The Minister for Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, has stressed the need for climate information and early warnings to reach smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana promptly and in languages they understand.
According to him, the effectiveness of climate forecasting should not be measured by the availability of data on government systems but by whether farmers in remote communities receive and understand the information early enough to take preventive action.
Mr George made the remarks at the launch and inception meeting of the Climate Resilient Landscapes for Sustainable Livelihoods in Northern Ghana project, a seven-year initiative supported by the Green Climate Fund and being implemented to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable farming communities.
He commended the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) for spearheading the initiative, describing it as timely and necessary given the increasing climate-related threats facing smallholder farmers across Northern Ghana.
He said farmers in the Northeast, Upper East and Upper West regions are experiencing the effects of climate change through erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells and severe flooding, which posed significant threats to agricultural production, household incomes and community stability.
The project will cover eight districts across the three regions, with climate information services forming a central component of its interventions.
Sam George said his ministry is particularly interested in the initiative because of the strong link between climate resilience and digital transformation.
He explained that the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), which falls under his ministry, would play an important role in improving farmers’ access to reliable climate data, forecasts and early warning information.
The minister cautioned that climate information would have little value if it failed to reach the people who needed it most.
“Early warning is only as good as the last mile that it reaches,” he said, stressing that forecasts generated in Accra would not protect farmers in remote communities if the information reached them after a flood, drought or other climate event had already occurred.
He said the true measure of the project’s success would be whether a smallholder farmer could receive a timely, understandable and actionable alert about an approaching dry spell or flood while still having enough time to respond.
Sam George further emphasised the importance of communicating climate information in local languages.
He noted that sending critical alerts only in English could undermine their usefulness to farmers who do not understand the language.
“If the alert goes in English and she speaks Wala, you have sent that alert but the value of that alert is zero,” he said.
He therefore called for climate information to be delivered through multiple channels, including SMS, voice messages in local languages, USSD platforms and community radio.
Sam George said the Ministry of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations, through the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) and the National Communications Authority (NCA), would support the project by strengthening rural connectivity and mobile infrastructure.
The objective, he said, is to ensure that climate alerts could reach farming communities, including those in remote areas where access to smartphones and reliable internet connectivity remained limited.
He said climate resilience should not become a privilege reserved for people with smartphones, internet access or high levels of literacy.
The minister stressed that the government’s rural telecommunications expansion must support communication channels capable of reaching people regardless of their level of digital access.
He said the ministry would also support efforts to link GMet’s data systems with national digital platforms, allowing climate services to integrate more effectively into Ghana’s broader digital infrastructure.
In addition, digital and data literacy would be promoted among agricultural extension officers and community champions to ensure that climate information translated into practical knowledge and action at the community level.
Sam George argued that the government’s digitalisation agenda should be viewed as an important component of Ghana’s climate resilience strategy.
He said investments in rural connectivity, data infrastructure and digital services are not separate from efforts to help communities adapt to climate change.
“From rural connectivity to data infrastructure, [digitalisation] is not separate from climate resilience. It is one of our strongest tools for delivering it,” he said.
He also welcomed the partnership structure underpinning the project, which brings together the EPA as the executing authority, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, GMet and the Water Resources Commission, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) serving as the delivery partner.
According to the minister, collaboration among the institutions would be critical to ensuring that the project achieved its intended outcomes.
He said climate resilience can not be built through isolated interventions and expressed confidence that the inception meeting would provide a clear framework for the project’s implementation and governance.
Sam George assured the EPA and other implementing partners that his ministry was prepared to provide the necessary digital and communication support to strengthen the project.
He urged the project leadership to engage his ministry whenever digital technology and communication solutions could contribute to its implementation.
Addressing farmers in the Northeast, Upper East and Upper West regions, Mr George said the initiative is ultimately about protecting the livelihoods of communities whose agricultural activities contribute significantly to Ghana’s food security.
He said the government, together with its development partners, is investing not only in agricultural and physical infrastructure but also in the information and technology required to help farmers plan for climate risks, adapt to changing conditions and sustain their livelihoods.
He stressed that timely access to climate information can enable farmers to make better decisions about planting, harvesting, water management and other agricultural activities.
The minister reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensuring that technological innovation and communication infrastructure serve vulnerable communities and contribute directly to improving their ability to withstand the growing impacts of climate change.
The Climate Resilient Landscapes for Sustainable Livelihoods in Northern Ghana project is expected to strengthen climate adaptation measures and improve the resilience of vulnerable smallholder farming communities across the targeted districts.
By 1960news.com
