Journalists urged to prioritise conversation around climate change to mitigate impact

Experts in climate change and the agriculture value chain have urged Ghanaian journalists to as a matter of urgency prioritise and increase conversations around climate change to help mitigate its impact on vulnerable communities and strengthen food systems.According to them, threats of climate change were real and becoming more pronounced as temperatures continued to rise, leading to prolonged drought while erratic and poor rainfall distribution were being recorded each year, thereby, adversely affecting agriculture production, food security, and systems and many sectors of economies.They, therefore, urged the media to play a critical role in influencing policy direction that would help farmers adapt to the changing climate as well as help them especially smallholder farmers to adopt climate-smart activities to increase food yields while preserving the natural resources.The experts, Professor David Millar, President of the Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies, Professor Albert Luguterah, Vice Chancellor of C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Mr Roy Ayariga, Chief Executive Officer of Green Planet Consult and Mr Yunus Abdulai, Country Lead, Feed the Future Policy Link Activity made these observations at a public lecture in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region.The theme; 'The effects of climate change on agriculture in Ghana: the case of Upper East Region,' the lecture was organised by the Upper East Regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) in collaboration with Feed the Future USAID/Policy Link.The occasion was also used to launch the third edition of the regional GJA awards.Professor Millar indicated that vulnerable communities particularly those in Northern Ghana continued to suffer the brunt of climate change impacts although they contribute little to the phenomenon, however, these vulnerable smallholder farmers over the years have not benefitted from climate financing.He said apart from educating farmers to adapt to emerging technol ogies that help mitigate the impact of climate change, especially on agriculture, there was a need for the media to work with stakeholders to monitor climate financing and advocate its decentralisation to farmers.'The money keeps coming and keeps disappearing, so, we want the media to monitor to find out when we are getting our share of the climate financing and ensure accountability and inform us accordingly,' he said.Professor Luguterah noted that climate change was real, and it was affecting every aspect of the economy and underscored the need for journalists especially those who were working in Northern Ghana to lead the fight.Mr Ayariga, who gave the lecture, noted that human activities such as deforestation, bush burning, illegal mining, poor farming practices and charcoal burning among others were major contributors to climate change leading to multifaceted challenges such as erratic rainfall and prolonged drought.He said apart from intensifying education on environmental protection by helping communities to adopt alternative livelihood interventions, farmers should be assisted with early maturing and drought-resistant crops to adapt to the changing climate.Feed the Future Ghana USAID/Policy Link Country Lead noted that climate change was part of life of the people, affecting agriculture, health and water among others, threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and noted that his outfit had been working with stakeholders in Ghana to support policies that transform the agriculture sector and improve food security and called on the media to support the drive.Mr William Jalulah, Regional Chairman, GJA, said the Upper East Region due to its closeness to the Sahel Region was experiencing more of the climate crisis and admonished journalists to develop an interest in climate change reporting and help contribute to helping farmers mitigate the impact on production.Source: Ghana News Agency