Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized


April 2020
Country

Analysis
Environmental
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 Table of Contents
Table of Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii

Boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Executive Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii

1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

2. The Cost of Environmental Degradation in Ghana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3. Air Pollution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4. Plastic Pollution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5. E-waste. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

6. Status of Forest Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

7. Land Degradation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

9. Coastal Ecosystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

10. Status of Fisheries Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

11. Climate Change. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

12. Policies and Institutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

13. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

14. Annex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

15.References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Table of Contents  iii

 Figures
Figure 1.1: 2017 exports (MIT Observatory of Economic Complexity database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Figure 1.2: Resource rents as percent of Ghana GDP (World Bank WDI database). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Figure 1.3: Components of natural resource wealth per capita over time (Lange et al., 2018).. . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 1.4: Components of national wealth per capita (Lange et al., 2018).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 1.5: Net natural resource wealth depletion (World Bank WDI database). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Figure 1.6: Adjusted savings. Natural resource depletion, Ghana vs. structural peers
(World Bank WDI database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 1.7: Ghana population by rural-urban presence (World Bank WDI database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Figure 2.1: Framework for mercury exposure (Poulin et al., 2008).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Figure 3.1: Rate of death associated with HAP and AAP (Global Burden of Disease database).. . . . . . . . . 19
Figure 3.2: Premature deaths (top) and illness (bottom, in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) associated
with air pollution risk in Ghana (Global Burden of Disease database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Figure 3.3: Estimated spatial distribution of annual average PM2.5
concentrations in Accra for 2014 (MESTI, 2014). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Figure 3.4: Estimated AAP cost per year by urban area (Estimates by authors). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Figure 4.1: Plastics value chain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Figure 5.1: Ghanaians using Internet (ITU, 2018).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Figure 5.2: Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions in Ghana (ITU, 2018). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Figure 6.1: Tree cover loss (Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA;
World Database on Protected Areas (2000)). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Figure 6.2: Tree cover loss by region, canopy >15% (GFW database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Figure 6.3: Main activities causing forest sector emissions in Ghana (2001-2015) (MLNR, 2017a).. . . . . . . 55
Figure 6.4: Net forest depletion among Ghana's peers (World Bank WDI database). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Figure 7.1: Soil erosion (RUSLE model) (World Bank Hidden Dimensions Dataset).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Figure 7.2: Growth of staple crops, 2008-2014 (Adapted from World Bank, 2018b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Figure 7.3: Fertilizer consumption, Ghana vs. structural peers (World Bank WDI database).. . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Figure 7.4: Scatterplot showing correlation between land degradation and population growth (World Bank
Hidden Dimensions Dataset).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Figure 7.5: GDP, poverty reduction, and GEP (GSS, 2018; World Bank WDI database; World Bank
Macroeconomic Growth Accounting Tool).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Figure 7.6: Agroecological Zones in Ghana (World Bank, 2015). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Figure 7.7: Governance Structure SLM and Desertification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Figure 8.1: Key ecological hazards in the ASGM sector (Rajaee et al., 2015 with silhouettes adapted from
UNEP Mercury: Time to Act (2013)). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Figure 8.2: Mercury (Hg) cycle in a typical artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) process (Rajaee
et al., 2015).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Figure 8.3: Gold Production and ASM Share (MLNR, 2017). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Figure 8.4: The galamsey ‘employment engine’ (From Hilson and Banchirigah, 2008;
Banchirigah, 2008).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Figure 8.5: MDF allocation as per Minerals Development Fund Act 912 and Chapter 267 of Ghana's
Constitution (Authors’ Figure).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

iv
 Figure 9.1: Coastal erosion hotspots (Angnuureng et al., 2013). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Figure 9.2: Flood risk map of Accra Metropolitan Area (City of Accra) (Centre for Remote Sensing
and GIS (CERSGIS), University of Ghana, Accra, July–August 2013, cited in Amoako and Frimpong
Boamah, 2015). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Figure 9.3: Flood-prone areas and types of floods in Greater Accra Plains (Kagblor, 2010 cited in
Amaoko and Frimpong Boamah, 2016) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Figure 9.4: Annual cost of coastal degradation (Compiled by authors based on World Bank, 2017a).. . . . 93
Figure 10.1: Fish consumption in Ghana (2006-2016) (FAO database). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Figure 10.2: Origin of fish consumed, by proportion (MoFAD, 2017).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Figure 10.3: Reported fish landings by the various fleets in the marine sector
(Data obtained from MoFAD).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Figure 10.4: Annual catch per canoe and catch per fisherman in artisanal marine capture fisheries
(Authors estimates from MoFAD data).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Figure 10.5: Annual mean temperature coastal sea surface (at Tema) (MoFAD, 2018).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Figure 10.6: Annual major upwelling index (at Tema) (MoFAD, 2018). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Figure 10.7: Aquaculture and capture fish production in Lake Volta (Data obtained from MoFAD).. . . . . . 104
Figure 10.8: Lost rents due to overfishing in Ghana’s marine fisheries (Authors based on Akpalu and
Okyere, 2018).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Figure 11.1: Number of significant flooding events by region (2000-2019) (Leftmost image)
(EM-DAT database); Flood and drought severity (Middle and Rightmost images).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Figure 11.2: Projected change in monthly temperature (left) and precipitation (right) for 2020-2039
(World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Figure 11.3: Estimated increased water levels in the Odaw Basin (Accra) for different climate change
models and urbanization trends (World Bank, 2020).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Figure 11.4: GHG emissions by sector (MESTI, 2018).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Figure 11.5: Total GHG emissions (% change from 1990) (World Bank WDI database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Figure 12.1: Environment expenditure as percentage of GDP (left), and as percentage of
total government expenditure (right), 2012-2017 (CAGD audited annual reports).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Figure 12.2: Environment expenditures as percentage of total government expenditures 2012-2017
(CAGD audited annual reports). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Figure 12.3: Percentage of environment expenditures (COFOG standard classification), 2012-2017
(CAGD audited annual reports). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Figure 12.4: Environmental spending as percentage of total government expenditure, 2012-2017
(CAGD audited annual reports). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Figure 12.5: MLNR and MESTI Investment/Capital Expenditures (Audited annual reports of CAGD). . . . . . 131
Figure 12.6: MLNR and MESTI compensation or employee's remuneration
(Audited annual reports of CAGD).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Figure A1. Integrated exposure-response (IER) Functions for (a) ischemic heart disease, (b) stroke,
(c) lung cancer and CoPD, and (d) lower respiratory infections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Figure A.2: Maximum Sustainable and Economic Level of Fishing Effort (Adapted from Israel, 1995).. . . 145

Table of Contents  v
 Boxes
Box 1.2: Adjusted net savings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Box 3.1: Distributional effects of air pollution in Accra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Box 3.2: Multiple benefits of clean cooking in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Box 3.3: Air pollution at the Tema roundabout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Box 4.1: Pillars of the plastics management policy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Box 4.2: Central Reforms to Stabilize the Waste Sector and Engage the Private Sector in Senegal. . . . . . 37
Box 5.1: The “Burners” of Agbogbloshie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Box 7.1: Definition of Land Degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Box 7.2: Specifics of staple crop production in Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Box 7.3: Dealing with land degradation: lessons from Nigeria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Box 8.1: Estimating impacts and repair costs in galamsey-affected areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Box 8.2: Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Box 9.1: Using Mangroves and Sea Dikes as First Line of Coastal Defense in Vietnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Box 10.1: Extract from an interview conducted at Dixcove. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Box 10.2: Fish species of commercial importance in Ghanaian waters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Box 10.3: The West Africa Regional Fisheries Program-Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Box 12.1: Overview and methodology for the Ghana PEER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

vi
 Tables
Table 2.1: Estimated CoED in Ghana, 2017 (Estimates by authors). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Table 3.1: Annual mortality burden attributed to AAP/HAP, by age (Estimates by authors).. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Table 3.2: PM concentrations in Accra vs. air quality guidelines (Various authors).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Table 3.3: Fuel used by households in Ghana (DHS, 2016; Van Vliet, 2016; Van Donkelaar, et al., 2016) . 22
Table 3.4: Estimated annual cost (billion US$) of AAP and HAP-related health effects in Ghana, 2017
(Estimates by authors). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Table 3.5: Selected air quality improvement projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Table 4.1: Plastic waste generation in Ghana, by plastic grade (Troutman and Aseidu-Dankwah, 2017;
Miezah et al., 2015).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Table 4.2: Imports by Section, 2009-2013 (Adapted from GSS, 2014).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Table 4.3: Selected projects dealing with plastics/urban waste pollution.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Table 5.1: WEEE origination (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Table 5.2: Imports by Section, 2009-2013 (Adapted from GSS, 2014). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Table 5.3: Selected e-waste projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Table 6.1: Estimated losses of open and closed forests during three time periods (MLNR, 2017a).. . . . . . . 53
Table 6.2: Absolute and relative tree cover loss, by region (2001-2018) (GFW database). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Table 6.3: Drivers of deforestation and degradation (MLNR, 2016b). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Table 6.4: Selected initiatives to reduce forest loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Table 7.1: Drivers and factors behind land degradation (MES, 2002; MESTI, 2017a; MESTI, 2017b).. . . . . . 65
Table 7.2: Erosion vulnerability in Ghana (Asiamah, 1987).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Table 7.3: Flood occurrence, drought severity, soil erosion rates and share of more favored agricultural
land area by districts’ poverty level (World Bank Hidden Dimensions Dataset). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Table 7.4: Additional relevant legal and legislative instruments related to SLM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Table 7.5: Selected land management projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Table 8.1: Selected projects combating illegal artisanal and small-scale gold mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Table 9.1: Coastal zone indicators (World Bank WDI database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Table 9.2: Legislation pertaining to the coastal zone of Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Table 10.1: Top 10 demersal species off coast of Ghana
(Data from selected surveys of the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Table 10.2: Top 10 demersal species off coast of Ghana
(Data from selected surveys of the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Table 11.1: Significant flood events in Ghana, 2000-2019 (EM-DAT database).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Table 11.2: Selected projects focused on climate change in Ghana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Table 12.1: Challenges in EIA implementation (Various authors).. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Table A1: Summary of CoED estimation methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Table A2: Baseline Data for Estimating Morbidity Cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Table A3: Benefit transfer of VSL for Ghana (estimated by authors) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Table of Contents  vii

