Climate Change: Its Effects On Migration, Conflict In Northern Ghana

Scientific evidence available to various research institutions in Ghana have showed that the three regions of the North – comprising Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions – are considered the poorest areas in the country and also have the most degraded environments. Similarly, they are among regions that are most vulnerable to the estimated effects of climate change due to many negative environmental practices being perpetuated by the people over the years for economic gains.

Accordingly, this therefore makes it somewhat obligatory or necessary for the state to commit special resources and attention to reverse the effects of climate change and the possible migration of the inhabitants to seek greener pastures in other fertile areas or better still forestall conflicts.

Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes climate change as the seasonal changes over a long period of time due to human activities. For instance, charcoal burning, deforestation, bush burning, sand winning, gravel mining, reckless use of agro-chemicals and pollutants from vehicles and heavy industrial machines over a century ago are believed to be the causes of climate change in the country. Indeed, these negative human activities still persist in this modern time and even at alarming rates probably due to increase in human population and development.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) resulting from the excessive use of fossil fuels in auto mobiles, industrial machines, bush burning, among others, is a major threat to the ozone layer. According to Wikipedia, the ozone layer is a layer in Earth's atmosphere which contains relatively high concentrations of ozone (O₃). This layer absorbs 97–99% of the Sun's high frequency ultraviolet light, which is potentially damaging to the life forms on Earth. Scientists say, the ultraviolet rays can cause skin cancer if the ozone layer is completely eaten up by CO2.

The aforementioned activities, also affect the natural environment (ecosystems), agriculture, human health, forests and game reserves, water sources, among others due to the negative role CO2 play in changing weather patterns or climatic conditions. The worse outcome of these effects include torrential rainfall (severe devastating floods), drought, outbreak of epidemics, high temperatures, influx of pest, famine, rising sea levels and vice versa. In Northern Ghana for instance, there was a memorable flood disaster in 2007 which destroyed the lives of human beings and animals, arable lands, homes, school and public buildings and markets among others. About half a million people were displaced, over fifty people killed, over thirty thousand houses collapsed and nearly two hundred thousand metric tons of food crops were destroyed.

However, a recent survey conducted by the EPA on climate change effects showed that weather temperature in Ghana could rise by one degree celsius and rainfall and runoff water could also sharply reduce the yield of cereals and other food crops. This, certainly, would not augur well for over 60% of residents of the three regions of the North who depend mainly on subsistence agriculture.

Also, there is no denying the fact that, Northern Ghana is one of the places where there is high incidence of bush burning, charcoal production and indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel wood and building purposes. This has led to erratic rainfalls including unpredictable rainfall patterns or poor rainfall – both in volumes and distribution; increase incidence of pests and diseases – both on crops and livestock; low crop yields and extinction of some animals and plants species.

For instance, the 1952 Forest Inventory Record of Ghana indicates that the total tree cover in the three regions of the North was 41,600km2, representing 46% of the total land area of the North. However, by 1996 approximately 40% of the woodland was estimated to have been exposed to acute soil erosion and other human activities, meaning that about 38,000 hectares of tree cover are lost yearly in the three regions of the North.

The three regions contribute about 80% to the entire nation’s livestock production and experience annual rainfalls between 645 millimetres and 1250 millimetres followed by a long dry season lasting between 6 – 7 months (May-October). Available statistics at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture also indicate that there has been rainfall variation in the North in recent years. The average rainfall figures from 2004 to 2010 were 1243.24, 1066.79, 822.50, 672.61, 829.89, 865.44 and 364.85 millimetres, respectively.

Due to the insufficient fertile lands available for farming purposes and creation of grazing fields, the keen interest in farming among residence and huge livestock population has put enormous pressure on the limited land available, thus sometimes leading to the outbreak of tribal and communal violent clashes among landowners, farmers and owners of livestock in most parts of Northern Ghana in recent years. Apart from that, the inadequate number of dams for irrigation purposes during the long dry season period is further worsening food security situation and as the saying goes “A hungry man is an angry man” literally meaning, food insufficiency in the system could breed conflict. In recent times, there have been some land related conflicts at once peaceful areas like Kambatiak and Bankoni in Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo, Gushiegu, Bimbila, Zabzugu-Tatale and Bawku in the Upper East Region.

Undeniably, the resultant effect of these conflicts, has forced an estimated 50,000 young men and women including children ranging between the ages of 6 to 30 to sojourn to the nation’s bigger cities such as Accra, Kumasi, Sunyani and Sekondi-Takoradi to engage in various kinds of menial jobs to make a living and also send remittances back home to their families.

