2007). To date, several dimensions of temperature and sea level rise are known to be at the core of climate change, and in some cases, the consequences, such as changes in rainfall and the risk of more intense floods and droughts are well documented (GWP-TEC 2007). However, the understanding of how to cope with the potential impact of climate change on the water environment at regional, national and local level is not well known due to very limited investigations (GWP-TEC 2007). The IPCC 2007 report made it clear that adaptation measures are necessary no matter the scale or consideration of mitigation measures. It is important that before adaptation or mitigation measures and interventions are carried out in response to the impacts of climate change and variability, there is the need for indepth knowledge of such impacts and interventions. These may be in existence and / or expected, as well as the nature; local, indigenous or external. Thus, mapping of disasters encompassing impacts and adaptation will help to define appropriate governance and operational mechanisms that will be required to manage ensuing extreme events.

2.3.

Focus of Report

Whilst it is acknowledged that there are several disasters both man-made and artificial (e.g. Floods, Droughts, Fires, Famine, Earthquakes, Social Conflicts, Chemical Spillage, Disease Outbreak and Pestilence), the emphasis of this document is on inventorying floods and droughts in the three northern regions of Ghana, namely the Northern, Upper East and West Regions in the context of climate change vulnerability, water resources and adaptation. The importance of this inventory is to ensure that water resource as a natural resource can sustainably provide the range of products and services required for social, economic and environmental adaptation. Additionally, the inventories will help to unearth the externalities emerging from the “bad” that climate change may bring with it and how such externalities of water related hazards or disasters can support future adaptation, and mitigation. For example, more water from flood days can be stored for future use especially during dry periods for direct irrigation or recharging groundwater. Water Resources Commission, Accra


7

2.4. The Importance of the Three Northern Regions The Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions of Ghana harbour the poorest 30% of the population in the country. It is estimated that 70% of the population in the three regions live below the national poverty line, as compared to the national average of 27% (Ghana Statistical Service 2000), and thus, demonstrating high poverty indices (Fig 1). As a result, the regions are characterised by increasing exposure to the effects and impacts of climate change and variability through increased livelihood vulnerability. Changing landscapes through desertification has been on an increase (EPA 2003), and as a result adding to the greater exposure units of the environment to the impacts of climate change. The Volta basin which drains most parts of the three northern regions is now known to be experiencing changing rainfall regimes with reduced precipitation and rain days (Owusu et al. 2008).

Fig 1: Map of Ghana Showing the Poverty Profile of the Three Focus Regions: Upper West Upper East and Northern (Source: UNECA 2003, Computed from the Ghana Living Standards Survey, 1998/1999).

The three northern regions are made up of the Savannah vegetation type, and of the 30-40% total land area of Ghana experiencing some form of land degradation (EPA 2003), most of this is concentrated in the northern drier parts of the country. The main problems experienced in the Savannah are deforestation, overgrazing, soil erosion (specifically, sheet erosion through surface runoff, rill erosion in impermanent and shifting micro-channels and gully erosion in permanent channels), water pollution, inadequate supplies of potable water, poaching and habitat destruction. These are expected to further deteriorate by the effects of climate change. In Ghana, although land degradation is an on-going process at various scales and intensities, related desertification is more prevalent in the Guinea and Sudan Savannah zones of the Northern, Upper-East and Upper-West regions with aridity indices of 0.60 for the northern region and 0.54 for the Upper East and West Regions (EPA 2003).



8 3.

FLOOD DISASTER OCCURRENCE AND IMPACTS: LOCAL PERSPECTIVES

3.1.

Regional Occurrence and Distribution in the North

An assessment of the state of flooding in the context of the frequency of occurrence of flood events in the three northern regions of Ghana for the period 1970 – 2009 showed high disparities. The Upper East region recorded the highest frequency followed by Upper West, and the Northern Region having the least frequency of flood events (Fig. 2). These results are contrary to popular knowledge, which suggests that the Northern Region has the highest occurrence of floods. Yet there were opinions suggesting that the most severe impacts were felt in the Northern Region. Indeed this popular knowledge may be due to the fact that although flood impacts in the Northern Region have been huge it is not well understood. It is important to note that although the impacts of flooding are highly felt in the Northern Region, it is usually at the peak of the actual rainfall in the Upper East region which is largely drained by the White Volta compared to the northern region. It has also been noted that the intensity of rainfall and its variability increases as one moves towards the more arid areas of northern Ghana. Although annual rainfall figures from the Ghana Meteorological Agency’s data are lower in the Upper East region than the Northern Region, local residents testify to the fact that the rains in the Upper East Region occur in torrents leading to localized flooding events similar to flash floods. The flooding events in the Upper East is further heightened by the low lying areas in the Sissili, mid White Volta and Red Volta basins which frequently receive flood waters. The impacts of these flood waters may be regulated to some extent by the Nasia wetland as a natural storm drain and as a result decreasing their expected negative impacts in the Northern Region.

Fig 2: Frequency of Flood Events in Northern Ghana (19702009) 3.2.

