The meeting brought together government, research and value-chain partners to unveil a national programme of promoting Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) irrigation in rice cultivation. The AWD project is expected to train rice farmers to reduce water use and methane emissions while sustaining their yields and incomes. 

Dr Saeed Abdul-Razak, Head of Environment and Climate, UNDP, said the programme envisioned transforming Ghana's irrigated rice sector into a more resilient and sustainable rice production system in the face of climate change-induced threats and damages by 2030.

He said the climate-smart rice programme falls within a bilateral agreement for cooperative approaches under the Paris Agreement (Article 6) between Ghana and Switzerland. He said the first authorised mitigation activity under the bilateral cooperation had been developed in the agricultural sector with the objective to reduce methane emissions through the management of water in irrigated rice farming.

The authorised Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcome (ITMO) programme, he stressed, aimed to introduce and promote the adoption of the AWD technique as a climate-smart agriculture practice for sustainable rice production.

The ITMO programme targets a total of up to 20,500 hectares per cropping season of the two seasons in a year and, in total, 242,600 hectares of irrigated rice fields over the project duration. The adoption of AWD in these flooded, irrigated rice fields can bring in total approximately 1,200,000 tCO2e of emission reductions by 2030. 

Dr Abdul-Razak said the programme was more than a climate intervention because it focused on research-driven approaches.
"We want to demonstrate evidence-based approaches and practices that can unlock climate finance, improve productivity, and also empower farmers.

"Through the generation of the internationally transferable mitigation outcomes, farmers who adopt AWD and participate in the robust Measurement, Reporting and Verification processes will access results-based payments," he said.
He said UNDP remained committed to supporting Ghana's Nationally Determined Contribution implementation and demonstrating how high-integrity carbon markets and Article 6 could drive sustainable development.

"Together we can position Ghana as a leader in climate-smart agriculture and in operationalising Article 6," he said.

Mr Kwabena Twumasi, Programme Analyst, Environment and Climate, UNDP, said through the programme, a total of 4,752 piezometers had been distributed to farmers to monitor groundwater levels and optimise AWD implementation in rice fields.

He said UNDP was working to scale up adoption, enhance data-driven decision-making and ensure environmental sustainability.