Moreover, the EPA states that, the Sahara desert keeps advancing southwards from the boundaries of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso at a speed of 0.8 kilometres per annum. The situation officials say, has assumed a serious magnitude that the minimum vegetation cover in some communities in the Upper East Region in particular, has already fallen below 5% as against the total ecological cover to support life. Regrettably, the effects of the Sahara desert can now be felt in communities such as Garu, Zongiri, Zebila, Paga, Nangodi and Tungu in the Upper East Region.

Ghana is not a major contributor to green house gasses or industrial pollution but, she is one of the most affected by climate change effects. The country contributes about 9.6% representing 0.34 tons in 2008 and 2009 to emissions according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) released recently.

There is therefore no denying the fact that the high incidence of bush burning, indiscriminate felling of trees for fuel or charcoal production and water pollution, among others in Northern Ghana are seriously contributing to the low and erratic rainfalls, rising temperatures/hot weather, drought, low yield in crop production, conflict and migration.

Thus, in order to make sure the situation does not escalate in the near future, there is the need for government through all Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in Northern Ghana, to as a matter of priority and urgency; enforce all environmental laws in their respective jurisdictions. Anyone caught breaking such laws should be prosecuted and punished severely to serve as deterrent to others.

All Traditional Authorities, Assembly Members, District Police Commands, Fire Service Officials and Anti-bushfire Squads/Committees should be given the mandate to arrest any person or group of persons engaged in bush burning.

There is also an urgent need for the creation of EPA District offices to check or regulate the activities of individuals or local companies in the areas to save the lands or environment from further destruction.

Government must also ensure the availability of Liquefied Petroleum Gas in all the MMDAs and also make it more affordable for residents to drastically reduce or curtail the use of charcoal and tree cutting for fuel wood.

All MMDAs in the three regions should be challenged to adopt the culture of tree planting and stop bush burning. To ensure sustainability, award schemes could be instituted under the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to reward any district that has not experienced bush burning and tree felling for a period of time and also demonstrated enough in the area of reforestation. A cash amount of not less than GH¢1 million could be given to the winning district to execute any development project of their choice.

Finally, more dams and irrigation systems should be built in all MMDAs under the SADA initiative and old ones rehabilitated in order to store more water for dry season farming/gardening to engage the idling youth who sometimes travel down south of Ghana for menial jobs.

Meanwhile, Ghana joined the international community by signing on to the UNFCCC in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. The Convention entered into force globally on 21 March 1994, and specifically for Ghana on 5th December 1995, three months after Ghana ratified the Convention on 6th September 1995.

At its 25th sitting in November 2002, Ghana’s Parliament passed a resolution to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. The final instrument of ratification was sent to the United Nations Headquarters in New York in March 2003 thus allowing Ghana to accede to the Kyoto Protocol and hence becoming a Party to it and entered into force globally on 16 February 2005. The Kyoto Protocol is a regulation that encourages or obliges member countries to reduce carbon emissions to a certain level.

Also, Ghana, which is signatory to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has initiated a number of policies and programmes to arrest the spread of land degradation and desertification. The implementation of the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP), the Environmental Resources Management Project and others like the land use map, environmental information system, land suitability and capability maps, land and water management, Savannah Resource Management and the National Reforestation Programme are worthwhile. All these should be enforced and effectively implemented in order to save the three regions and for that matter Ghana from becoming a desert country.

Vice PREZ ASKED TO INTERVENE IN SADA INITIATIVE

THE VICE President John Dramani Mahama has been called upon to personally intervene for government to speed up the implementation of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) and also see to the immediate construction of all major road infrastructures to enhance economic activities.

The SADA is expected to address the development imbalance between the north and southern part of Ghana but it has since 2009 been in shambles, as very little attention and resources have been committed to its implementation.

The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God Church of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Paul Frimpong Manso who made the call maintained that the development of Ghana would be meaningless if it is not link up with the total development of the North.

Rev. Dr. Paul Frimpong Manso was speaking at the opening of the 17^th Annual Northern Regional Council Meeting of the Assemblies of God Church of Ghana at Kumbungu in the Northern Region recently. The Meeting was attended by all Pastors of Assemblies of God and other representatives of Churches in the region.

Even though he lauded the plan by government to develop the Eastern Corridor roads to link the north to the other regions, Rev. Frimpong Manso was of the view that that project alone was not enough to bring about the needed transformation in the road sector in north and therefore called for the construction of other major roads to link all the districts of the north to the regional capital, Tamale.