25%

6% Northern Upper East Upper West 69%

Flood Description, Severity and Effects

Disasters have occurred at various times in the northern regions of Ghana. The magnitude of the impacts of floods would usually be the stimulus for national or regional level recognition of such disasters and necessary action taken. Yet a year that is traditionally described as a drought year may in fact actually have local flood events which can be locally devastating. Hence inappropriate contingency planning scenarios can result into greater exposure of humans and the environment and therefore increasing vulnerability to flooding. Water Resources Commission, Accra


9

Flooding characteristically occurred due to excessive rainfall within short time frames. Excessive rainfall resulting in dams collecting more water than their holding capacities also led to excessive unregulated spillage of water resulting in downstream flooding. Flooded areas have been along the flood areas of the major rivers and tributaries of the White Volta. The effects of flood events are large scale loss of human lives and properties, livestock, crops and vegetation cover. For example in 2007, rainfall soared to over 175% of 2006 averages in the Upper West Region. The outcomes of this was that agricultural production decreased by 53% in Upper West Region representing about 24% of planted area over 2006 figures. Table 1: Qualitative enumeration of selected years of flooding and their effects Year

1997

Description Combined excessive and continuous rainfall spillage from Bagre Dam (B. Faso)

1999

Spillage of the Bagre dam

2007

2008

2009

Late August to mid September, Flooding of the Upper East and Upper West regions partly following opening of Bagre Dam coupled with heavy rains in the Upper East region. April-October rains resulted in flooding

A sharp increase in rainfall recorded in August and September and additional water from the Bagre dam

Level of Severity

Very Severe

Very Severe

Very Severe

Severe

Very Severe

Effects i. Loss of productive agricultural land and property. ii. Displacement of people especially along the major drainage rivers iii. Several communities in Bongo district flooded iv. An estimated 3,000 people in the three northern regions displaced. i. Farmlands inundated and livestock killed with large bodied ones drowning. ii. Dams were also severely damaged. i. Inundation of farmlands and erosion of the productive topsoil ii. Washing away of farmlands in the Upper West Region. iii. Mud homes and livestock pens collapsed. iv. The flooding affected 39 communities in the Upper West region with some caused by breached dam walls (22 dams). v. Loss of human life vi. Damage to / or destruction of 39 dams in the Upper East region. i. Destruction of farmlands along the banks of rivers. ii. Increased deposition of silt on farmlands. iii. Affected about 10 communities in the Upper West Region e.g. Sissala East district. i. 105 cattle, 2,074 small ruminants and 11,911 were carried by the flood. ii. A total area of 7,117.4 hectares of farm lands was destroyed by the flood. iii. Affected areas six (6) districts in the Upper East Region were affected

Not severe: In situations where the flood victims are able to rebuild destroyed structures and replant crops that have been damaged, in the immediate aftermath of the flood event. They may also open water retention structures in their farmlands to allow safe disposal of flood waters. Severe: In situations when the people move away from the flooded lands to settle on higher grounds and seek for assistance from relations and government to resettle them temporally. Very Severe: In situations when a larger proportion of the severe situations occur, accompanied by loss of human lives.

Whilst local people consistently blamed the Bagre Dam spillage as a major cause of flooding (Table 1), it is important to note that some years ago the same spillage was not causing any such flooding and so why now? Siltation of river channels is on the increase with diminishing depths of the channels as a result of the high rate of bank erosion due mostly to human behaviour (e.g. sand winning, bushfires, farming, tree felling, overgrazing, poor



10

solid waste disposal, failed institutions). There is also the soil condition of the area such that the Black Volta for instance is able to hold water for longer periods of time and just as it is about to recede, the rains set in and there is a return or back flow of water into the White Volta so the problem technically is about management, compounded by the Bagre spillage. 3.3.

Coping and Adaptation to Effects of Flooding

In places where the flood events were regular and severe, the local people resorted to various measures to live with the floods (adaptation) (Box 1). Some people permanently moved and resettled in upland areas. Others have built farm structures to harvest flood waters for agricultural use in the dry season. Some others have also changed the design and construction of their buildings, moving away from mud housing to sandcrete buildings or at least to sandcrete footings.

Box 1: Response of Local Communi ties to the Effects of Flooding

Coping Strategies i. Rebuilding of damaged structures. ii. Replanting of crops. iii. Movement from flooded areas to higher grounds. iv. Immediate resettlement of affected people. v. Breaking of water retention structures on farmlands like earth bunds. vi. Relief supplies e.g. food aid and clothing. vii. Sale of animals especially small bodied ones. Adaptation Strategies i. Settling on uplands with good drainage. ii. Harvesting and use of flood waters especially in the dry season (externality). iii. Expand the raising of faster growing animals to compensate for animals killed during flood times. iv. Building with cement instead of earth or mud v. Develop proper land-use planning for areas without such plans in towns

3.4.

Indigenous and Local Indicators and Early Warning of Flooding

Locally and to most residents of the three northern regions, rising or high environmental temperatures as well as the late start of rains in a particular year are clear indications of eminent flood events. In the same vain invasion of crops by army worms in previous year is a good indication of floods in the following year (Table 2). Table 2: Early warning of flooding and assessment of effectiveness Indicator

Effectiveness

Rising environmental temperatures

Very effective

Reducing rainfall amounts over the decades

Very effective

Invasion and destruction of crop plants by army worms

Very Effective

Late start of normal rainy season or time

Very effective

Early end of rains in previous year

Effective

Angle and brightness of the moon

Effective

Alternating warm and dry conditions in the months of April, May and June, high temperatures and dry spells

Effective

Very Effective: Experience over several years has proven that these indicators are above 70% dependable (reliable) Effective: Experience over several years has proven that these indicators are above 50% dependable (reliable)



11

Other indicators used by the people in the area include the early end of rains in one year as indication of floods in the following year whist the angle and brightness of the moon is used to assess the possible occurrence of floods; floods tend to occur in the absence of the moon (Box 2). These findings are similar to indicators of probable weather events used by farmers in the Central Plateau State in Nigeria (Ingram et al. 2002) and farmers in Burkina Faso (Ovuka and Lindqvist 2000).