 Abbreviations and Acronyms
Abbreviation Definition
AAP Ambient Air Pollution
AFOLU Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use
ANS Adjusted Net Savings
AQM Air Quality Management
AP Air Pollution
ASGM Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining
ASM Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining
BMZ Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (German Federal
Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development)
CAGD Controller and Accountant General’s Department of Ghana
CDA Coastal Development Authority
CDS Community Development Scheme
CEA Country Environmental Analysis
CFI Cocoa & Forests Initiative
CO Carbon Monoxide
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
CoED Cost of Environmental Degradation
COFOG Classification of Functions of Government
CREMA Community Resource Management Area
DALY Disability Adjusted Life Years
DCIM District Commission on Illegal Mining
DEMC District Environmental Management Committee
DHS Demographic and Health Survey
DP Development Partner
ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States
EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment
EIA Environmental Impact Assessment
ENRAC Environment and Natural Resources Advisory Council
ENRM Environment and Natural Resources Management
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPR Extended Producer Responsibility
ER Emissions Reduction
EU European Union
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation
FC Forestry Commission
FEU Fisheries Enforcement Unit
FIP Forest Investment Program
FSD Forest Services Division
FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
FSSD Fisheries Scientific Survey Division
FWP Forest and Wildlife Policy
GAMA Greater Accra Metropolitan Area

viii
 GASDA Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association
GBD Global Burden of Disease
GCFRP Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Program
GDP Gross Domestic Product
GEP Growth Elasticity of Poverty
GFIP Ghana Forest Investment Program
GFW Global Forest Watch
GHG Greenhouse Gas
GIZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Development Agency)
GH Ghanaian Cedi
GHS Ghana Health Service
GMet Ghana Meteorological Agency
GNI Gross National Income
GoG Government of Ghana
GRS Ghana REDD+ Strategy
GRT Gross Registered Tons
GSD Geological Survey Department
GSGDA Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda
GSS Ghana Statistical Service
GWCL Ghana Water Company Limited
ha Hectare
HAP Household Air Pollution
HDD Hidden Dimensions Dataset
HDPE High-Density Polyethylene
HFZ High Forest Zone
Hg Mercury
HIA Hotspot Intervention Areas
HSD Hydrological Services Department
ICT Information and Communication Technology
ICT4AD ICT for Accelerated Development
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPPU Industrial Processes and Product Use
IQ Intelligence Quotient
IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature
IUU Iillegal, Unreported, Unregulated
KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (German Development Bank)
kg Kilogram
LC Lands Commission
LDPE Low-Density Polyethylene
LI Legislative Instrument
LMIC Lower-Middle-Income Country
LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LUSPA Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority
μm Micrometer
μg Microgram
m Meter
m3 Cubic Meter
mgl-1 Milligrams Per Deciliter
M&E Monitoring and Evaluation
MC Minerals Commission
MDA Ministries, Departments and Agencies
MDF Minerals Development Fund

Abbreviations and Acronyms

 MESTI Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation
MEY Maximum Economic Yield
MINT Materials in Transition
MLGRD Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
MLNR Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources
MMDA Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies
MMIP Multilateral Mining Integrated Project
MoC Ministry of Communication
MoE Ministry of Education
MoEP Ministry of Energy and Petroleum
MoF Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning
MoFA Ministry of Food and Agriculture
MoFAD Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development
MoI Ministry of the Interior
MoTI Ministry of Trade and Industry
MSDI Ministry of Special Development Initiatives
MSWR Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources
MSY Maximum Sustainable Yield
MT Metric Ton
MWH Ministry of Works and Housing
NADMO National Disaster Management Organisation
NAP National Action Plan
NBSSI National Board for Small Scale Industries
NDC Nationally Determined Contribution
NDPC National Development Planning Commission
NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
NEAP National Environmental Action Plan
NEP National Environmental Policy
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide
NPP Net Primary Productivity
NREG Natural Resources and Environment Governance
NSEZ Northern Savannah Ecological Zone
NTFP Non-Timber Forest Product
OASL Office of the Administration of Stool Lands
OXO Oxo-(bio)degradable Plastics
PAH Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
PBDE Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers
PBDD/F Polybrominated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Dibenzofurans
PCB Polychlorinated Biphenyl
PCDD/F Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins and Dibenzofurans
PE Polyethylene
PEER Public Environmental Expenditure Review
PET Polyethylene Terephthalate
PM Particulate Matter

x
 PMMC Precious Minerals Marketing Corporation
POP Persistent Organic Pollutant
PP Polypropylene
PPP Purchasing Power Parity
PS Polystyrene
PV Present Value
PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
RCCs Regional Coordinating Councils
REDD+ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
R/V Research Vessel
RUSLE Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment
SLWM Sustainable Land and Water Management
SO2 Sulfur Dioxide
SST Sea Surface Temperature
SZ Savannah Zone
TF Trust Fund
TIDD Timber Industry Development Division
TZ Transition Zone
UN United Nations
ULAB Used Lead-Acid Battery
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
VMS Vessel Monitoring System
VPA Voluntary Partnership Agreement
VSL Value of Statistical Life
WARFP West Africa Regional Fisheries Project
WASH Water supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene
WCF World Cocoa Foundation
WD Wildlife Division
WDI World Development Indicators
WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
WHO World Health Organization
WRC Water Resources Commission
YLD Years Lived with Disability

Abbreviations and Acronyms

 Young boy on fishing boat.
Arne Hoel / The World Bank

xii
 Acknowledgments

This report was prepared by the Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy Global Practice (ENB GP) of the
World Bank in coordination with the Government of Ghana (GoG). The Task Team Leader (TTL) for this project was
Asferachew Abate Abebe. The lead author of the report was Steven Silverstein. Chapters 1 (Overview), 5 (E-waste), 8
(Illegal Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining), and 13 (Conclusions) were prepared by Steven Silverstein. Chapter 2
(The Cost of Environmental Degradation in Ghana, CoED) was prepared by Elena Strukova and revised by Lelia Croitoru.
Chapter 3 (Air Pollution) was prepared by Gary Kleiman. Chapter 4 (Plastic Waste Pollution) was prepared by Heather
Troutman. Chapter 6 (Status of Forest Resources) was prepared by Rebecca Asare. Chapter 7 (Land Degradation) was
prepared by Gordana Kranjac-Berisavljevic and Steven Silverstein. Chapter 9 (Coastal Ecosystem) was prepared by David
Maleki, Sajid Anwar, and Nicolas Desramaut. Chapter 10 (Status of Fisheries Resources) was prepared by Wisdom Akpalu
and Kwame Koranteng and reviewed by Steinar Matthiasson. Chapter 11 (Climate Change) was prepared by Carl Dingel.
Chapter 12 (Policies and Institutions) was prepared by Jonathan Allotey, while the Public Environmental Expenditure
Review (PEER) section was authored by Kwabena Gyan Kwakye. Maclean Asamani Oyeh contributed critical research
and inputs to multiple chapters: E-waste, Land Degradation, and Policies and Institutions, including the PEER. Jia Jun
Lee provided multiple bespoke maps and graphics from the Hidden Dimensions Dataset.

The team would like to thank Fredua Agyeman, Isaac Acquah, and Kingsley Amoako, counterparts in the GoG, for
providing guidance and technical inputs to this work.

The report also benefited from advice and comments from colleagues in Ghanaian academia and civil society, as
well as from the international development community: Nicholas Baynham, Gloria Odoom, Emmanuel Odotei, Eunice
Annan-Aggrey, Yoann Poline, Marion Chapon, Paolo Della Stella, Susana Martins, Janet Arthur, Angela Kwashie, and
Daniel Twerefou.

World Bank peer reviewers were Anjali Acharya, Diji Chandrasekharan Behr, Stephen Danyo, Urvashi Narain, Craig
Meisner, and Helena Naber. Seth Beckerman edited the report. Timothy Brown, Yasmina Oodally, Yesmeana Butler,
Justice Odoi, and Charity Boafo-Portuphy provided invaluable feedback and support.

This publication was produced under the guidance of Maria Sarraf and Magda Lovei, Practice Managers.

Henry Kerali and Pierre Laporte, Country Directors, and Agata Pawlowska, Manager, Operations provided crucial support.

Additional funding support for land degradation aspects was provided by the TerrAfrica Leveraging Fund.

