Mr Daniel Krull, the German Ambassador to Ghana, has observed that the impact of climate change is severe on Africa despite countries in the northern hemisphere being the main contributors to the Greenhouse Gases (GHG), a major driver of climate change.
“We are all aware that the countries from the northern hemisphere are the main contributors to the greenhouse gases of the past. They have caused all this trouble and Africa has only contributed around four to five per cent of all greenhouse emissions so far.
On the other side, the major impact of climate change is severely on Africa, on Ghana including the Upper West Region,” he explained.
Mr Krull said this in Wa during a climate dialogue session organised by the Ghana Broadcasting Cooperation (GBC) in partnership with the German Embassy in Ghana.
The forum brought together about 300 participants comprising technocrats from state and non-state institutions, representatives of youth groups, traditional leaders, farmers, and students.
It was to afford the people, particularly the farmers, the platform to speak up about the challenges of climate change in their lives for the action of the necessary stakeholders.
Mr Krull said Germany, being one of the contributors of GHG in the past, deemed it necessary to learn and better understand the impact of climate change on Ghanaians through the dialogue.
The forum created an interactive platform between the farmers and policy makers and for the policy makers to further transmit the discussions to the international climate talks and negotiations to develop appropriate interventions for the country.
Professor Amin Alhassan, the Director-General of GBC, indicated that the initiative by the German Embassy was in line with the mandate of the Corporation as a public service broadcaster to discuss prominent issues of public concern.
“It is my hope that it will end up, one, impacting on our individual attitudes and it will cause change. It will also impact public policy so that policymakers will also make policies that will help,” he said.
Prof. Alhassan stated that the effects of climate change were visible, and people needed to be climate-sensitive in their behaviours, the choices they made, the practices they engaged in as farmers and the choices they made as consumers.
He, therefore, commended the German Embassy for the initiative and partnering with the GBC to engage and sensitise the farmers and the public to be climate conscious.
Similar engagements would be held in Tamale in the Northern Region, Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, Takoradi and Tarkwa in the Western Region, and Jamestown in the Greater Accra Region.
Some farmers at the forum, on a panel discussion, shared their frustrations about climate change as it had a grave toll on their farming activities.
Mr Doho Sumaila, the 2023 Upper West Regional Best Farmer, said climate change had severely affected his production this year following a prolonged drought of a month.
He said climate change had made it difficult for farmers to plan their farming activities since they were unable to predict the rainfall pattern.
Mr Sumaila said due to the drought, he had to replough and replant about 70 per cent of his 1,700-acre farm.
Analysing the cost of farming, he explained that the cost of hybrid seeds this year was GH₵1,200.00 per acre, GH¢300.00 for ploughing per acre, GH₵360.00 for planting per acre and weedicides and the cost of spraying was GH₵80.00 per acre.
He said it was therefore disheartening and discouraging to invest that amount of money into an acre field and it would be affected by climate change.
Representatives from the Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) exhibited climate-smart farm implements including the ripper and climate-smart farm inputs including the neem protector at the forum.
Source: GNA