Box 2: Other Early Warnings – Indigenous / Local / Own

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii.

Continuous heavy rainfalls (very effective) Soothsaying (very effective) When toads croak continuously (fairly effective) Strong winds from West to East preceding rains (very effective) Prolonged drought before onset of raining season (very effective) Migration of certain birds at on-set of rains (very effective) When the nests of weaver birds are high on the kapok tree (fairly effective)

Other Early Warnings – External / Alien i. Forecast from GMet Authority (fairly effective) ii. Communication from possible water spillage points e.g. in Burkina Faso - white Volta (very effective) iii. Seasonal trend analysis (very effective) iv. Measuring river discharge (very effective) v. Weather data collected for forecasting (very effective) vi. Change in groundwater level such as of tube wells over time (very effective) Source: Knowledge Systems Database, WRC (2009)

3.5. Flooding, Agriculture and Livelihood Linkages When flooding occurs, there is a lot of water available on the land surface. Some of this infiltrates to improve ground water reserves. Some low lying areas however become inundated due to low infiltration rates coupled with the excess water. Excess flood water leads to erosion of fertile agricultural soils, and leaching of soil nutrients also leading to poor growth and hence low yields. It also leads to contamination of water sources and contaminants systemically transmitted through crop produce and thus negatively impacting human health, and other livelihoods (Table 3).


12


Table 3: Effects of Flood disasters and implications for local livelihoods Water availability Excess water on the surface of the earth Increase in the water table Increased volume of dams and wells Swelling of streams Low lying lands are inundated

Box 3: Some Quotes on Life Experiences of the 2007 Floods

Agric activity Over saturated soils and loss of crops Productive agricultural lands are washed away Increased level of innovation

Human livelihood Increased contaminants and reduced water quality Lower yields, hunger and poverty (Box 3)

Drowning of crossing animals Low yields of crops

Reduced liquidity and cash income, and malnutrition Hunger/famine

Increased yield, employment and income

“The rain came heavy and fell almost all houses and killed most of our animals and carried away our rice, millet, groundnuts and beans” By Abagpok Atiita (Doninga, UER, Ghana)

“It carried the stored foods away and those that could be saved was destroyed; the flood came and left behind sickness like cholera and malaria making me to spend a lot of money for their treatment” By J.A. Anaadem (Sandema, UER, Ghana)

“When the flood came, we were able to pack some of our belongings but could not move with the affected land types (fixed assets) and the flood washed away every property we had; our food stuffs were washed away and the buildings destroyed and we did not have enough to eat and no place to sleep” By Ajaaka (Chuchuliga, UER, Ghana)



4.

13

DROUGHT DISASTER OCCURRENCE AND IMPACTS: LOCAL PERSPECTIVES

4.1. Regional Occurrence and Distribution in the North Drought and dry spells occur frequently in northern Ghana. Indeed dry spell occur every year within the rainy season. Some years that have actually been labelled as flood years (e.g. 2007) were also drought years. This is due primarily to the variability and inconsistency in the rainfall pattern of the northern regions. This section on local opinions considers and deals with the prolonged dry spells as drought. The distribution of the frequency of occurrence of drought is relatively even in the three regions. The Upper East Region recorded the highest frequency of occurrence, with Northern and Upper West regions recording the same frequencies (Fig 3).

Fig 3: Frequency of Drought Events in Northern Ghana (19702009)

31.5%

31.5% Northern Upper East Upper West 37.0%

4.2. Drought Description, Severity and Effects Rainfall variability has contributed to several drought events in the three northern regions, with flood years showing some level of consistency with drought years. Drought events have had serious negative impacts on agricultural activities affecting both crop and livestock production. These impacts ultimately result in inadequate food production, thereby affecting household livelihoods of households negatively (e.g. malnutrition, food insecurity and low incomes). Table 4: Qualitative enumeration of selected years of droughts and their effects (continued on page 14) Year

Event

1968 - 73

Below average rainfall records coupled with wilting of crops Generally dry spells from drastic reduction in rainfall amounts. Erratic rainfall observed for the whole season.

1982 – 85 1990 - 92

Level of Severity Very Severe Very Severe Very Severe

Effects i. i. i.

Hydrological imbalances that adversely affected land resources and crop production. Low crop yield and death of livestock Famine, hydrological imbalance, decline in crop and animal production.



14 Year

Event

2006

Erratic rainfall during 2nd and 3rd quarters with dry spells in August. Less than normal rainfall in 1st and 2nd quarters resulting in drought.

2007

Level of Severity Severe

Effects i.

i. ii. Severe

iii.

iv. 2008

Dry spells in the months of April and May, prolonged to July

i. ii. Severe

4.3.

iii.