The General Superintendent of the Church reminded the Vice President and for that the ruling government about the enormous economic potentials in the north, and called for pragmatic approach to transform the area.

Chronicling the frequent violence among the people up north emanating from poverty and idleness, the Reverend Minister conceived that the youth of the region would live peacefully with one another and shy away from unscrupulous persons who instigate them to pick up arms, if the government creates the needed employment opportunities for them.

However the Vice President, John Dramani Mahama who is also a member of the Assemblies of God Church commended the Church for investing in the spiritual development of the people and also supporting the infrastructural development of the nation.

He indicated that the NDC government was committed to the development of the north and would commit 100 million dollar to the SADA this year and also construct the Eastern Corridor roads.

The Assemblies of God Church also honour the Vice President with Daniel Award for his contribution to the Church and national development.

The Northern Regional Superintendent of Assemblies of God, Rev. David Akonsi Wumbei called for peace in Dagbon and Northern Region in the December general elections.

WOMEN IN TOLON/KUMBUNGU DISTRICT STILL PREFER TBAs

IN SPITE of the crucial campaign by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) to encourage pregnant women to regularly go for antenatal care at the health centres, Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) continue to play active role in child delivery in some parts of the Northern region. Between January 1st and December 31st, 2011, TBAs in the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region assisted as many as 3,304 pregnant women in the delivery of their children.

Within the same period, the professional midwives in the various health facilities in the district delivered only 1,297 pregnant women out of the total district delivery rate of 4,601 in 2011.

Savannahnews learnt that some of the TBAs sometimes expose the women and their babies to some complications due to the insanitary environment under which some of them operate, but most of the pregnant women still patronize their services due to the overly humane treatment they receive from the TBAs.

Some of the professional nurses and midwives have consistently been accused by some of the pregnant women for being insensitive to their agonies, and how some of them (midwives/nurses) openly insult or beat them for their inability to “push” or smoothly bring forth their babies.

But the District Director of Health for the Tolon-Kumbungu District, Hajia Sophia Mahama in an interview with Savannahnews during the 2011 Annual District Performance Review Meeting of the Tolon-Kumbungu District Health Directorate, blamed the situation on the insignificant number of midwives and the long distances between the communities and the few health centres in the area.

According to her, the Tolon-Kumbungu District with a population of 138,255 had only six (6) midwives who are nearing their retirement and 19 health centres taking care of 282 communities.

She noted that the six midwives found it difficult to even attend to their private and family needs due to the continuous pressure on them. What seems to have compounded their situation she said was the non-availability of means of transport to enable them reach out to women in the communities and carry out some sensitizations.

Hajia Mahama therefore called for the establishment of another midwifery school in the Northern Region to enable the region churn out more dedicated personnel to reduce the maternal and infant mortalities.

The District Health Director also attributed the issue to the lack of residential accommodation for the health staff in the district to attend to patients at nights. The Health personnel including the District Director commute to and from Tamale each day for work.

Interestingly, the district has no ambulance but rely on an old Pickup which also serves as an official vehicle for the Director to carry out administrative activities. The Pickup is usually used alongside some rickety motorbikes to transfer referred pregnant women and other patients to Tamale.

However, the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Tolon-Kumbungu, Iddi-Manza Mahama described the challenges facing the health sector in the district as overwhelming, but he was quick to reveal that government was rolling out a number of projects to boost the sector.

He told the blogger that he sometimes released his official vehicle to convey pregnant women and other patients in critical conditions to the Tamale Teaching Hospital.

The DCE hinted that he had with some support from the Members of Parliament for Tolon and Kumbungu made advanced efforts to secure two Ambulances for the district from the Ministry of Health in Accra.

Looming Tension In Troubled Buipe Again

Snippets of information reaching Savannahnews indicates that there is a looming tension in the entire Gonja Traditional Area and particularly between factions of the Buipe chieftaincy divide as the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama visits the area this week to perform a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Fufulso-Damongo-Sawla road – a major campaign promise to all Gonjas during the 2008 elections.

According to the information from some deep throat sources in the Gonja Traditional Area (names withheld), majority of Gonjas are very displeased with the John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama led administration of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), because of ‘their decision to interfere’ with the latest Buipe chieftaincy dispute.

It would be recalled that in 2010, the Gonja Traditional Council at one of its major sittings unanimously agreed to dis-enskin the Buipewura Mahama Abdulai Jinapor following an alleged show of gross disrespect towards the Overlord of the Gonja Traditional Area, Yagbonwura Tuntumba Bore Essa Sulemana Jakpa I.

