Farmers adapting to climate change in Ghana

Ken Kinney is the director of 'Development Institute' (DI), an NGO in Ghana. Together with local farmers in the River Dayi basin he looked into ways of using the river's water as an alternative to being dependent on the changing amount of rainfall. To prevent the river from drying up, they have to allocate and use the water very carefully. Scientists in Ken's network calculated exactly how much water everyone could use without straining the river. They tested various options for adaptation suggested by the local community. Together they decided to create green buffer zones along the river, and to use river water for small-scale irrigation of the arable land behind these zones. The buffer zones help to retain the precipitation and thus the fertility of the fields. This approach was a success! The rice, beans and vegetable yields have quadrupled in just a few years. Through mediation by Ken and his organisation, the basin's farmers came into contact with local and regional authorities. One of the farmers joined Ken in the Board of the Rive Dayi. The community now has a say in the allocation and use of water and land in and around the river. This set of measures against the negative consequences of climate change was established with Dutch support from Both ENDS, the VU University Institute for Environmental Studies, and the water experts from Acacia Water.