Low production levels of crops were recorded resulting from these dry spells. Early millet suffered low yields and low quality grain Low or nonexistent dry season grain stocks. Crops such as maize experienced low germination rates, stunting and yield failure. Groundnut plants flowered prematurely, aborted and low yield. First rains in April and May Wilted crops (e.g. cowpeas, maize, sorghum and yams). Prolonged June-July drought in also slowed land preparation and planting

Coping and Adaptation to Effects of Drought

Due to the direct impacts of droughts on the sources of living of the local people (e.g. agriculture) diversity of actions to prevent or endure the effects of these events (adaptation) were adopted. According to a number of the local people, in the “olden days” (more than 30 years ago), some traditional ceremonies and sacrifices were performed even before the onset of the rains to ensure a good season. However, in the event of the occurrence of drought people tended in the short term, to any available resource or means on which they survived (e.g. drinking water from polluted sources). They also consumed all food stored in their barns, sold animals for grains, worked for food and eventually depended on wild resources (Box 4). With recent advances in technology, local people have reduced the impacts of droughts by engaging in other livelihood activities that enable them to cushion themselves (Box 4). Various vocations are being used as top up for land based livelihoods which are under the heavy influence of the weather. For the water sector, options such as deep boreholes have been drilled to obtain water from underground sources for use by local and poor communities and at times for small town water supplies. More drought tolerant crop varieties are being used although with its attendant problems of the huge efforts required to manage the crops. They have also adopted good farming practices used by people in the drier areas of Burkina Faso and hence improving livelihoods and increasing resilience. The latter experience showing that learning and knowledge sharing should be important components of adaptation. Water Resources Commission, Accra


Box 4: Response of Local Communities to the Effects of Droughts

15

“Olden” Days: i. Performing traditional sacrifices before the onset of the rains ii. “Call” rains through superstition iii. Consult soothsayer for further action iv. People drank water from any source they can get v. People depended on wells and dug-outs. vi. They ate food stored in their barns vii. They sold animals to buy grain from markets viii. Family members support each other. ix. Eating wild fruits (foods) and wildlife x. Inter and intra village migration, regional and national relocation Recent Times: i. Resort to diversified livelihood options such as craftsmanship and paid jobs instead relying on rainfed agriculture ii. Remittances especially from relations. iii. Dependence on groundwater using boreholes iv. Mixed cropping, mixed farming, dry season gardening as well as better soil and water management strategies. Adaptation Strategies i. Using more drought tolerant varieties of millet and adopting farming practices from experienced migrant drought-farmers from Burkina Faso ii. Sowing more than one variety of a crop or different crop species which gives advantage on survival. iii. Early planting, mixed cropping, and use of drought resistant varieties. iv. Reduce area of cultivation and replant destroyed farmlands. v. Revive old traditions used in storing excess harvest from good farm years and using the water in times of need. vi. Small scale in-field and on-farm water storage and conservation

4.4. Indigenous and Local Indicators, and Early Warning of Droughts It is widespread that low rainfall recorded especially in the first two quarters of the year is an indication of an eminent drought. Additionally, when the direction of the wind changes from the east to the west during the late rains and from the west to east during the early rains, it results in low rainfall and subsequent drought events. A number of such local indicators have been identified (Table 5, Box 5). Table 5: Early warning of flooding and assessment of effectiveness Indicator

Effectiveness

Reducing level of rainfall for a particular rainy season Less than normal rainfall and variable rainfall (erratic rainfall) in first and second quarters resulting in drought year Direction of the wind -from the east to the west (late rains ) -from the west to east (early rains)

Very Effective Very Effective

Angle and brightness of the moon

Effective


Effective


16 Box 5: Other Early Warnings – Indigenous / Local / Own

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii.

Change of cloud formation location at the beginning of the rainy season (very effective) Soothsaying (very effective) Prevalence of army worms (very effective) Presence of commelina (fairly effective) Appearance of the full moon for a long time without clouds (fairly effective) Appearance of some particular insect larvae that feed on shea nuts (very effective) Migration of most wildlife e.g. elephants (very effective) Migration of some type of birds (wild ducks) (very effective)

Other Early Warnings – External i. Forecast from GMet Authority (very effective) ii. Seasonal trends analysis (very effective) iii. Measuring river discharge (very effective) iv. Use of enso-phases for prediction (very effective) v. Use of historical climate data with special observation of cycles (very effective) Source: Knowledge Systems Database, WRC (2009)

4.5.

Drought, Agriculture and Livelihood Linkages

Droughts may result in scarcity of water with the duration depending on several other factors. This affects domestic and commercial water uses negatively. Groundwater resources are depleted during prolonged droughts, and known to have affected plant growth generally but specifically it has led to low agricultural productivity (Table 6). Except for the few extreme drought events, the droughts experienced in the region are short and sporadic. These often led to temporal water scarcity but enough to result in withering of crops and disruption of the livelihood of peasant farmers who form the majority of the people in the northern regions. Droughts have a tendency of changing the soil structure to hard and less porous pans. Consequently, the rains which usually come in torrents are unable to seep into the ground and fail to effectively recharge ground water reserves leaving a number of boreholes in drier conditions even in the rainy season. Table 6: Effects of drought disasters and implications for local livelihoods Water availability

Agricultural activity

Human livelihood

Less water

Withering of crops

Increase in prices of food and food insecurity

Low water tables

Poor yield

Shift in livelihoods and occupation

Low run-off

Limits work effort

Low socio-economic activities

Dried streams and ponds

Low animal morbidity

Loss of income and malnutrition

Scarcity of water

Dry season farming

Opportunity for increased innovation and diversification



17

5.

LOCAL VIEWS ABOUT LOCAL RESPONSES TO FLOODS AND DROUGHTS

5.1.