However, the embattled Buipewura, said the Yagbonwura and for that matter the Gonja Traditional Council of which he was a senior member, had no jurisdiction to dis-enskin him.

The Buipewura, who felt his fundamental human rights had been infringed upon, headed for court to have the decision of the Gonja Traditional Council overturned. Indeed, he did succeeded and last year, an Accra High Court ruled in his favour and the Gonja Traditional Council asked to reinstate him to his position as substantive chief for Buipe (Buipewura) with all other privileges. He was also awarded damages by the court to a tune of GH¢3,000.00.

Since the court ruling, there has been a serious stalemate between Gonjas and the ruling government to the extent that as one of our sources revealed, a message from the seat of government to the Gonja Overlord recently, inviting him to witness the upcoming groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Fufulso-Damongo-Sawla road on Wednesday January 25, 2012, was not welcomed by the King who still appeared to be angry with the government for its perceived meddling in the Buipe chieftaincy wrangling.

Our source said: “The Vice President John Dramani Mahama recently sent a message to the Yagbonwura to come and grace the groundbreaking event for the construction of the Fufulso-Damongo-Sawla road. But, when the message got to the King, he replied that he would not come and witness any ceremony. Because, he the (Yagbonwura) doesn’t understand why he will sack one of his sub-chiefs (Buipewura) for disrespectfulness and government decided to support him).”

However, Savannahnews has also learnt that some top government officials had been recently sent ahead of the planned event to plead with the Yagbonwura to accept the invitation to grace the occasion, since it was a major development project geared towards the good of all Gonjas and for that matter Northerners. From the grapevine, it appeared the Gonja King agreed to attend the groundbreaking event, but not until the D-day, this blogger cannot confirm this.

At the time of going to press, another source contacted by this reporter expressed fear of possible attacks and pandemonium in the Buipe area, should the Vice President John Mahama make a mistake and pay a courtesy call on Mahama Abdulai Jinapor or address him appropriately in the event ground (which he is likely to attend) as the Buipewura.

According to the source, all the residents of Buipe most especially family members of the lebupe gate (opposing faction in the chieftaincy dispute) want is that Vice President Mahama should just come straight to the event ground, perform the groundbreaking ceremony and leave them in peace. “Anything short of this, would lead to serious fight at the event ground or after the end of everything”, the source stressed.

Without any shroud of doubt or attempt to cause panic, Savannahnews can authoritatively state that all is not well in the Gonjaland most especially Buipe, as some of the information disclosed by our sources were unprintable and in fact, an indirect call for bloodshed.

Meanwhile, the 98mile Fufulso-Damongo-Sawla road has been on the drawing board since the Rawlings regime, with promise upon promise in almost every annual government budget to construct it, but which never happened.

It is a major route linking the Northern Region from Wa in the Upper West and Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Regions. For instance, according to Damongo based non-governmental organization – Centre for Women Opportunities, an estimated 2 million journeys are embarked upon by students who criss-cross that road between the Upper West Region and Northern Region per academic year (first, second and third terms).

According to the Executive Director of CWO Mr. Cletus Zumeh, who like the Coalition of Agro Processors and Petty Traders, has been involved in advocating for the construction of the road over the years, said an estimated 400 gari processors are in the Damong town alone. “People including students schooling in the Northern or Upper West Regions all stopped there to buy gari when going to school. But because of the bad nature of the road and upsurge of armed robbery at certain periods of the year, many of such students prefer to pass through the Upper East Region for safety of their lives."

He also disclosed that people from neighbouring Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in recent past come to buy gari, shea butter and groundnuts with loads of trucks, but as a result of the poor nature of the road, many have refused to come and instead, chose to travel down south to to buy these products. “Annually, the all the various categories of traders and transport operators loose over GH¢50 million as a result of the road not tarred”, Mr. Zumeh emphasised.

Thus, Gonjas, who are the major inhabitants along that route (from Fufulso in the Central Gonja District through Damongo in the West Gonja District to the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba District) had lost hope completely despite a recent promised by the Vice President that if by 2012 the road is not tarred or asphalted, Gonjas should chase them (NDC or government officials) away when they come there to campaign for support and votes.

For now, Gonjas and for that matter the people of Northern and Upper West Regions can only hope and pray that the groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for January 25, 2012 would eventually come through in peace and the road duly constructed for them. They can’t entertain another campaign gimmick from another NDC government.