Acknowledgments
 People dancing at the announcement
of the global launch of Poverty in Rising
Africa in Accra.
Dominic Chavez / World Bank

xiv
Acknowledgments  xv
xvi
Executive Summary
Natural resources have been key drivers of economic growth in Ghana. A second related indicator is adjusted net savings (ANS)—defined as gross
Over the past 30 years, real GDP in Ghana has more than quadrupled, and national saving (national income less consumption, plus net transfers)
in 2011 the country joined the ranks of Lower Middle-Income Countries adjusted for gains in education spending and losses through depletion
(LMICs).1 Macroeconomic momentum has been driven in part by higher of subsoil assets and timber resources, and the cost of air pollution to
prices for Ghana’s main commodity exports, gold and cocoa, and the human health—a measure of how wealth changes over time.2 If ANS is
start of commercial oil production. This fits an overall trend that has positive, it is adding to wealth and future well-being; if it is negative it
seen natural resource rents as a percentage of GDP more than double may indicate the country is consuming more than it is saving, using up
between 1990 and the present; approximately one-half of these rents its assets to fuel present growth, which undermines long-term sustain-
come from non-renewable sources (oil, mineral, natural gas). ability (Lange et al., 2018). In Ghana, dissaving due to natural resource
depletion and pollution damage has skyrocketed and ANS has been
Environmental unsustainability may impair Ghana’s economic growth, consistently negative since 2007.
as demonstrated through two economic indicators. The first is national
wealth—the measurement of a country’s assets in produced capital, Combined, the two indicators help inform an understanding of some of
natural capital (renewable and non-renewable), human capital, and net the linkages between environment and natural resource management
foreign assets—a gauge of growth sustainability. Between 2000 and and Ghana’s ability to foster future growth by investing in its people.
2014, Ghana saw total national wealth more than double. Growth is For example, air pollution harms human health through early mortality
predicated on efficiently and sustainably managing natural capital—a and morbidity. From the national wealth perspective this has negative
fact which can be demonstrated through increase in its per capita value ramifications for the country’s stock of human capital, as it reduces labor
over time—and reinvesting proceeds into other forms of capital, primarily force participation and productivity. The value of this loss is calculated
human (Lange et al., 2018). Yet, much of Ghana’s recent wealth growth using ANS, which shows a four-fold increase in damage from air pollution
came with liquidation of non-renewable assets and losses to renewable over the past two decades. If its current unsustainable environment and
resources, as well as erosion of produced capital. Ghana’s high popula- natural resource management remains unchanged, Ghana will see its
tion growth makes this a pressing concern since existing capital stocks wealth—its people, its lands, its infrastructure—destroyed over the long-
must be shared with younger and future generations. term with less opportunity to sustain growth, share prosperity, adapt to a
changing climate, and protect hard won development gains.

Natural resource rents as percentage of Ghana GDP (World Development Indicators (WDI) database).
20%

18%
20%
18%
16%

16%
14%

14%
GDP

12%
of GDP

12%
10%
%%of

10%
8%
8%
6%
6%
4%
4%
2%
2%
0%
0%
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
00

01
02

03

04

05

06

07
08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17
90

91
92

93

94

95
96

97

98

99

20

20
20
20
20

20

20
20

20
20
20
20

20
20

20

20

20
19

20
19
19
19
19

19

19
19

19
19

Forest rents Mineral rents Natural g as rents Oil rents

Forest rents Mineral rents Natural gas rents Oil rents

1. LMICs are defined as countries with a Gross National Income per mineral resources; and (3) other impacts on produced and human
capita between US$996 and US$3,895. capital, such as natural disasters or civil unrest (Lange et al., 2018).
Public health information comes from the Global Burden of Disease
2. Conceptually, ANS differs from changes in wealth because it does (database), https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/.
not include exogenous impacts from (1) price changes, which can be
substantial for natural resources; (2) new discoveries of energy and

Executive Summary  xvii

 Components of national wealth per capita (Lange et al., 2018).

2014 Constant USD, per capita

$13,853
$7,777
$6,345
$6,796 $10,922
$190
$108
$36 $1,673

$7,302 $7,890
$606
$7,284 $6,745
$5,155

$5,062 $5,029
$3,600 $2,890 $3,768
$(524) $(1,203) $(593) $(581) $(995)

1995 2000 2005 2010 2014

Produced Capital Renewable Natural Capital Non-Renewable Natural Capital Human Capital Net Foreign Assets

Net natural resource wealth depletion (World Bank WDI database).

$50.0
$50.0

$-
$-

$(50.00)
Current US$, per capita

$(50.00)
Current US$, per capita

$(100.00)
$(100.00)

$(150.00)
$(150.00)

$(200.00)
$(200.00)

$(250.00)
$(250.00)

$(300.00)
$(300.00)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Adjusted savings: carbon dioxide damage Adjusted savings: energy depleon Adjusted savings: mineral depleon
Adjusted savings: net forest depleon Adjusted savings: parculate emission damage Adjusted net savings, including parculate emission damage
Adjusted savings: carbon dioxide damage Adjusted savings: energy depletion Adjusted savings: mineral depletion

Adjusted savings: net forest depletion Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage Adjusted net savings, including
particulate emission damage

Objectives and
Methodology
The objective of the Ghana Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is environmental concerns, but instead focuses on priorities of government
to analyze critical environmental and natural resources issues threat- stakeholders and development partners that require in-depth analysis
ening sustainable economic growth and propose policy actions and and short-term actions. It leverages existing research to contextualize
investments to address them. The CEA does not address all of Ghana’s environmental challenges and permit fresh analysis into the sustainability

xviii
 Women walking roadside.
Curt Carnemark / World Bank.

of Ghana’s economic development. This includes an analysis of the Cost

of Environmental Degradation (CoED), which is calculated using the latest
World Bank approved methodology. The main analysis is expected to
broaden dialogue with Government and engagement with the public,
leading to improved environmental and natural resource management.

Cost of Environmental
Degradation
The cost of environmental degradation estimates the effects of envi- Among the national costs, it is important to note that:
ronmental degradation on Ghana’s national society due to air and
● Air Pollution is the most significant cost (equivalent to 4.2
water pollution, agricultural land degradation, deforestation, illegal
percent of GDP). This is primarily due to the impacts caused
mining, overfishing, coastal erosion, and flooding. In addition, it esti-
by household air pollution (causing about 8,800 premature
mates the impact of environmental degradation on the global com-
deaths), and secondarily by ambient air pollution (about 7,200
munity, through the cost of carbon emissions from economic activities.
premature deaths) in rural and urban areas.
Both anthropogenic and natural factors are considered for estimating
CoED. The assessment estimates the present value of both short-term ● Water Pollution causes significant damage (equivalent to 3
and long-term impacts caused by activities occurring over the latest percent of GDP) due to the health effects of an inadequate
year for which data were available; it uses a 6 percent discount rate water supply, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene (about
and a time horizon of 30 years (World Bank, 2016). The results are 10,600 early deaths), as well as discharge of solid waste,
expressed in absolute terms (US$, 2017 prices) and relative terms (as industrial effluents, and toxic substances into water systems.
a percentage of Ghana’s GDP, which was US$59 billion in 2017) to
● Gold mines, unmanaged solid waste, and other contami-
benchmark the extent of damage against macroeconomic indicators.
nated sites impose high costs on Ghana (1.2 percent of GDP).
Activities related to the recycling and disposal of electronic
The CoED to Ghanaian society is estimated at about US$6.3 billion,
waste, burning of plastic waste, and artisanal small-scale gold
equivalent to 10.7 percent of the country’s 2017 GDP. Additionally,
mining, release hazardous chemicals and heavy metals, to
GHG emissions cause damage to the global community, which, when
which exposure can be fatal (e.g., 1,200 deaths due to lead
quantified, are equivalent to about four percent of Ghana’s GDP. The
exposure).
national CoED appears almost triple that of the global cost.
● Agricultural land degradation, deforestation, and overfish-
ing are noteworthy due to their negative effects on resource
productivity—impacting national economic growth drivers,
jobs, and livelihoods—and ecosystem services.

Executive Summary  xix

 Beach scene, mouth of the Volta River.
alantobey / iStock Photo

xx
Estimated CoED in Ghana, 2017 (Estimates by authors).

