By Raymond Ayinne, Communications and Advocacy Officer, AfriKids Ghana
30 April 2024
| Climate change is exacerbating droughts and altering rainfall patterns here in northern Ghana, leading to reduced agricultural yields and increasing food insecurity for local communities. Whilst you might be cheering at the first glimpses of sunshine and warmer temperatures, communities here in northern Ghana are waiting in vain for the end of the dry season. Over the last few months, regions across northern Ghana have been experiencing temperatures of up to 46 degrees celsius on a daily basis, at a time when rainy season should have already begun. More and more, we are beginning to see the effect climate change is having on our local communities and landscapes. These prolonged and extreme temperatures are affecting life for everyone here in northern Ghana. |
| In northern Ghana’s Upper East Region, where AfriKids primarily works, 83.2% of households own or operate a farm, relying on these crops to feed their families or earn a livelihood. Most families struggle to provide cooling for their rooms. Personally, it got to a point when my daughter got up in the morning and told us that she had not slept at all and could not go to school as she will sleep in the class. Most communities who get their source of water from wells, dams and dug outs have run out of water as the sources have run dry. Farmers who irrigate their farms are in the fix now as their crops are flowering but there is not water to keep them alive. Animals are loitering everywhere in search for water and grass. There is no vegetation, the land is dry, patchy, and bare. We are expecting the rains in May and June to give us some respite. When I was a child we used to experience the rains in April – actually in the Gurune Calendar, April is called the Rain Fall month – but now the rains do not come until May/June, or even July, when its fairly stable to grow crops. It’s affecting people’s livelihoods, and our communities that are producing vegetables. Every day I am lucky to travel to remote villages where I am met with traditional song in celebration of life. Today, many of their songs are prayers for rain. When the long-awaited rains finally fall, their song will be overwhelming! |
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