Pre-Disaster

Diversity of activities is undertaken by various actors prior to the occurrence of disasters (Table 7). These have been at the level of government, Development Partners and NGOs, and local communities. Regional disaster management platforms have been established under the leadership of NADMO to plan, collaborate and coordinate all activities in preparation for any disaster. Some of these activities undertaken by stakeholders, Government Ministries, MMDAs and Agencies, are public awareness, infrastructural development such as roads and storm drains, and forecasting or predicting the extent of occurrence of the disasters. The EPA has been leading a process to develop and implement a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, and leaving the “hardware” component for NADMO to pursue. This has resulted in the establishment of Regional Steering Committees in the three northern regions. Table 7: Views on actions for responses of communities to floods and droughts Disaster Phase

Pre-disaster Phase

Disaster Phase

Post-Disaster Phase

Floods Public awareness creation Re-enforcement of buildings Establishing community grain banks Forecast by Earth Priest, Rain makers Sharing early warning information from Burkina Faso if it involved Bagre dam spill vi. Early harvest of crops i. ii. iii. iv. v.

i. Move to high grounds ii. Social safety nets (e.g. relatives, friends) iii. Relocation

i. Residents returned to their homes. ii. Others whose houses were swept away stay with relatives iii. Migration iv. Replanting inundated farms

Drought i. Public awareness ii. Using more drought tolerant varieties iii. adopting farming practices from experienced migrant drought-farmers from Burkina Faso iv. Early planting, mixed cropping v. Establishing community grain banks vi. Seed banks for next season cropping i. Slow down and halting of land preparation and planting ii. Migration iii. Dependence on wild resources iv. Shallow wells for farming i. Back to farming activities ii. May engage in other trade (e.g. charcoal burning) iii. Wood fuel harvesting and selling

Local communities have been engaged in pre-disaster activities (Table 7). Some Development Partners engage in predisaster (flooding and drought) activities mainly through provision of funding to government and NGOs. They also engage these actors through focused advocacy. NGOs have been involved in the education of communities, construction of infrastructure such as food barns and advocating government on policy interventions to mitigate the impacts of the disasters. Water Resources Commission, Accra

18 5.2.


During Disaster

Government deploys a disaster rapid response team to the affected communities to provide humanitarian aid. The team does a rapid assessment of the situation and recommends appropriate intervention activities to meet the food, shelter and health needs of the victims. Development Partners backstop with funding to government and NGOs. NGOs also take part in the assessment and intervention activities. During flooding, the community members often moved to higher grounds to avoid the flood waters. In drought situations, community members often moved out in search for water to tend their animals and also food crops, with some families moving temporarily until the rains start (Table 7). Community members always attempted to help themselves before seeking external interventions, and initially from family and friends, and then from government and NGOs. Although the support from family and friends had emotional and financial dimensions, these could not be sustained hence the need for some form of support from external actors. Notwithstanding this, some local people often argued that external interventions have not been very effective in producing the intended effects within the local settings; therefore it is necessary to strengthen local structures and capacities in disaster management and use these in administering external support. 5.3.

Post-Disaster

Local views on post disaster management reflected desperation in that local people always returned to their “bad” except for the few who have resources to pursue interventions that are sustainable. For the majority, the cycle of in-situ settlement and de-settlement continues for flooding, whilst droughts are not even on the drawing board of policymakers. For those who lost their farms through flooding there were no insurance to cover them, and reparations going to the wrong people, and often a nightmare and anger according to some farmers when they are instead given mattresses and cooking pots as relief items when their farms, and not homes have been destroyed. This is a clear sign of a missed target and how would humanitarian assistance consider all displaced people as those who have lost their homes and requiring sheltering and cooking resources? This group needs assurance of getting seeds for the next season’s planting or for the in-season re-planting as well as paying for interests on loans and not what to sleep on or in. The frustration of most people had been that, with limited availability of land, nothing was being done to transform the physical environment for human habitation and good land use practices. There were concerns also about victims not receiving any trauma counselling to strengthen their mental capacity towards rebuilding their future. Also because post disaster humanitarian assistance is often restricted, they have learnt not to fully depend on it.



6.

19

LOCAL ANALYSIS OF STAKEHOLDERS, FLOOD AND DROUGHT DISASTER MANAGEMENT

6.1. Government Various stakeholders are involved in disaster prevention and mitigation. These include the government, non-governmental and Development Partners and the local communities. The government, through Ministries, decentralised departments, agencies and authorities, and district assemblies, had engaged in disaster prevention (Table 8). These involved mass education programmes on preparations that have to be made by communities and institutions in readiness for disaster occurrence and management. The Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) used climate data to make predictions of impending weather events. Predictions of rainfall and temperature events are made to serve as indicators or early warning of the possibility of flooding, and drought. These warnings through national news media as well as line agencies closer to the local people yet these warnings hardly reach those that they are intended for or who needed them most because of poor assessment and limited collaboration (Box 6).

Box 6: Local Opinion about Disaster Preparedness Measures

Flood and flooding i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii.

Education on possible occurrence of disaster and measures to prevent occurrence or impacts Announcement from Burkina Faso authorities on the impending opening of the dam Forecast of rainfall intensities Re-enforcement of buildings Identification of disaster prone zones District Assembly emergency response plans Community grain banks to provide food security in the disaster prone communities School environmental clubs to sensitize children more on environment issues

Drought and dry spells i. ii. iii. iv. v.

Education on possible occurrence of disaster and measures to prevent occurrence or impacts Districts Assemblies emergency response plans Construction of dams and training the community on its maintenance and management Establishing community grain banks to provide food security in disaster communities. School environmental clubs to increasingly sensitise children on environmental issues

After the 2007 floods in northern Ghana NADMO’s response exercise was revised and measures proposed to strengthen disaster preparedness and response mechanisms in the country. Consequently, NADMO with the support of UN-OCHA developed the National Contingency Plan (NCP) in 2008 to address the identified gaps that emerged from the 2007 floods (NADMO 2008) and expected to be updated every six months. This was followed by a documentation that provides guidance to emergency response organisations and institutions for facilitating timely and coordinated response to disasters (NADMO 2010).


