Micro-level social vulnerability assessment towards climate change adaptation in semi-arid Ghana,West Africa

This study determined the social vulnerability index (SoVI) of households to climate change impacts for three identified locations (upper, mid and lower) in the Vea catchment, semi-arid Ghana. This study adapted the social, economic and demographic indicator approach. The data used were obtained from a survey of 186 randomly sampled farm households and direct field measurements of 738 farm plots belonging to the same sampled farm households. Information from the literature, expert judgement and principal component analysis were useful for computing and analysing the SoVI. The variables were normalized, weighted and subsequently recombined to determine the index of the three locations towards climate change. Although the SoVI to climate change was highest (0.77) for the upper part of the catchment, the mid- and lower parts of the catchment show a high SoVI of 0.72 each. The overall SoVI for the catchment is 0.73. The study re-emphasizes the high vulnerability level of dry areas to climate change. Moreover, it shows there is variability at micro-scale. There is a need to put appropriate measures to address the vulnerability of households to climate change in the semi-arid areas of West Africa. Factors aggravating dry land’s vulnerability towards climate change should be prevented with implementable policies. Furthermore, it is important to identify conditions that have made some areas less vulnerable to climate change, and then, we can work out the possibility of adapting such to the vulnerable places.     

Stakeholders’ Perceptions of GM Technology in West Africa: Assessing the Responses of Policymakers and Scientists in Ghana and Nigeria

The perception of two key stakeholders such as policymakers and scientists on genetic modification (GM) technology was examined in Ghana and Nigeria using semi-structured interviews. A total sample of 20 policymakers (16 at ministries and 4 at parliament/cabinet) and 58 scientists (43 at research institutes and 15 at universities) participated at the interviews. This study revealed respondents perspectives on potential benefits and risks of GM technology, status and development of biosafety regulatory frameworks, role of science and technology innovation in agricultural development, intellectual property right and related issues. The study also shed some light on a possible influence of the European Union and United States in the development and potential adoption of GM technology. More importantly, the article suggests that most respondents including policymakers believe that GM technology has great potential to solve part of agricultural problems in both countries. But, lack of appropriate regulatory framework, lack of trained personnel, weak institutions and poor equipped laboratory among others represent a significant challenge in introducing GM technology in this part of Africa.