Dr Gerald Forkuor, a Climate Change Lead Person for Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK, has emphasised the need for climate change actions to be decentralised to the local level to reduce its impact.
He said local actors contributed to climate change impact through deforestation and bushfires, among other practices, most of whom were unaware of the impact of their actions on the environment.
Dr Forkuor said this at a sensitisation durbar on climate change at Tilli, a community in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region, on the theme: ‘Mobilising Communities for Climate Action: Building Resilience Together’.
Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK organised the durbar with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and brought together officials from the Forestry Commission, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Food and Agriculture, and opinion leaders, among others.
Policy LINK is a project under a bigger programme, Feed the Future, with several acti
vities and objectives, funded by USAID.
‘We are doing this kind of sensitisation to make people aware of sustainable practices that they can adopt, and in turn, reduce the impact of climate change on them,’ Dr Forkuor said.
He said the timing for the durbar was important as it came after world leaders had met in Dubai to discuss climate change action.
‘Climate action should not only be at the national level but more importantly at the local level, where local actors are,’ he added.
‘So we are collaborating with local institutions; the District Assembly, the Forestry Commission, the EPA, who are on the ground, to sensitise the communities about climate change, and also come up with solutions that they would adopt to reduce the impact…’.
Dr Forkuor said as community members were advised to stop practices such as felling of trees, they were also sensitised on the importance of adopting tree planting measures to sustain the environment.
‘We are doing it with actors on the ground because we don’t feel that w
e should come from Accra to tell people what to do on the local ground,’ he said.
‘We need to collaborate with institutions that are here so that when we leave, that collaboration would enable the local actors to continue to engage with the community members.’
Mr Eric Maasole, the Regional Manager for Policy LINK, said the durbar was a step towards building community resilience, fostering sustainable agricultural practices and creating a shared vision for a climate-resilient future.
It formed part of a series of initiatives to promote behaviour change at the local level by enhancing community members’ ability to contribute to mitigating the impact on their livelihoods and food security.
‘The programme is designed not only to raise awareness but to initiate tangible outcomes or community-driven solutions to adapt to the changing climate,’ Mr Maasole said.
‘As part of the process, community members will develop action plans to guide them to adopt practices that can protect the environment such as forest co
nservation, sustainable agricultural practices, water resource management, as well as avoid bushfires.’
Mr Tahiru Issahaku Ahmed, the District Chief Executive, in a speech read on his behalf, called for attitudinal change among residents to mitigate the impact of climate change and commended Policy LINK for the initiative to create awareness of the impact.
Source: Ghana News Agency