For residents of Gbullung, a farming community in Northern Ghana’s Kumbungu District, the choice between dumping age-old socio-cultural practices for climate-sensitive ones requires deepened education on climate change and its noticeable impact on community life. That’s because the community’s daily activities, especially those related to agriculture and natural resource use, are contributing to the accelerated effects of climate change on food security in the region and in Ghana.
To deepen residents’ knowledge of the human causes of climate change, Policy LINK’s Ghana activity organized a December 10, 2022 climate change-focused durbar—a large gathering of people—where the residents of Gbullung, Dalun, and nearby communities reflected on how their socio-cultural and agriculture practices contribute to long-term shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns.
At the risk of causing bush fires, compromising soil fertility, and increasing carbon dioxide emissions, farmers in this village and its nearby settlements find bush burning a more convenient method of clearing the land at the start of each cropping season, just as in many other communities across Ghana. For many, there is no cheaper substitute for this age-old practice. Besides bush burning, the residents indiscriminately prune tree branches or, in some instances, cut down trees for firewood – the primary energy source for cooking—or burn them in sand mounds to produce charcoal, which is sold to augment incomes, especially during lean agriculture seasons. For others, the charcoal trade is the main means of earning and sustaining a livelihood. Over time, Gbullung and its neighboring communities, characterized by large savannah plains and sparse trees, have gradually lost their tree cover causing a host of problems such as desertification, soil erosion, flooding, and increase greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Sand winning, the act of scooping topsoil around land, riverbeds, or other water bodies, has become prevalent in the Kumbungu District and its villages, especially in Dalun, a community in the district where the White Volta River, commonly known to the locals as Nawuni, flows through. The sand is sold mainly for the purposes of constructing homes and other housing infrastructure. “The activities of sand winners have affected water supply and caused some families to lose their lands and livelihoods,” said Umar Yahaya, Assemblyman for the Gbullung electoral area. According to him, the improper transportation of sand and gravel pollutes the environment and contributes to the communities’ cases of respiratory illnesses.
The effects of climate change and the community’s limited adaptive capacity are glaring to climate change advocates but not so much to most of the Gbullung population. Among others, low crop yields and dwindling incomes from farming are consequences of changing rainfall and temperature patterns in the community and district at large. Last year, crop yields dropped, just as they did in 2020. “With the reduced yields, I don’t know what I will do,” lamented Mohammed Yussif, a maize and rice farmer in Gbullung. He was concerned about paying his children’s school fees and his ability to take care of other household needs. To increase yields, farmers invest a lot more of their income earned from selling their farm produce toward procuring fertilizers and other farm inputs to improve soil fertility.
In its 2020 annual report, the Kumbungu District Assembly described the weather conditions across the district as characterized by erratic rainfall throughout the year, with more rains in October, which was unusual. No rains were recorded in November and December of that year (2020).
Like other farmers, Yussif has observed the changes in rainfall patterns, which make it difficult for him and his colleagues to correctly predict when to start planting their rice or maize. Rainfall in the Kumbungu District usually begins in May, peaking from July to September and ceases in late October. During the peak period, the district experiences flooding. This is no longer the norm. According to Yussif, farmers who planted in June this year were left disappointed and suffered losses because the rains came in late. When the rains fell in August and September, they were torrential and flooded farms. In its 2020 annual report, the Kumbungu District Assembly described the weather conditions across the district as characterized by erratic rainfall throughout the year, with more rains in October, which was unusual. No rains were recorded in November and December of that year (2020).
To deepen residents’ knowledge of the human causes of climate change, the Feed the Future (FtF) USAID Ghana Policy LINK Activity organized a December 10,2022 climate change-focused durbar—a large gathering of people—where the residents of Gbullung, Dalun, and nearby communities reflected on how their socio-cultural and agriculture practices contribute to long-term shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns.
The effects of climate change and the community’s limited adaptive capacity are glaring to climate change advocates but not so much to most of the Gbullung population.
The durbar, which was organized in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Kumbungu District Assembly, and Dr. Hamza Adam, the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Kumbungu Constituency and a native of Gbullung, had over 400 participants, including women, children, and persons with disabilities. Also present were the Chief of Gbullung and the Regent of neighboring Dalun traditional area, who discussed the sustainable management of their farmlands, water, and forest resources.
The MP, who also serves on Ghana’s legislative body’s Committee on Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation as its deputy Ranking Member, reiterated calls for the traditional leaders to rally the people to stop bush burning and the indiscriminate felling of trees in their communities. He pleaded with the residents of Gbullung and neighboring communities to move away from farming along the riverbanks and adopt sustainable land and water management practices.
A representative from the EPA’s Northern Regional office described how community practices accelerated climate change and encouraged a change in behavior to mitigate its impact.
“We have all seen an influx of our brothers and sisters from neighboring countries, especially Niger, in our community. They are moving here to find a better life because the changes in their weather conditions make it difficult for them to live in their country,” said the Chief of Gbullung. He reminded the community that they were likely also to migrate if they did not change their way of doing things.
Yunus Abdulai, Country Lead for Ghana Policy LINK, pointed out that the durbar was in response to stakeholder recommendations contained in a climate change assessment commissioned by the FtF USAID Ghana Policy LINK Activity, which highlighted the need for increased awareness and education among sub-national actors, including farmers and vulnerable groups.
He pledged Policy LINK’s commitment to supporting agriculture policy processes in Ghana and further highlighted the need for the community to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices. “Policy LINK has published policy briefs emerging from a broader climate change assessment, and these briefs will be used to further engage stakeholders to prioritize transformative actions to achieve a climate-resilient future,” Abdulai explained.
Following the presentations, the community members were organized into diverse groups, composed of men, women, and youth, to discuss their lessons from the presentations and to share commitments to the new behaviors they will adopt. The conversations were facilitated by officials of Empowerment for Life, a non-governmental organization that works in the community.
Representatives of the Kumbungu District Assembly and the adjoining Sagnerigu Municipal Assembly presented messages of support for the initiative on behalf of their respective heads.
