Climate Change in Ghana Linked to Poverty, Lack of Wildlife Resources

Thinkstock From Ghana Business News

Ms Barbara Serwah Asamoah, Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has cited negative effects of climate change as one of the major causes of poverty in Ghana. She said  in Ghana the effect could be seen in the rapid change in rainfall patterns, long dry seasons, drying up of major streams and rivers, heavy erosion, loss of soil fertility, loss of biodiversity, drastic decline in none timber forest product among other things.
Speaking on Wednesday at a workshop on effects of climate change for high level policy makers and politicians, she said such negative effects had culminated into an increase in poverty in many rural communities which derived direct livelihood from forest and wildlife resources. The Workshop organised by the Ghana Climate Change Agricultural and Food Security (CCAFS) Platform, was attended by farmer based organisations, NGOs, religious bodies, researchers, academia and policy makers
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The Platform has a common goal to enhance climate change adaptation in the agricultural sector in rural communities in Ghana through exchange of information and influencing policy. Ms Asamoah said during the past three decades, forests in the country had suffered much decline through the exploitation of the natural resources to meet the growing socio-economic need of people.
She cited uncontrollable logging, rampant bush fires, excessive use of firewood, charcoal production, illegal mining activities and increased demand of land for infrastructural development, air pollution as some of the causes of climate change in the country.