Lower bound Upper bound Average % of GDP

(US$ billion) (US$ billion) (US$ billion)
Air 1.32 3.65 2.49 4.2%

Water 0.74 2.85 1.80 3.0%

Mining* 0.39 0.97 0.68 1.2%

Agricultural land 0.14 0.95 0.54 0.9%

Forests 0.14 0.66 0.40 0.7%

Fisheries 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.4%

Inland floods 0.06 0.17 0.12 0.2%

Coastal zone 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.1%

Cost to Ghanaian society 3.05 9.53 6.29 10.7%

Climate change 1.53 3.10 2.31 3.9%

Cost to Global community 1.53 3.10 2.31 3.9%

** Gold mining, e-waste, and other contaminated sites.

Air Pollution
Air pollution (AP) is Ghana’s number one environmental risk to pub- Annual total AP in Ghana has an estimated average cost equivalent to 4.2
lic health and its sixth-ranked overall risk (out of 19) for death.3 percent of 2017 GDP, or about US$2.5 billion. AAP, estimated at US$1.1
100 percent of Ghana’s population is exposed to PM2.5 levels exceed- billion is currently less costly than HAP by about US$250 million/year,
ing WHO guidelines. Ghana’s air pollution mortality rate—inclusive of but increasing urbanization means this may not be the case for long.
ambient air pollution (AAP) and household air pollution (HAP)—is 105 AAP is estimated to cost US$264 million dollars/year alone in Accra and
people per 100,000 (age-standardized) (Stanaway et al., 2018). AP is Kumasi, Ghana’s two largest cities.
responsible for eight percent of total mortality with approximately 16,000
Ghanaians dying prematurely each year: 8,500 in urban areas (4,600
due to AAP; 3,900 from HAP) and 7,600 in rural areas (2,600 due to
AAP; 5,000 from HAP).4 Over the past two decades, the HAP mortality
rate has dramatically decreased, while AAP has slightly increased. AP’s
disease burden is disproportionately borne by infants and the elderly: the
elderly experience most AP-related premature deaths, while a greater
proportion of non-fatal illness is borne by young children.

3. Public health information comes from the Global Burden of Disease 4. Final health burden estimates are adjusted for multiple risks because
(database), https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/. the same diseases are associated with different environmental risk
factors.

Executive Summary  xxi

 Rate of death associated with HAP, AAP (Global Burden Estimated AAP cost per year by urban area (Estimates
of Disease database). by authors).

60
$500
$448
50 $450
$400
Deaths per 100,000

40
$350

30 $300

US$, million
$250
20
$200
$161
10 $150
$103
$100
0
$50
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
$-
HAP AAP Linear (HAP) Linear (AAP)
Accra Kumasi Other urban areas

Plastic Waste Pollution

More than 3,000 metric tons (MT) of plastic waste is generated across buried (GSS, 2013). Spatial disparities in access to waste management
Ghana every day, or 1.1 million MT/year, which is 10-14 percent of the services exist between regions, as well as between rural and urban areas.
entire municipal solid waste stream (Troutman and Aseidu-Dankwah, Without effective alternatives more than four out of every five households
2017; Miezah et al., 2015). An estimated 86 percent of Ghana’s waste improperly dispose of their wastes, including plastics.
plastic load, roughly 2,500 MT/day or 1 million MT/year, is mismanaged.
This challenge may be placed in the context of the overarching waste The result is widespread environmental and urban pollution, which has
management system, in which over 30,000 MT of municipal solid waste become commonplace in almost every community in Ghana over the past
are generated each day. Of this waste only 14 percent is collected; 38 per- 20 years. Mismanaged plastics are dumped across the landscape, directly
cent is dumped in open spaces set aside as informal dumps; 24 per- or indirectly traveling to stormwater drains, rivers, and streams and even-
cent is deposited at “community containers”; nine percent is dumped tually to the ocean. Packaging plastics serve as a primary component
indiscriminately; 11 percent is burned in the open; and four percent is of increasing accumulations of improperly disposed wastes, resulting

Ghana’s plastic waste generation, by grade (Troutman and Aseidu-Dankwah, 2017; Miezah et al., 2015).

Plastic type Examples Distribution, by Daily (MT) Annually (MT)

grade (%)
LDPE (film) Yogurt cups, carryout trays, hamburger 25.31 760 277,145
boxes, egg cartons, cups, cutlery,
(Low density polyethylene)
electronics packaging, toys
PET Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, 23.00 690 251,850
mineral water, shampoo
(Polyethylene terephthalate)
HDPE Any other plastic in consumer waste 19.19 576 210,131
stream
(High-density polyethylene)

PP (rigid) (Polypropylene) Bottle lids, disposable cups/cutlery 10.61 318 116,180

PS (Polystyrene) Yogurt cups, carryout trays, hamburger 3.75 113 41,066
boxes, egg cartons, cups, cutlery,
electronics packaging, toys
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, 4.31 129 47,195
mineral water, shampoo
Other Any other plastic in consumer waste 13.83 415 151,439
stream
14% of municipal solid waste 3,000 1,095,000

xxii
in environmental degradation and contributing to disasters, especially comprehensive interventions, marine debris inputs are expected to
flooding and cholera outbreaks. Estimates for Ghana’s contribution to soar in excess of 350,000 MT/year by 2025 (Jambeck et al., 2015;
global marine debris range from approximately 92,000 to 260,000 Troutman and Asiedu-Dankwah, 2017).
MT every year, or one to three percent of the global total. Without

E-waste
The influx of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and outflux groundwater. Grinding computer circuit boards to extract gold releases
of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)5 has become a lead, tin, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that remain in the
complicated challenge and significant environmental issue in Ghana. environment and can bioaccumulate in living organisms (Daum et al.,
Amoyaw-Osei et al. (2011) estimate the amount of e-waste generated 2017). Wire cables, encased in polyvinyl chloride insulation, are inciner-
annually in Ghana at 171,000 MT/year (2009), of which 90-95 percent ated to get the copper inside, creating atmospheric pollution, lending
gets processed. E-waste provides a rich, alluring source of valuable met- to a wide array of negative health effects, such as complications in the
als for recovery—gold, silver, palladium, aluminum, copper—offering a respiratory and cardiovascular systems, including to fetuses and young
livelihood for impoverished people. Estimates place the contribution of children. Metal recovery often entails the release of dioxins, carcinogens
e-waste recycling and associated activities to the Ghanaian economy at that cause endocrinological, immunological, and dermatological dis-
US$105-268 million, mostly undertaken by the informal sector (Prakash eases and impair sexual, hormonal, emotional, and physical development
et al., 2010). (Fujimori et al., 2016). Hazardous and non-hazardous waste is disposed
of haphazardly in the open or at unmanaged or informal dumpsites.
Inappropriate processing of e-waste can cause detrimental environ- Some soils have accumulated moderate to high amounts of metal like
mental and public health effects as toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, iron, copper, and lead, with the latter two posing significant hazards to
cadmium, copper, nickel, and mercury, and hazardous contaminants, children and aquatic ecosystems (Akortia et al., 2017).
such as dioxins and dioxin-like compounds are released. Glass from
cathode ray tubes, found in older computer monitors and televisions, The CEA calculated the cost of exposure to lead and mercury, specifically
contains large quantities of lead, a neurotoxin, that leach into the soil and originating from used lead-acid batteries (ULABs). The cost to Ghanaian
society due to disease and lost IQ points in children was estimated at
US$440 million per year, equivalent to .75 percent of 2017 GDP.

Electronic waste is burned at

Agbogbloshie Scrapyard in Accra.
Steven J. Silverstein, World Bank

5. WEEE includes computers and accessories, consumer electronics, motors, batteries, televisions/VCRs/DVD players, radios, transmitters,
refrigerators, freezers, cellular phones, heavy machinery, engines, speakers, microwave ovens, other household appliances, etc.

Executive Summary  xxiii

 Status of Forest Resources

Based on analysis of data from 2001-2015 Ghana’s annual deforesta- Net forest depletion among Ghana's peers (World
tion rate was approximately 3.51 percent, equating to yearly losses of Bank WDI database).
greater than 315,000 hectares (ha). Total deforestation during this time
12%
period surpassed 4.7 million ha, of which over 84 percent (3.98 million
ha) occurred in open forests, compared to 16 percent (745,326 ha) in 10%

closed forests.6 From 2001 to 2010, the majority of deforestation occurred 8%

in the High Forest (southwestern Ghana) and Transition Zones (central

% of GNI
6%
Ghana), but from 2013-2015 there was a significant increase in forest
loss across the Savannah Zone (northern Ghana), a shift that pushed 4%

annual average forest loss to over one-half million ha/year (MLNR, 2017a). 2%

Whereas the loss of closed canopy forest signals encroachment into state 0%
protected forests, open forest loss typically reflects conversion of private

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Ghana Kenya Mauritania Nicaragua Myanmar
or customary land for agriculture, indicating expansion of cropland at
the expense of forest.

Land Degradation
The cost of deforestation to Ghana is about US$400 million, equivalent
to 0.7 percent of 2017 GDP. Ghana’s economic dependence on the for-
est sector exceeds that of its peers, as does its rate of unsustainable
resource use. Net forest depletion7 as a percent of GNI tops the list of
(non-small island state) LMICs, as does its contribution from forests to Land degradation8 has increased over the past two decades in Ghana.
GDP. The economic costs of dependence rose to just under US$3 billion Two measures of vegetation health—the normalized difference vegeta-
in the years 2014, 2016, and 2017 with unsustainable forest resource tion index (NDVI) and net primary productivity (NPP)—confirm this. An
extraction being used as a motor for economic growth. analysis of annual mean vegetation density—defined as the number of
plants per unit area—shows that Ghana’s vegetation health has been
The increasing weakness over time of the timber industry flashes a decreasing since 2000. Net Primary Productivity (NPP)9, an indicator
warning sign. A significant foreign exchange earner as recently as the of vegetation health, has exhibited a downward trend in every region
1990s and 2000s, timber now provides a negligible contribution to the except for Greater Accra (which is mostly urban) and Western (which is
national economy when compared to commodities such as gold, cocoa, heavily forested). Declining NPP, considered a proxy indicator for land
and crude oil. Historically, the forestry sector has employed 100,000. The degradation, shows land degradation is intensifying in the north and
decline in timber resources has, according to the Ghana Timber Millers middle of the country (particularly Upper West, Northern, Upper East,
Organisation, led to the collapse of nearly 100 companies since the early Brong Ahafo, and Ashanti regions) (Barbier et al., 2016). Agriculture is
2000s, representing 80 percent of the firms that once operated and the the primary driver of land degradation in Ghana.
loss of 75,000 jobs.
Soil erosion rates are high in the Upper West, Northern, Brong Ahafo,
and Upper East Regions where NPP has been on a strong downward
trend for the past two decades (2000-2016). Soil erosion from wind or
water stems from inappropriate agriculture, forestry, and infrastructure
practices. In areas with more degraded lands surface runoff, and hence

