Ghana needs stronger systems to track climate adaptation and determine whether interventions are reducing farmers’ vulnerability to climate change.
The systems should provide evidence on whether adaptation measures are improving agricultural livelihoods and helping communities withstand climate shocks, rather than merely counting projects implemented.
Nana Dr. Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, Chair of the African Group of Negotiators (AGN), made the call at a stakeholder workshop on strengthening inclusive climate adaptation tracking and reporting in Ghana’s agriculture sector in Accra.
The three-day workshop is bringing together government institutions, research organisations and other stakeholders to examine ways to improve the collection, coordination and use of climate adaptation information in agriculture.
Nana Dr. Amoah said agriculture was particularly vulnerable to climate change because it was largely rain-fed and dominated by smallholder farmers whose livelihoods were exposed to changing rainfall patterns, rising temperatures, droughts, floods and pests.
He said Ghana was implementing measures including the promotion of climate-resilient crop varieties, improved climate information and early warning systems, irrigation, livelihood diversification and better natural resource management.
However, Nana Dr. Amoah said the country needed to establish whether those interventions were reducing vulnerability and strengthening farmers’ resilience.
“Adaptation must ultimately be measured by the difference it makes in people’s lives.
“We need to demonstrate that farmers are becoming less vulnerable to climate impacts and that agricultural livelihoods are becoming more resilient,” he said.
Nana Dr. Amoah called for adaptation monitoring systems to capture whether women, young people, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups were benefiting from climate investments.
He said differences in access to land, finance, agricultural inputs, extension services, technology and decision-making could determine how various groups experienced climate risks and benefited from adaptation measures.
“If our monitoring systems do not capture these differences, our reports may show progress while important groups remain behind,” he said.
The AGN Chair said Ghana should strengthen and connect existing reporting systems rather than create a parallel system for adaptation.
He said adaptation information should feed into the National Adaptation Plan, Nationally Determined Contributions, agriculture-sector planning, national statistics and Ghana’s climate reporting obligations.
Nana Dr. Amoah said preparation of the country’s Second Biennial Transparency Report (BTR2) provided an opportunity to improve institutional coordination, data collection and reporting.
“Good reporting begins long before the report is written,” he said, stressing the need for clear institutional responsibilities, reliable baseline information, consistent data collection and effective information flow from districts and sectors to national systems.
The workshop is also examining how Ghana’s existing adaptation indicators and data can align with the Belém Adaptation Indicators under the Global Goal on Adaptation.
Nana Dr. Amoah said the indicators should complement existing national systems rather than create additional reporting burdens.
He said credible adaptation data would help Ghana identify gaps, improve policies and investments, and strengthen the case for adaptation finance.
The workshop is being supported by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support (AGNES), the University of Cape Town and the CGIAR Climate Action Program, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency and CSIR/STEPRI.
Participants include representatives from the Ministries of Environment, Science and Technology; Finance; Gender; and Food and Agriculture, as well as the Ghana Statistical Service, NADMO, Ghana Meteorological Agency, Forestry Commission and Water Resources Commission.
Nana Dr. Amoah said lessons from Ghana could contribute to wider African efforts to strengthen adaptation tracking and reporting.
“The negotiating room and the farmer’s field cannot exist as two separate worlds,” he said.