20 6.2.


Non-Governmental And Multi-National Agencies

There are a number of Non Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) in the northern regions which are engaged in disaster prevention and mitigation activities. These include: CareGhana, Action AID, SNV, ACDEP, World Vision, CRS, among others. These NGO’s are involved in the education and training of community members to engage effectively in disaster prevention measures. These include programmes that would alert communities on what to do in preparation for a possible occurrence of the disaster or to avert the disaster. NGOs are also engaged in providing training and extension services to farmers to increase their production levels as a form of security during ‘bad’ times (e.g. drought) or post floods. Others have invested in infrastructural development in selected communities aimed at disaster prevention and mitigation. Food barns have been put up in some communities to store food in times of excess production to serve as reserve against times of lack such as flood and drought (Table 8a, 8b), and other disasters (e.g. wildfire and famine). Table 8a: Flood disaster preparedness and preventive plans in existence, and methods of improvements Preparedness plan Education Rapid response team

Effectiveness highly effective highly effective

Stockpiled food, shelter, food and drinking water International cooperation between Ghana and Burkina Faso

highly effective

Improvement Enforcement of laws to accompanying awareness Logistic and equipment provision of personnel training District level disaster management funds

highly effective

Sharing of real data

Table 8b: Drought disaster preparedness and preventive plans in existence, and methods of improvements. Preparedness plan

Effectiveness

Improvement

Construction of water conservation facilities (for domestic irrigation purposes)

highly effective

Funding support to support local people to expand water storage facilities

Seed storage and preservation

Highly Effective

Promotion of root zone irrigation

highly effective

Microfinance to farmers and increased seed banks Appropriate technology

6.3.

Local Communities

Local community members do prepare against disasters. For example, farmers practice both mixed farming and mixed cropping having different crop varieties, e.g. beans, millet and vegetables, grown on the same plot. These have different growth periods and requirements, extracting water from different levels and hence have different tolerance levels to dry spells. When the disaster affects all the crop varieties, animals are sold to take care of household food needs, and mostly the small bodied ones such as guinea fowls, goats and sheep as they are easily disposable. Households also stored excess harvest from good years in family barns for use in times of scarcity. Local people, however, are aware that more is required to enable them to prevent, cope with and adapt to climate-water related disasters (e.g. Box 7).



Box 7: Local Peoples’ Expression of Requirements of Disaster Management

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. xiv. xv. xvi. xvii. xviii. xix. xx. xxi. xxii. xxiii. xxiv. xxv.

21

Identification and mapping of disaster prone areas Determining the period of disaster occurrence Identifying safe havens / grounds prior to disasters Identifying collaborators who will help in case it occurs Mobilization of resources from stakeholders Identification of victims/vulnerable groups Provision of logistics Monitoring and assessment effects of interventions Hazard mapping Education on types of disasters Strategic resource stock piling (e.g. Grains) Formation and training of disaster task forces Rapid response team / task force detailing Provision of relief items to include medical supplies Provision of psychological needs of victims e.g. counselling Monitoring and evaluation Education and sensitisation on dos and don'ts during flooding and droughts Early warning systems put in place Purification of contaminated water sources Provision of places of convenience (e.g. toilets) on higher grounds Provision of temporary shelter Provision of security Provision of access roads Reconstruction of damaged infrastructure Insurance schemes in place

Source: Knowledge Systems Database, WRC (2009)

6.4. Enumeration Of Agencies / Organizations Associated With Disasters, By Local People The Government of Ghana has the ultimate responsibility for the welfare of the people in disaster situation and represented by NADMO. NADMO fulfils its obligation with mandates to coordinate and manage the activities of relevant institutions, bodies and structures whose activities have direct bearing on disasters including search and rescue, relief and humanitarian aid (Table 9).



22

Table 9: Examples of agencies/Organizations associated with disasters and their contributions as known to the local population Contribution / Sector Food and Agriculture WASH (Water, Sanitation and Health) Education Protection Emergency Telecommunication Physical Logistics

6.5.

Organization MoFA, CARE International, ADRA, NADMO, Ghana Red Society, Action Aid, NGOs Water Resources Commission, Community Water and Sanitation, Ghana Health Service, PLAN International, GWCL, World Vision, Action Aid, Private Water Tankers Association, UNICEF Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Information, UNICEF, NGOs, Multi-Nationals, CBOs Ghana Refugees Board, Ministry of Interior, NADMO, Ghana Red Cross, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Department of Social Welfare National Communication Authorities, Ministry of Information, NADMO, National Security Council, The Media, Ghana Telecom, WFP, OCHA NADMO, Ghana Armed Forces, GNFS, Ambulance services, CEPS, GPRTU, Ghana Red Cross , WFP, UNHCR