6. Ghana defines “forest” as lands that have at least 15 percent canopy and complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range,
cover, minimum tree height of five meters, and minimum area of one pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from a
hectare. Closed canopy forest is classified as one with a canopy process or combination of processes, including processes arising
cover exceeding 60 percent; open canopy forest is a modified or from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i) soil erosion
disturbed natural forest that has 15-59 percent canopy cover. Open caused by wind and/or water; (ii) deterioration of the physical,
canopy forests are mainly outside of forest reserves. chemical and biological or economic properties of soil; and (iii) long-
term loss of natural vegetation (Article 1 of the 1994 United Nation’s
7. Net forest depletion is calculated as the product of unit resource Convention to Combat Desertification).
rents and the excess of roundwood harvest over natural growth
(World Bank WDI database).

8. Land degradation is defined as “reduction or loss, in arid, semi-arid

and dry sub-humid areas, of the biological or economic productivity

xxiv
soil erosion, is widespread and concentrated. Erosion is the greatest Soil erosion (RUSLE model) (World Bank Hidden
threat to Ghana’s drylands in the Guinea and Sudan savannah zones in Dimensions Dataset).
the North, where land degradation is qualified as “desertification.” The
accompanying soil erosion map illustrates soil erosion geographically
across the country with darker areas suffering the worst effects. Apart
from the northern regions, there are significant levels of soil erosion
in the upper Volta Region and Brong Ahafo, as well as in Accra, where
insufficient urban planning has compromised the soil structure.

The cost of soil erosion is estimated at about US$0.54 billion, or 0.9

percent of the country’s GDP. Land degradation harms Ghana’s most
vulnerable population, the rural poor, entrenching extreme poverty even
more deeply. The 32 districts with increasing poverty rates are those more
likely to have a negative NPP trend, while districts with reduced poverty
rates tend to see positive changes in NPP. In 2012, there were 6.2 million
people living below the national poverty line in Ghana.10 Although the
percent poverty headcount ratio for the entire country is 24 percent, it
is 40 percent in districts with degraded land—those with negative or no
change in NPP. Districts that have seen little or no poverty reduction tend
to see more intense land degradation, and NPP change is more negative
in places with a stagnant or increased poverty rate.

Illegal Artisanal and

Region alone. Conducted hastily and without oversight, illegal min-
ing leads to deforestation and loss of biodiversity, accelerated soil

Small-scale Gold Mining

erosion and sedimentation, and water and air pollution. Increased
turbidity, sediment loading, and heavy metal contamination in the
Pra and Birim Rivers are attributed to galamsey, disrupting aquatic
environments and fisheries and threatening access to potable water.
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a contributor to national Mineral belts coincide with Ghana’s remaining forested areas, posing
wealth and poverty reduction. Of the 120 MT of gold that Ghana produced a massive deforestation and forest degradation risk. The destruc-
in 2016, 39 percent came from ASG miners, up from 12 percent in 2004 tion of farmlands in galamsey areas has engendered food security
(MoF, 2018). ASGM production has increased substantially since 2010 issues, including increases in the price of staple crops (Bansah et al.,
in response to high gold prices, high unemployment, and a slump in 2018). Gold and cocoa especially maintain an uneasy coexistence
agricultural production. However, much of this increase was owed to and galamsey is a likely contributor to decreased cocoa health and
illegal ASGM, referred to colloquially as “galamsey11”. National galamsey yields (Boateng et al., 2014; Snapir et al., 2017). Mercury used in
employment numbers, though unknown, are likely quite high; estimates galamsey—to separate gold from impurities—contaminates land,
range from 500,000 to 1.1 million workers, including direct and indirect water, the atmosphere, and people. Levels of mercury have been
jobs (e.g. Hilson et al., 2007; McQuilken and Hilson, 2016), implying that comparable between miners and villagers, signaling migration of
the informal gold mining economy may employ the equivalent of four pollution away from mining areas and into the broader community.
to eight percent of Ghana’s workforce. Women’s participation in ASGM- When gold amalgamation occurs at home, women and children are
related activities may be as high as half this workforce (McQuilken and exposed to toxic mercury fumes, leading to serious long-term health
Hilson, 2016). consequences (Teschner, 2012).

Acknowledged as widespread, the full geographic extent of galamsey Some of galamsey’s costs can be quantified. The total annual cost attrib-
is unknown as data are limited due to the clandestine nature of opera- uted to ASGM-related mercury exposure is estimated at US$240 million,
tions. Owusu-Nimo et al. (2018) identified 7,470 galamsey operations or 0.4 percent of 2017 GDP. The GoG estimates that US$2.3 billion left
in 312 towns and villages, an average of 24 per locale, in the Western

9. Data from World Bank Poverty and Equity Data Portal, 10. The word “galamsey” is derived from the phrase “gather them and
http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/GHA. sell.”

Executive Summary  xxv

 Gold Production and ASM Share (MLNR, 2017).

5 ,000,000 45%
4,500,000 40%
4,000,000 35%

Share of total production

3,500,000
30%
Ounces produced

3,000,000
25%
2,500,000
20%
2,000,000
15%
1,500,000
1,000,000 10%

5 00,000 5%

0 0%
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Total gold production ASGM production (right axis)

the country via illegal ASGM, escaping taxation by the Ghana Revenue erosion and flooding are particularly serious in and near Accra where sea-
Authority.12 The cost of water provision rises as water treatment plant level rise has increased erosion intensity—by 2100, the Greater Accra’s
maintenance becomes more expensive and communities are forced to coastline is expected to retreat by around 200 meters—and inundation
dig new wells. The destruction occasioned by earthmoving machinery of vulnerable areas. Accra is particularly susceptible to flooding with a
and gold processing leaves land reclamation costly. Mantey et al. (2016) 1-in-5 chance of flooding in any given year (Asumadu-Sarkodie et al.,
estimate that US$250 million is required just for the Western Region to 2015). Rapid urbanization and poor solid waste management exacerbate
restore lands and water bodies destroyed by galamsey. the disaster risk, making low-lying neighborhoods—often the poorest in
the city—vulnerable to flooding during heavy precipitation. Such threats
will further increase due to rapid population growth and the impacts of

Coastal Ecosystem
climate change.

Exposure to coastal floods and soil erosion is estimated at 1.8 million

people (2010 estimates) (USAID, 2014). These people live in the parts of
Ghana’s coastal zone, representing six percent of the country’s land the coastal zone situated below an elevation of 20 m, about half of whom
area, hosts over a quarter of the nation’s population, its main urban live below 10 m. This exposure is projected to increase 67 percent by
centers and fastest-growing areas (e.g. Accra, Tema, Takoradi), and 70 2050 and the coastal economy and ecosystems are expected to suffer
percent of its industries and businesses (World Bank, 2010). Ghana’s from degradation. World Bank (2017) reports that drift from rural to urban
coast, however, faces several challenges, including coastal erosion and centers, the industrialization of coastal districts as well as a high urban
flooding, overexploitation of natural resources, marine and coastal pol- population growth rate of three percent, will place increasing stress on
lution, illegal sand mining, loss of ecosystem services, severe weather, the coastal ecosystems, producing more coastal erosion and impacting
and rapid urbanization and unsustainable land use. more people during flooding. Climate change aggravates this situation
with projected sea level rise.
Ghana loses about 2.7 million m2 of its shore every year13, with 80 percent
of the shoreline actively eroding (Appeaning Addo et al., 2008). Coastal

11. MLNR presentation “Sanitization of Illicit Mining Activities in Ghana,” 13. MESTI minister quoted in www.modernghana.com/news/697008/
made at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2017 ghana-marks-world-oceans-day.html.

12. MESTI minister quoted in www.modernghana.com/news/697008/

ghana-marks-world-oceans-day.html

xxvi
Total annual economic impact of coastal erosion and flooding was esti- Fifty-seven percent of these impacts can be attributed to coastal erosion.
mated at US$47 million in 2015, corresponding to the equivalent of >0.1 Due to climate change the impact, most of which will be attributed to soil
percent of Ghana’s 2017 GDP (and 1.5 percent of GDP in the coastal area). erosion, is expected to increase to US$1.6 billion by 2100.

