Ghana - we have all consented to the gradual disappearance of our human race
Ghana is currently going through energy crisis with estimates that it could cost the country’s economy millions of dollars. The 2006-2007 crisis has taken most Ghanaians by surprise. It should not. We have been here before, in 1983, 1994 and 1997-98 with increasing severity. The troubling rationing system, the slowdown in industrial activity, and the job and income losses have all been faced by the people of Ghana before. What is really surprising and troubling in each of these episodes is the gap between the magnitude of the crisis and the smallness of the politics we have.
rasmus from Ghana on climate change and the energy crisis
his testimony
Mavis Ayensu, a 27 year old mechanical engineer talks about how the lack of rain has put a lot of stress on the Akosombo hydro plant and the people reliant on it for their energy needs. “This [load shedding] affects my productivity at work since I need electricity to carry out most of my daily tasks. In addition, the load shedding causes darkness in our communities at night thereby bringing night life to a halt. This affects businesses that operate in the evening. In the home, it is at times difficult to enjoy a sound sleep at night due to hot temperatures we sometimes experience. The climate is vital for the very survival of the human race, until we find ways of mitigating the ailing climate; we have all consented to the gradual disappearance of our human race”.
Awo Dede, a 40 year-old farmer from Ashaiman is concerned about the rains: “We don’t have it the way we used to any more. There are longer drought periods. When the rains finally come, it causes lots of havoc. In fact, our local knowledge on the rainfall pattern is totally confused right now. This is affecting our farming activities.”
“We have heard of climate change on the radio and urge all the world leaders to treat it with a sense of urgency. Our children will not forgive us if we fail them. I hope we will not disappoint them.” Tetteh Nartey, a 55year old ex-service man from Ningo.
Farmers discuss how best to adapt to changes in climate
background
Ghana is currently going through energy crisis with estimates that it could cost the country’s economy millions of dollars. The 2006-2007 crisis has taken most Ghanaians by surprise. It should not. We have been here before, in 1983, 1994 and 1997-98 with increasing severity. The troubling rationing system, the slowdown in industrial activity, and the job and income losses have all been faced by the people of Ghana before. What is really surprising and troubling in each of these episodes is the gap between the magnitude of the crisis and the smallness of the politics we have.
There are several theories about the causes of the crisis, some more credible than others. The plausible factors include the trends in climate change, the advancing Sahara, the complacency in policy-making, and the chronic avoidance of tough decisions in the energy sector even when national security is at stake.
The signs of the power crisis have been there for the past two decades as the rainfall has declined: the harmattan winds that blow from the Sahara towards the Gulf of Guinea with accompanying sandstorms are progressively severe, quickened by continued deforestation. It is hard to miss the frequent poor visibility during the dry season as a result of sandstorms that now can be felt along the coast. There is more evidence. The gradual southward migration of Fulani herdsmen in search of pasture and water and their increasing conflicts with food crop farmers. These ominous trends have affected vegetation, livestock, wildlife and agriculture, and have gradually increased the vulnerabilities of a hydro-dependent economy like Ghana.
When it rains, it does not rain in the catchment areas of the Akosombo Dam (a hydro-electric dam that provides electricty to Ghana and its neighboring West African countries). As a result, the Volta River Authority and the Electricity Company of Ghana say the Akosombo Dam is critically low on water and have ordered industry to cut back on energy consumption by 25%. What makes the costs of the 2007 crisis potentially more severe is the increase in price of light crude oil (the price has doubled since 1990), doubling the input cost of thermal generated electricity.
Households are suffering from damaged appliances due to power surges, food poisoning and the inconvenience of noisy and polluting generators. The CT scan machines in all Ghana’s major hospitals have broken down because of the incessant power fluctuations. The national newspaper, the Ghanaian Lens, paints a sordid picture of how patients fruitlessly continue to be moved from one hospital to the other in search of a working CT scanner, and how preventable illness and deaths are becoming the order of the day.
Climate change also causes a reduction in soil fertility and a decrease in livestock productivity (directly through higher temperatures and indirectly through changes in the availability of feed and fodder). To adapt to these changes farmers have formed farming associations where lessons on technological developments are shared. This is reflected in the shifts to more drought resistant species of maize, sweet potatoes and cassava, i.e. diversification of planting crops to ensure food security and shifts from livestock farming to game farming.
The one year long energy crisis the country is experiencing has demonstrated to us Ghanaians, the seriousness of the impacts of climate change. The consensus however is that human activity is having a major impact on the earth’s climate and that unless the industrialised and developing nations drastically reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, there could be dire consequence for the world’s population.
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Erasmus Nii Aborely from Friends of the Earth Ghana talking about the role climate change is playing in the energy crisis in Ghana |
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