The United Nations University-Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INR) in collaboration with the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research has organized a two-day workshop on Land Surface (LANDSURF) project in Accra.
The aim of the workshop is to disseminate key findings of the LANDSURF project and enhance the technical capacities of the stakeholders in Ghana in the project’s findings such the Decision Support System, (DSS).
The DSS, which is a web-based portal developed by the project, will help key stakeholders like farmers to get access to precise climate data in order to make informed decisions with them, such as when, where, and what to plant.
During the workshop, a PHD student at the University of Ghana and a research fellow of UNI-IRNA, Barbara Baidoo, urged farmers to adapt to scientific ways of predicting and reading the climate, rather than solely relying on traditional ways. She recounted an experience during the research period where the farmers admitted that the old method of predicting the climate sometimes fails them due to climate change.
“Of course, the farmers themselves mentioned that, initially they could rightly say if they see clouds gather in one direction or if they see a particular animal in a certain time of the year, it informs them of heavy rainfall setting-in or a dry period setting-in, but now it doesn’t work like that. So you see it and instead of the rain setting in, it delays before it comes and so of course some of the indicators they mentioned are no more reliable”
The workshop attracted various stakeholders which includes the Ghana Meteorological Agency, the Forestry Commission, the Ghana Hydrological Services, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Ministry of land and natural resources, Water Resource Commission etc.
The project coordinator, Dr. Ferdinand Tornyie, explained that the DSS portal is very simple to use and navigate and as such it would not pose as a challenge to indigenous farmers.
“Definitely farmers can use it as I mentioned. A farmer who knows as how to use a computer or a smartphone can use it”
The LANDSURF project was funded by WASCAL and partners by the German Ministry of Education and Research
–
Story by: Simon Owusu Prempeh | univers.ug.edu.gh