Coastal erosion hotspots (Angnuureng et al., 2013). Annual cost of coastal degradation (Compiled by
authors based on World Bank, 2017a).
EROSION SEVERITY
Low Under protection/being protected TOGO $1,800 $26
Moderate
$1,600
Direction of Littoral Drift
High
$1,400
CÔTE D'IVOIRE

$1,200
$17
GHANA

Millions (US$)
Ke
ta
$1,000

Dz
Ad go
Old pra
Pra

ito
a
Temungu

m
Nin m
$800 $1,639
N di
a a Te
La CRA
ba
AC rtiano ite u
Bo krob rek
Ko nya B

$600
Se

sh
ie
r
Ta

$957
ntu

$400
am
Elm enda
Ko a

$20
Sh nful

ina
m
ng

am
Am jua
e’s im
ma

$200
Ad cove
nc Ax

$27
wn
Esa

Dix chi
To

Ak

Ku

0 50 Kilometers
a
ete

ma

ine
$0
Pri

Gu 2015 2050 2100

Gulf of IBRD 44986 | APRIL 2020
Erosion Flooding

Status of Fisheries
Resources
The fishing industry contributes significantly to food security and referred to as “the people’s fish” because of their importance to
nutrition, employment and household income, and foreign exchange local economies and diets--decreased 86 percent, from 138,955 to
earnings, yet some predict the imminent collapse of Ghana’s capture 19,608 MT (MoFAD, 2018). For the past ten-plus years, over half the
fishing sector. There are indicators to support the sense of unease. A fish consumed in Ghana has come from imports. In 2017 two-thirds
combination of low fishing catch yield and increasing human popu- of the whole frozen fish imports were from other African countries.
lation has increased fish imports. Fish consumption per capita has
declined steadily over the past decade and is down twenty percent Ghana’s marine fisheries exhibit classic signs of overexploitation:
declining catch rates and changes in the composition of key species
Origin of fish consumed, by proportion (MoFAD, 2017). that are caught, including a prevalence of small fish. Since fishing

100%
Annual catch per canoe and catch per fisherman in
90%
artisanal marine capture fisheries (Authors estimates
38%
80%
48%
42% 45% 42% 43% 44% 44% 41% 41% 41%
from MoFAD data).
Origin of fish consumed

70%

60%
40 3.5
50%

40% 35
3.0

30% 58% 58% 59% 62% 59% 59% 2.5

55% 57% 56% 56%
52% 30
20% 2.0
Metric tons

Metric tons

25
10%
1.5

0% 20
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 1.0

Domestic Net import 15

0.5

10 0.0
1998

2008
198 6
198 7

198 9
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007

2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
198 8

to 21 kg (2016). Between 1996-2016 landings of small pelagic spe- Catch per Canoe Catch per Fishermen (ri ght axis)
Linear (Catch per Canoe) Linear (Catch per Fi shermen (right axis))

cies—mainly anchovies, chub mackerel, and sardinellas, which are

Executive Summary  xxvii

 Fishermen working on their boats in
Jamestown Fishing Village in Accra.
Dominic Chavez / World Bank

fleets look to capture similar pelagic and demersal fish stocks work- (MESTI, 2017). By 2030, an estimated 400,000 additional people
ing in the same areas has often led to conflict among fishermen. are projected to live below the poverty line as a consequence of
Several converging factors explain this prototypical “tragedy of the climate change (World Bank, 2017b). By 2050, the reduction in GDP
commons”. Proximate causes include a dearth of job opportunities in per capita is estimated to be, in the median case, in the range of 6.5
other sectors, coupled with an open-access regime, where the right to (low warming scenario) to 11.4 percent (high warming scenario). In
harvest fish is open to all. Direct causes of fisheries decline are fleet the most extreme case, the decrease in GDP per capita could be as
overcapacity, illegal fishing, and climate change. The total annual cost high as 35.5 percent (low scenario) to 46.2 percent (high) (Baarsch
of marine overfishing in Ghana is estimated at US$233 million—the et al., 2020).
sum of lost fishing rents—equivalent to 0.4 percent of 2017 GDP.
One of Ghana’s main vulnerabilities is its reliance on sectors that are
Fisheries are a critical component of employment. Almost three mil- especially sensitive to climate change, such as agriculture, forestry
lion people work in the fisheries sector—20 percent of the active and energy production. In the agricultural sector, heavy dependence
labor force—the bulk of whom are engaged in or related to the arti- on climate-sensitive commercial crops will likely lead to erratic earn-
sanal fishing trade. But excessive numbers of boats and fishermen ings. A reduction in cocoa yields, would negatively affect national out-
in the artisanal fleet have led to overfishing. Their catch has seen a put, reduce overall agricultural capacity, and threaten livelihoods. In
precipitous decrease, of more than one-third, since the turn of the the industry sector, the climate will affect electricity, which is currently
century. Catch per unit effort has gradually declined with the catch
per boat decreasing from 35.44 to 15.52 MT/year, and the catch per
fisherman also declining from 3.2 to 1.7 MT/year between 1992 and GHG emissions by sector (MESTI, 2018).
2016. Collapse of the small pelagics fishery would threaten the liveli-
2.44%
hoods of up to 500,000 people involved (MoFAD, 2018).

7.54%

Impacts of Climate Change AFOLU

Energy
Wa ste
35.64% 54.37% IPPU
Changing weather patterns may severely affect economic growth and
poverty eradication. Evidence already shows the impact of climate
change on the national economy, including clear signs that the coastal
zone, agriculture, and water resources are all negatively affected
with attendant impacts on poverty, health, and women’s livelihoods

xxviii
one of the fastest growing subsectors. Climate-related factors signifi- it is already mightily diminished. This disincentivizes respect for the rule
cantly influence Ghana’s energy generation options, which rely on of law, as illustrated by illegal gold mining.
water availability for cooling (thermal power plants) and production
(hydropower, which generates 64 percent of Ghana’s electricity). In Institutional inefficiencies. Ghana has a high number of institutions
terms of the services sector, erosion, waterlogging, and flooding mandated to deal with environmental management, yet the institutional
may curtail transportation and trade activities, while access to clean framework for environmental management is incomplete. Strategic policy
drinking water and sewage and sanitation, and associated health direction is missing for environmental resource management issues.
risks, may reduce the ability of an economically-active population to MLNR and MEST (2010) reported the combination of potentially conflict-
engage in productive activities. The cost of inland flooding is currently ing mandates within single institutions—policy coordination, regulation,
estimated at US$115 million/year, equivalent to 0.2 percent of GDP. and management—as impeding improvements to the country’s environ-
Climate change may increase the recurrence of flooding events, and mental governance system. They also view the Constitution’s wording
with the value of assets increasing due to economic growth there is as ambiguous in defining the relationship between sector agencies and
a concurrent increase in risk for higher flood damages. parent ministries. In their view, the agencies need stronger policy direc-
tion from parent ministries to operate efficiently within the national policy
Finally, there are the costs of Ghana’s CO2 emissions to the global framework. The environmental resource management system is weak at
community, estimated at US$2.3 billion each year, equivalent to just all levels, especially at the decision-making and policy and district levels.
under four percent of Ghana’s GDP. Ghana’s GHG emissions and
short-lived climate pollutants inventory shows total national GHG Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).
emissions in 2016 were approximately 42.15 million MtCO2e, which Weak technical capacity in creating environmental policies has dimin-
was 66 and seven percent higher than the levels reported in 1990 ished MESTI’s ability to provide effective direction on environmental
and 2012, respectively. The rising trend in GHG emissions, over two management issues. The Ministry gives disproportionate attention to
percent a year over the period 1990-2016, can be attributed to demo- science and technology issues to the neglect of environmental aspects.
graphic and economic growth. The most recent data indicate the The Ministry’s coordination function is also underutilized, with poor align-
AFOLU sector as the largest source of emissions, especially land use ment of environmental sector stakeholders, partly because the frame-
change that converts forest into grazing and cropland (MESTI, 2018). work delineating stakeholder roles and responsibilities lacks clarity, thus
there is limited mainstreaming of environmental concerns across MDAs.
Information and knowledge management both within MESTI and with

Key Policy and Institutional

stakeholders is poor and most departments operate in “compartmen-
talized” units without sharing information. The low level of knowledge

Gaps and Challenges

and public awareness of environmental issues can be attributed to the
lack of a coordinated environment program, and policies are often not
properly disseminated or communicated to inform decisions at the local
level. MESTI suffers from budgetary issues that adversely affect program
Policy and law implementation. Inefficient leadership and coordina- implementation. Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of environmental indi-
tion. The inability to provide effective environmental leadership and cators, both internally and externally, is weak with no comprehensive
coordination has fostered inter-agency conflict and functional overlap. database available to track inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts.
First, the protocol for a national response to emerging environmental
issues is unclear. One of the challenges is that many institutions are not Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA suffers from institu-
equipped with the legal capacity to monitor and enforce actions. Second tional weaknesses, which include: a weak policy environment; weak
is an absence of national strategic policy direction and limited policy enforcement and compliance system; declining budget and resources
dialogue and oversight. Third, although Ministries have the responsibility for program implementation; limited decentralization and low budget
for policies, they may find themselves stymied in the execution of this allocations to local levels, as well as poor accountability of resources by
role due to competition with the departments and agencies they super- departments and field offices in terms of performance (results, outputs,
vise. Galamsey is a case in point for the failure of clear, well-delineated and outcomes); poor staff remuneration and performance management,
environmental leadership. inadequate planning, monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge man-
agement systems; suboptimal coordination with partner organizations;
Unequal benefits sharing. Law enforcement has proved ineffective and poor client service orientation. The 2008 Ghana Environmental
because natural resource laws emphasize control over planning and are Sector Study concluded that these weaknesses led to inadequate ser-
not management-oriented. Not enough is done to help local populations vice delivery, underperformance of the permitting and certification sys-
to manage resources and the populations benefit little from resource tem, low levels of mainstreaming environment across sectors, low staff
revenues. By the time that revenue trickles to ministries in charge of envi- morale and high turnover, among others. To address these issues, the
ronmental issues and the localities from which that revenue is generated, EPA Five-Year Strategic Plan (2011-2015) proposed activities covering