Investable Community-Based Projects Linking Disasters

Because disasters create situations that would produce a need for a resource or service at the community level, local participatory identification and prioritisation of resources may constitute components of the interventions. This resource or service could either be rehabilitatory or it may serve to avert aftershocks. The disaster situations also offer opportunities for some project activities to be undertaken at the community level as has been suggested by a number of local people and summarised in Box 8. These are small projects that could be implemented at the community level in disaster situations and managed solely by the local people. Flooding offers opportunity for aquaculture projects. This is envisaged from the view point of harvesting flood waters for this activity especially in the dry season. Similarly, flood water can be harvested and stored for irrigation projects (Box 8). These irrigation and aquaculture projects can be very useful in times of drought. Flood waters also offer opportunities for hydroponics where crop is grown or cultivated in water instead of soil medium. Stored water can also be used for recharging groundwater for small scale use by dry season or upland farmers, when regular supplies dwindle and in some cases irrigating vast expanse of farmlands. Projects that aim at finding and developing drought tolerant varieties of crops are useful in drought situations. Alternative livelihood activities such as beekeeping and craftsmanship can offer rural people a hope of a decent livelihood in drought situations. Agroforestry projects would be useful in revegetating communities following the occurrence of drought which is usually accompanied by wildfires and loss of vegetation. Farmers also think that buffering their farmlands with alternating commercial tree crops and woodlots will yield additional economic benefits. Water Resources Commission, Accra


Box 8: Identifiable Small Scale Investments Projects towards Floods and Droughts

23

Flood/ Flooding i. Water storage and conservation ii. Inter-basin water transfer and water trading iii. Aquaculture iv. Irrigation Farming v. Hydroponics vi. Watershed / buffer zone management Drought/Dry Spell i. Water storage and trading ii. Small bodied livestock and poultry iii. Use of landraces adaptable to local environment iv. Ground water irrigation schemes v. Promotion of drought-tolerant crops vi. Value addition to wild resources vii.Alternative livelihoods – beekeeping, grasscutter rearing

Environmentally friendly dry-season farming and gardening, optimising water use for the highest efficiency accompanied by insurance arrangements are a possibility to raise incomes from extreme events situations. There is also the opportunity to add value to wild resources which are mostly non-wood based such as shea nuts, leafy vegetables, some wild tubers, and consciously investing in their cultivation. Good landraces can be improved to increase their environmental tolerance range so as to gain acceptance. Large scale investment opportunities to mitigate disasters pertaining to water and water resources will permit adaptation rather than coping whilst sustaining livelihoods of vulnerable populations (e.g. Box 9)

Box 9: Other Investment Opportunities with Large Scale Capital Inputs

i.

Formal assessment of state, private and local financing mechanisms for sector specific responses to climate impacts ii. Risk management through Insurance Schemes (e.g. flood & drought impacts on farming, flood displaced settlements) iii. Clean development mechanisms (CDM), technologies (CDT) and products (CDP) iv. Biomass energy (e.g. crop residue, biofuel tree plantations) v. Design requirements in local building codes vi. Risk tolerance and planning horizon modelling (e.g. forecasts & disaster preparedness) centre vii. Water trading, allocation, sharing and flood management systems viii. Focused research and services that minimise uncertainty and vulnerability to climate change ix. Agribusiness, value chain and livelihood diversification x. Drudgery reduction amongst women and SMME development through appropriate technology xi. Biotechnology in aspects of early maturing, and drought tolerant spp (with safe GMOs possible)


24 7.


INDIGENOUS INSTITUTIONS IN DISASTER PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT

Human societies have for generations interacted with their environments and have over the period developed basic knowledge institutions (Scherrer et al. 2005, Dovie et al. 2008). One of the results of this interaction is the immense livelihood diversity within traditional agroecosystems, which is mostly the product of human innovation and long-term experimentation (Dovie et al. 2008). This knowledge, which is often indigenous in nature or in origin, is generally poorly documented (Johnson 2000), and communicated mostly among people of similar origins and therefore are hardly written. Therefore, knowledge, rules and structures define indigenous institutions. 7.1.

Relevance in the Northern Regions

Indigenous knowledge, such as of local rain corridors, colour of clouds, prolonged drought followed by storms, thunder and lightening during first rains in the year, changes in cries of birds, onset of mating periods of birds as signs of change in season, etc, are used in predicting the local weather conditions and are useful in disaster management. Cultural beliefs in disaster management remain deeply rooted in the northern regions. For example, rainmakers and earth priests (Tindana) still play a major role in disaster predictions. These institutions and mechanisms should therefore form the basis for sustainable interventions in disasters. The role played by local support networks is more important than just relief. Local networks such as neighbourhood, kinship, clansmen, friends and relatives, and religious ties, are rigorous, durable, more efficient and can guarantee longer-term human security than external relief, which normally lasts no longer than six months following an emergency. Developing local networks avoids dependency of local communities on external donors. This is supported by a submission in the National Action Programme to Combat Desertification, and thus; Promote the central role of traditional rulers, landlords and earth priests (Tindanas) in mobilizing communities for Integrated Water Management activities (EPA 2003). 7.2.

As Mechanism for Coping with Disasters

Self help and solidarity of households and communities are equally important as material assets in the face of disaster. Social support is not a quantifiable or tangible contribution but nevertheless constitutes the backbone of coping mechanisms in the three northern regions. Vulnerable people have no surplus income to invest in the measures that can protect them from disasters although they know what to do. They individually or collectively develop their own means, resources and strategies to cope with disasters. Social capital, e.g. reciprocal support among neighbours, support from immediate family members and wider kinship networks, and informal insurance and savings (Susu) are vital safety nets for coping with disasters. Therefore, there is the need to test, improve and harmonise indigenous or traditional knowledge on disaster management capacity and interventions using western science-based technological advancement. Such harmonisation that emphasises early warning systems should be conducted in a manner that does not undermine traditional knowledge of local communities to respond to disasters emerging from the effects of climate change. Water Resources Commission, Accra


