The agricultural sector is one of the sectors most vulnerable to Climate Change, with significant impacts on agricultural yields, post-harvest losses and food security in the Upper West Region.

There is therefore the need to connect agriculture investments to climate adaptation and mitigation activities, Madam Rita T. Mumuni, Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at the Regional Agricultural Office has observed.

She said over the years, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture were carrying out projects and programmes that were geared towards mitigating the effect of climate change on agricultural production.

“Climate Change poses risk to all aspect of the nation’s development including; water, agriculture, infrastructure and energy and we need collective efforts to mitigate against its menace”, she said.

Madam Mumuni made the observation at a stakeholder Engagement Resilience Against Climate Change (REACH) Project forum held in Wa.

Journalists and other media practitioners attended the forum organised by GIZ to provide first-hand information about the project and begin a conversation around how they could collaborate to ensure that the existing relations were enhanced for the coherent implementation of the project.

Madam Mumuni said REACH component of the European Union Ghana Agriculture Programme (EUGAP) and would be assisting the District Planning Team to develop climate smart development plans contributing to the Nationally Determined Contributions.

It would also improve and establish extension services fully conversant with conservation agriculture and standardise the production of Community Action Plans that would focus on climate change adaptation and provide grant funding for the identified mitigation activities.

She said REACH had already undertaken several activities in 18 baseline communities in its six pilot districts in the region and the Department of Agriculture was ready to coordinate, collaborate and offer REACH needed support for a successful implementation to improve the livelihood of its beneficiaries.

Mr Gilbert Nuuri-Teg, the Upper West Regional Coordinating Director, said the government had established the Tree Crops Development Authority to serve as a regulatory body for six tree crops, namely mango, cashew shea coconut, rubber, and oil palm.

The Authority is charged with the mandate to identify and develop a sustainable source of funding to promote and develop the tree crops industry to help rejuvenate and green the environment, which are part of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures

REACH would certainly help diversify and promote best and sustainable practices in the agricultural sector thereby impact positively on the incomes of farmers.

Mr Nuuri-Teg commended the EU and GIZ through the Resilience Against Climate Change REACH Project for their exemplary role in mitigating climate change in the region.

Mr Jasmin Martson, Project Manager of REACH Project, in a statement, said REACH would help to address the consequences of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation on rural livelihoods in the northern savannah ecological zone.

The project adopts a gender-sensitive approach in helping communities to adopt and sustain climate smart agricultural practices.

It also assists District Planning Coordination Units in the development of environmentally sound Medium Term Development Plans that contribute to the realisation of Ghana’s international commitment to the Paris Agreement on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

Mr Martson said another component of the Project is researching the effects of social transformation due to the changing environmental conditions, which is being implemented by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).