Executive Summary  xxix

 policies, institutions, legal reforms, and environmental assessment and the physical, environmental, and economic relationships between the
legal compliance, all of which helped to reduce the magnitude of the different resources.
challenges but did not fully alleviate them. A few of the outstanding insti-
tutional challenges are: non-compliance with EIAs, lack of coordination, Limited citizen participation. Environmental resource management
and poor knowledge management. expertise does not reside solely in public institutions, but also in the
private and civil sectors. There is little public awareness and lack of
Absence of land-use planning. Absence of a framework for land- involvement by local communities in decision-making. Communities
use planning is a glaring omission in Ghana’s environmental resource are not involved in the policies that affect their livelihoods as resource
management system. Four decades ago the 1979 Land Use Planning users, so the policies are ineffective at achieving intended objectives.
Committee Report (MLNR) reported that exploitation and use of these
resources frequently creates conflicts, and that successful resource use
in one area can cause problems in other areas. Resource appraisal must
be viewed in comprehensive terms based on a clear understanding of

Analysis of Ghana’s
Public Environment
Expenditures
Budgeted Actual spend

0.4
Ghana’s total expenditures during the reference period for relevant MDAs percent (2014) to 2.6 percent (2012). National environmental expenditures

0.37
with environmental responsibilities have been relatively low. Between considered as a percentage of GDP averaged 0.20 percent and ranged

0.32
0.31
Spending as % of Ghana's GDP

0.3

2012 and 2017, average actual14 Government environmental expenditures from 0.15 (2012) to 0.31 percent (2014).

0.24
were 1.92 percent of total Government expenditures, with a range of 1.18

0.21
0.2

0.19
0.17
0.15

0.15

Government environment expenditure as percentage of GDP (left), and as percentage of total government
expenditure (right), 2012-2017 (Audited annual reports of CAGD).
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Budgeted Actual spend
Budgeted Actual spend
0.4

4.16
0.37

3.58
0.32
0.31
Spending as % of Ghana's GDP

0.3

% of total expenditure
0.24

2.6
2.48

2.43

2.43
0.21

2.18

2.09
0.2

0.19

1.95
0.17

1.86
0.15

0.15

1.58
1.18

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Budgeted Actual spend

4.16

3.58
% of total expenditure

14. Trade data comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Observatory of Economic Complexity (database), https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/
2.6
2.48

2.43

2.43

profile/country/gha/.
2.18

2.09
1.95

1.86
1.58
1.18

xxx

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

 Recommendations to Improve Environment and Natural Resource Management in Ghana

Short-term (1-2 years) Medium-term (2-5 years) Long-term (5+ years)

• Improve enforcement of existing reg • Bolster AQM institutional framework • Improve understanding of AP sources;
lations (MESTI/EPA) (Cabinet, MESTI) build analytical capacity (MESTI)
• Finalize the draft AQM policy • Enhance EPA’s AQM regulatory/ • Increase funding for AQM-qualified staff
(Cabinet, MESTI) enforcement authority (Parl., MESTI) (MESTI, MoF)
• Create a multi-stakeholder platform • Author guidelines, regulations, by- • Mainstream/coordinate AQM policy plan-
to coordinate AQM planning across laws (Parl., MLGRD/MMDAs) ning, implementation, enforcement across
public, private, and non-profit sectors GoG (MDAs, MLGRD/MMDAs)
• Collaborate w/Nigeria, ECOWAS to
(Cabinet)
reduce vehicle emissions (MESTI) • Quantify air quality impacts with natural
• Reinforce/recruit staff with proper capital accounting, cost- benefit analysis
• Lower import duties on eco-friendly
Air pollution

AQM training (MESTI/EPA) (MESTI, MoF)

vehicles; raise on high-emission ones
• Make the case for clean air policies (MoF/GRA) • Monitor air quality in rural settings to
as an avenue to protect human capi- address HAP (MESTI/EPA)
• Transition away from solid biofuels;
tal and develop economic opportuni-
establish HAP guidelines for clean • Impose sufficient distances between
ties (MESTI/EPA)
cookstoves to regulate residential industrial, commercial, residential zones
• Establish a robust AQM data man- combustion (MESTI/EPA, MoTI) (MESTI/LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs)
agement system to support deci-
• Analyze and reduce trash burn- • Design interventions to promote LPG
sion making and provide alerts to
ing; forge public-private municipal cookstove use (MESTI, MoTI)
the public (MESTI/EPA)
waste mgmt. partnerships (MESTI/
• Communicate behavior change on EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MSWR)
HAP risks (MESTI/EPA)

• Operationalize the Plastic Waste • Establish a cross-sectoral body to • Incentivize plastic recycling using cash-
Recycling Fund (Parl., MoF/GRA) hold authority for making and imple- back schemes (MESTI, MSWR)
menting plastic management policies
• Amend Act 863 compliance protocols • Create reverse logistics schemes that
(Cabinet)
to tax imported semi-finished and fin- remunerate retailers for collecting waste
ished plastic products (Parliament, • Dedicate budgetary resources to plastics (MESTI, MSWR)
MoF/GRA) agencies tasked with enforcement
• Legislate extended producer responsibil-
of anti-plastic pollution regulations
• Communicate behavior change to ity: hold manufacturers accountable for
(Cabinet, MoF)
plastics consumers for conscien- plastic waste management at the end of
tious waste management (MESTI, • Improve plastic waste mgmt. capac- useful product life (i.e. once in the waste
Plastic waste

MoE/GES, MSWR, NCCE) ity, coordination at subnational stream) (Parliament)

admin. levels (MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs)
• Clarify mandates/roles in enforce- • Integrate economic efficiency criteria into
ment (MESTI, MSWR, MLGRD) • Explore innovative models for sus- project design and public procurement
tainable financing: plastics levy; con- awards (MOPP/PPA)
• Perform market analysis of financial
sumption tax; increase cost of plastic
sustainability of recyclable plastic
bags (MoF/GRA)
products to promote private sector
initiatives (MESTI, MoTI)

Executive Summary  xxxi

 Short-term (1-2 years) Medium-term (2-5 years) Long-term (5+ years)

• Perform a detailed gap analysis for • Designate informal dumpsites as for- • Create a mandatory registration/
e-waste management (Parl., MESTI) mal recycling centers to permit closer licensing scheme for recycling
inspection (MSWR) enterprises, incl. informal sector;
• Increase regularity of e-waste regula-
incentivize adherence (MESTI/EPA)
tion enforcement efforts (MESTI/EPA, • Ensure WEEE goes to approved sites,
MLGRD/MMDAs) setting up collection points and incentiv- • Improve metal recovery through
izing their use (MLGRD/MMDAs) partnerships, technology transfer
• Reframe the national discourse around
(MESTI, MoTI)
e-waste (Cabinet, MESTI) • Lay out the roles and expectations of
MMDAs vis-à-vis e-waste and pass strin- • Bolster infrastructure at municipal
• Raise awareness among policymakers to
gent, enforceable municipal by-laws landfills (MSWR)
E-waste

promote greater sensitivity to the human

(MLGRD/MMDAs)
dimension and encourage new legisla- • Assist scrap dealers’ associations to
tion (Parliament) • Collect data on e-waste flows (MESTI/ better organize the sector (MLGRD/
EPA, MoF/CEPS/GSS) MMDAs, MESTI, MSWR)
• Take steps to safeguard the welfare of
e-waste laborers (MESTI/EPA) • Conduct value chain analysis to deter- • Professionalize the sector through
mine current and needed levels of tripartite public-private partner-
• Build capacity of customs officials to
human and physical capital for e-waste ships (private sector, GoG, informal
monitor ports for illegal WEEE, enhance
recycling (MESTI) sector) (President/GIPC)
internal oversight and quality control,
coordinate with neighboring countries • Explore carbon financing to forge an • Legislate extended producer
(MoF/CEPS) e-recycling sector (MESTI, MoF) responsibility (MESTI, MoTI)

