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From 5 to 8 August 2015, the Ghana science policy platform coordinated by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) organised a conference on the theme ‘Climate Change and Livestock Development’. The conference, co-organised with the Ghana Society of Animal Production, was held at the University of Cape Coast, bringing together over 90 renowned scientists from Ghana and Nigeria to deliberate on the theme. The aim was to create awareness on climate-smart agriculture (CSA) thereby informing behaviour change and policy decisions specifically for the livestock sector.

The opening session was chaired by Professor John Nelson Buah, the Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast and the keynote address delivered by Honourable Deputy Minister of Food and Agriculture Hon. Dr. Hanna Bisiuw. During the discussions, Dr. Robert Zougmoré, the regional program leader of CCAFS in West Africa, highlighted the urgent need for immediate actions in order to adapt to the new reality and challenge of climate change. He pointed out the general impacts of climate change and variability on livestock and livestock-based livelihoods. These include changes in feed and grazing land availability, greater heat stress leading to a decline in productivity and an overall decline in Gross Domestic Product from livestock especially for the Sahelian countries, and changes in available land and water resources.

Science-policy platform facilitates change in Ghana

Some of the participants who attended the meeting at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Photo: CCAFS West Africa

The Ghana CCAFS Platform is a national multi-stakeholder group of researchers, academia, extensionists, decision makers, farmer-based organizations (FBO), non-governmental rganizations (NGOs), religious bodies, and policy makers who have a common goal to enhance climate change adaptation in the agricultural sector in rural communities in Ghana through the exchange of information and influencing policy for action. Already, the Platform supported the translation of Ghana’s National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) into concrete actions by supporting development of a national Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) action plan (2016-2020), working closely with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). The platform availed evidence-based information on CSA practices from the various agro-ecological zones of the country, which is crucial to support the agro-ecosystem based action plan for effective policy investment decision making.

Some of the presentations made by members during the meeting included:

• Profiling of climate smart practices and technologies relating to the savannah and forest zones of the country, made by Vincent Ansah Botchway; a research scientist at CSIR-SARI Ghana
• Formation of district level science-policy dialogue platforms presented by Kingsley Odum.  The district forums link smallholder farmers with research and policy decision makers for information sharing and policy dialogue at that level for better informed and more drastic sequences of adaptation measures.
• Climate change policy in Ghana by Daniel Benefor, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana;
• Ghana climate-smart agricultural action plan by N. Delali, Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA);
• Overview of climate-smart agriculture by Benjamin Agyei,  Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
• Climate-smart mechanization and modernization of agriculture in Ghana by Dr. Aliu Mahama, University of Ghana. 

In conclusion, the work of the Ghana science-policy Platform is growing in stature over the years through its networks and direct partnerships, which combine engagement with information. The discussion of livestock production under climate change with outcomes of communiqués developed from the conference will further inform and benefit policy decision makers.

The communiqué from the conference was approved by the government of Ghana. It recognizes the importance and contribution of the animal industry in the overall agriculture sector and the gross national domestic product of the country, the government’s plans to mainstream climate-smart agriculture into the National Climate Change Policy document, and the efforts of the government to promote CSA practices and the commitment it has shown in effective adaptation practices. Finally, it  recognised the existence of the Ghana Science Policy Dialogue Platform which offers opportunities for knowledge and information exchange on CSA among the various stakeholders including international partners. 

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