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8. SYNTHESIS AND WAY FORWARD Flood and drought disasters are recurring, and perpetuated by the vulnerability of livelihood options, it is recommended that disaster management programming should focus increasingly on addressing the causes of vulnerability in order to mitigate the effects of flooding and drought (Box 10). The most vulnerable that should be targeted in any relief intervention should include female headed households, small sized households and those with lowest literacy rates and low income, the elderly, the physically challenged and those who are ill. Dovie (2006) argues in a model, “Vulnerability Identity Matrix” (VIM) that there are three major types of responses and groups elicited by climate change impacts on society through various stresses, and from which other responses do emerge. These are: (i) the group that responds directly to the outcomes of the effects of the disaster, and because they benefit directly from the biophysical environment through farming, livestock production, and dependence on wild resources, they are most vulnerable (ii) the group that depends on the activities of the first group and are therefore secondary to the effects of the disasters (consumers only) but with additional support such as remittances and ability to migrate and effectively respond, they are less vulnerable than the first, and (iii) the third, sharing in the combined advantages and benefits of the first and second groups, so they have more diversified livelihood options and are least vulnerable. Therefore, it is important that contingency planning should entail scenarios of human response origin in order not to miss important targets during disaster management. It is expected that although this report is not specifically for managing disasters, it will contribute baseline information to contingency planning and disaster management at the local community level, district, and the White Volta river subcatchments and catchments in the three northern regions. It is clear from the local responses that agriculture, which is the mainstay of the economy of the three northern regions, is also an important measure of disaster management and requiring improvement. Agricultural Value Chain (AVC) has been recommended as means to optimising benefits from other sectors, serving as an economic footprint of inputs and outputs arising directly from the production, use and disposal of a commodity (UNECA 2009). Local AVC having activities belonging to different sectors of the local economy and hence multi-sectors will minimise the impacts of disasters yet there is the need to properly study the inter-linkages among the activities that may be associated with the commodities involved. Interventions from outside the local areas should include plans to strengthen the capacities of indigenous institutions and empower people to exhibit leadership for disaster management, through relevant support. In doing so, local people are able to mobilise their communities, resources and skills into actions that help to build community resilience and adaptation to the impacts of climate change and vulnerability (Box 10). For example, constructing own water harvesting and storage facilities, and sharing of work methods with other communities, as well as establishing own seed exchange and seed bank agenda. The Box 11 draws on lessons from a global perspective informing the principles of thinking globally but acting locally. Whilst conceding that sandcrete buildings are stronger and better able to withstand the effects of flooding, it is by no means the most suitable method of adapting to flooding especially in regulating temperatures within an environment that characteristically has very high temperatures. Critical self assessment, analysis and consultation will lead to suitable options such as having sandcrete footing of buildings, with accompanying temperature and water friendly superstructure. Water Resources Commission, Accra


26 i.

Box 10: Reflections on Indigenous Knowledge

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

Box 11: Key Messages on Changes to Water Resources

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

vii.

It is recommended that integrating indigenous knowledge of the signs of on-coming disasters and modern communication technology could offer a powerful means for rapid response to disasters. Technological advancement of early warnings must not be used to undermine the traditional knowledge of local communities about disasters. Efforts should be made to facilitate the integration of these two kinds of knowledge, taking the better aspects of the traditional knowledge into the modern system, to enhance community understanding of the causes of disasters and improve mechanisms for prevention, mitigation and response. Traditional authorities can work as resource persons and actors, constituting channels linking technical experts and government entities, and rural communities. The advantage of this is that as traditional authorities are largely legitimized in their communities, the probability of conflict or rejection is minimised. Intervention in disaster management should not ignore or undermine the social capital of the local people, otherwise this will inevitably increase vulnerabilities of communities. Disaster interveners should seek to promote activities that mobilize and strengthen local resources and capacities for self-management at household and community level. Indigenous (traditional) farming systems (e.g. mixed farming) should be encouraged since they are often more suitable to the local weather conditions.

If our global energy habits are the focus for mitigation, the way we use and manage our water must become the focus for adaptation. Changes in climate will be amplified in the water environment. Improving the way we use and manage our water today will make it easier to address the challenges of tomorrow. The best approach to manage the impact of climate change on water is that guided by the philosophy and methodology of Integrated Water Resources Management. There are no simple technical fixes. In addressing water shortages, as much attention should be given to managing demand as to increasing supply, by introducing more efficient technologies as well as simply promoting a culture of conservation. The challenge of “climate-proofing” the future requires that adequate funds are allocated today for water resource management.

Source: GWP - TEC (2007) Water Resources Commission, Accra


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9. CONCLUDING REMARKS The aim of disaster response should be to increase people’s capacities to better deal with adverse events. This could be achieved firstly, through understanding people’s perception of disasters, disaster preparedness and their coping and adaptation mechanisms. Secondly, through strengthening the existing coping and adaptation mechanisms which do not affect the basis of their livelihood or impact negatively on other communities and future generations. It is also essential not to view communities, who are already suffering from disasters, as passive recipients of disaster relief. This may tend to decrease their self-reliance and increase people’s vulnerabilities to forthcoming disasters and thus undermining their socioeconomic prospects, with consequences for development goals (e.g. Millennium Development Goals (MDG). In order to break the vicious cycle of “giving and receiving”, it is important that “victims” become the main actors and made to take part in the decision making in disaster response. However, it is important to pursue heterogeneity of the identity of different vulnerable groups responding to climatic stresses (e.g. floods and droughts) which is difficult during disasters and should be a pre-disaster exercise when hotspots are identified.


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