• Improve coordination, communication, • Update the national FRL every two years • Improve forest investment climate
collaboration across forestry sector- (MLNR/FC) to promote foreign and domestic
relevant public authorities/institutions private investment; encourage
• Harmonize/align forest monitoring &
(MLNR/FC, MDAs) extension of commercial credit
reporting methods (MLNR/FC)
lines to prospective timber planta-
• Appoint institutional leaders who have
• Enable no-deforestation supply chains tion owners (MLNR/FC, MoF)
technical appreciation and deep knowl-
(MLNR, MoTI)
edge of forest resources management • Bring stakeholders together in par-
(President, MLNR) • Enable investment in NTFP value chains, ticipatory land use planning (MESTI/
value addition (MoTI/NBSSI) LUSPA, MLGRD/RCC/MMDAs, MLNR/
• Legislate tree tenure reforms, incentiv-
FC/LC, MOCRA)
ize tree protection (Parliament) • Enable sustainable cocoa production
(Cabinet, MLNR, MoFA/Cocobod) • Address illegalities and lack of
• Scale-up extension services promoting
transparency within the sector
Forest Resources

adoption of agroforestry models, espe- • Strengthen, scale-up CREMAs/HIAs (President, MLNR/FC)

cially in timber, cocoa (MLNR/FC, MoFA/ (MLNR)
Cocobod) • Explore how to generate sustain-
• Expand wildlife tourism for middle- able revenue from payment for for-
• Leverage evidence from natl. forest income clients (MoTAC) est ecosystem services (MLNR/FC)
monitoring (MLNR/FC)
• Recommit to sustainable forest mgmt • Prioritize research and develop-
• Offer material and financial support to across the sector (MLNR/FC) ment of new or under-developed
trade associations in the forestry sec-
• Conduct a house-to-house tree registra- forest resource value chains (MLNR/
tor to foster partnerships with potential
tion campaign (MLNR/FC) FC, MoTI/NBSSI)
investors (MLNR/FC, MoTI)
• Promote dialogue among regional tree • Pioneer REDD+ forest reserves; incen-
crop producers (MLNR, MoFA) tivize sustainable forest, land, cocoa
mgmt., private sector engagement
(MLNR, MoFA/Cocobod)

xxxii
 Short-term (1-2 years) Medium-term (2-5 years) Long-term (5+ years)

• Improve SLWM communication, • Scale-up existing interventions in SLWM • Progress towards a landscape
knowledge management (MESTI) (MESTI, MLNR/FC, MoF) approach to development planning and
SLWM at national/subnational levels
• Improve coordination on land use • Incorporate ecosystem values in use
(NDPC, MESTI/EPA, LUSPA)
mgmt (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/ planning exercises and project economic
MMDAs/RCCs, MLNR/FC/LC/MC, analysis (MESTI, MoFA, MoF) • Work with traditional authorities to
MoFA, NDPC) improve communication, knowledge
• Update national education curricula to
transfer on land degradation-neutral
• Analyze and disseminate indigenous contain messages on avoiding land deg-
farming, women’s access to land
and farmer-to-farmer land degrada- radation or improving lands (MESTI, MoE)
(MESTI/EPA, MLNR/LC, MoCRA, MoFA/
tion management practices (MESTI/
• Promote inclusivity in SLWM by creating DAES)
EPA, MoFA/DAES)
employment opportunities for vulnerable
• Encourage and increase women’s
• Work with communities to promote groups (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC, MoFA/
access to land ownership, markets,
low-technology rehabilitation of DAES)
credit, and extension services to facili-
Land Degradation

degraded lands; increase trees on

• Harmonize/streamline land management tate investments in land degradation
farms (MESTI/EPA, MoFA/DAES)
policies and regulations; strengthen key neutral activities (MLNR/LC)
• Establish/reinforce inclusive local implementing institutions (MESTI/EPA/
• Build momentum for land tenure, secu-
land governance structures (MESTI/ LUSPA, NDPC)
rity reforms (Cabinet, Parl.)
EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MoCRA, MoFA)
• Formalize NDPC role as lead institution
• Undertake a comprehensive land reg-
• Increase support to environmental in land use planning (Parl.)
istration exercise (MLNR/LC)
management committees at the
• Promote enabling environment for land
regional and district levels (MLGRD/ • Incentivize individuals to invest in their
use planning and mainstreaming across
MMDAs/RCCs) lands (MLNR/LC, MoFA, MoF)
sectors (Cabinet)
• Relieve pressure on trees in the • Establish, scale, and support CREMAs
• Update land use plans; make develop-
landscape (MESTI/EPA, MoFA/DAES) to incentivize and decentralize local
ment planners available to the local level
land use planning and management
• Improve map preparation, dissemi- (MESTI/LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs)
(MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC)
nation (MESTI/LUSPA, MLNR/GSD)
• Resource communities to control bush-
• Develop spatial dev. plans (MESTI/
fires (MoFA/DAES, MoI/GNFRS)
LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs)

Plumes of smoke from a rural kitchen.

Curt Carnemark / World Bank

Executive Summary  xxxiii

 Short-term (1-2 years) Medium-term (2-5 years) Long-term (5+ years)

• Clarify/codify roles, responsibilities; • Establish an ASM mining permit- • Use MDF to expedite clean-up, remedia-
assign EPA authority over waste sites; ting/monitoring system (MESTI/EPA, tion, redevelopment; foster citizen par-
provide staff/resources (Cab., Parl., MLNR/FC, MLNR/MC, MSWR/WRC) ticipation and private sector partnerships
MESTI/EPA, MoF) (MESTI, MLNR)
• Improve transparency, citizen partici-
• Strengthen environ. regulations related pation in MDF activities (President, • Reclaim galamsey brownfields and turn
to mining (Parl., MESTI, MLNR) MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR, MoF/GRA) them into economically productive assets
(MESTI, MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR, MWH)
• Strengthen coordination b/n key agen- • Establish a galamsey environmen-
cies (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC/MC) tal trust fund to restore rural mining • Engage communities to ensure long-term
areas (President, Parliament, MoF/ stewardship over recovered areas (MESTI/
• Ease community access to officials
GRA) EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR/FC/
(MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC/MC)
MC)
Illegal Mining

• Institute legal guidelines that allow

• Train agencies in use of technologies
judicial remedies for recovery of • Empower institutions to perform watch-
(e.g. drones, remote sensing) to target
cleanup costs from those parties dog roles in the oversight of funding spent
ASGM interventions (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/
responsible for the damages, e.g. (MoF, MLNR/OASL)
FC/MC, MSWR/WRC)
use proceeds from the auctioning of
• Establish performance indicators and
• Deploy interagency teams to identify, confiscated galamsey equipment to
create a scorecard to judge progress in
classify, prioritize sites; make informa- replenish the environmental TF (MoJ)
rehabilitating contaminated public spaces
tion public (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/MC/FC,
• Expand MMIP to build human capital (MESTI/EPA)
MSWR/WRC)
in environ. mgmt.; use this workforce
• Implement a performance M&E scheme to
• Accelerate Minamata Conv. implemen- for waste mgmt projects nationwide
follow redevelopment and analyze long-
tation (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/MC) (MESTI/EPA, MLNR)
term stewardship (MESTI, MLNR, MWH)
• Operationalize MDF guidelines to
improve benefits sharing, public par-
ticipation, transparency (Parl., MLGRD/
MMDAs, MoF/GRA)

• Identify weaknesses/explore measures • Improve drainage, flood control • Construct public green-gray infrastruc-
for improved coastal mgmt (MESTI/EPA/ infrastructure/management systems ture works (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/
LUSPA, MoFAD, MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs, (MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR/ MMDAs/RCCs, MoF, MSWR/WRC, MWH/
MWH/HSD) LC, MoF, MSWR, MWH/HSD) HSD)
• Support the Coastal Development • Invest in and manage spatial plan- • Accommodate changing coastline
Authority as a coordination mecha- ning of terrestrial and marine coastal through: flood-proofing, avoiding lique-
nism for coastal resilience, protection, areas (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/ faction zones, population resettlement,
planning, investment; hold coastal zone MMDAs, MLNR/FC/LC/MC, MoEP, community participation (MESTI/EPA/
development workshops to map stake- MoFAD, MSDI/CDA, MWH, NDPC) LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs, MSWR/
Coastal Ecosystem

holders and build a forum for coastal WRC, MWH/HSD)

• Identify/secure areas to increase
issues (MLGRD/MMDAs, MoF, MSDI)
retention capacity, reduce runoff; • Establish a multi-sectoral coastal program
• Enhance use of geographic informa- develop green areas on floodplains (MSDI/CDA, MDAs)
tion systems and satellite imagery for (MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MWH/
• Modernize hydromet/early warning ser-
coastal zone management (MESTI/EPA, HSD, MSWR/WRC)
vices (MoC/GMet)
MLGRD/MMDAs, MWH)
• Analyze contribution of pollution
• Support the national observatory on
• Identify vulnerable coastal communi- from off and on-shore extractives
coastal issues (MESTI/EPA)
ties (MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs) and determine appropriate regula-
tions (MESTI/EPA, MoEP, MLNR/MC) • Improve waste mgmt. in coastal urban
• Continue regional approach to coastal
areas (MLGRD/MMDAs, MSWR)
management (MESTI/EPA)
• Design climate-smart oil and gas infra-
structure (MESTI, MoEP, MWH)

xxxiv
 Short-term (1-2 years) Medium-term (2-5 years) Long-term (5+ years)

• Raise awareness regulatory compli- • Agree upon/sustain a two-month • Acquire: i) a research vessel to assess
ance (MoFAD/Fisheries Comm.) closed season for all fleets (MoFAD) fish stocks and support other critical
research; ii) two dedicated patrol boats
• Emboss/license canoes, issue ID cards • Draft general guidelines on additions
(for inland and marine sectors); iii) a fish
(MoFAD/Fisheries Comm./NPC) to the industrial fleet (MoFAD)
patrol helicopter (to support monitoring
• Agree on a monthly allowable number • Reduce industrial fleet (50%), artisanal and control duties of national security
of trawlers and an effective enforce- fleet (MoFAD/Fisheries Comm) agencies) (President, MoFAD, MoF)
ment mechanism (MoFAD/Fisheries
• Revise Fisheries Act to make co-man- • Design and construct new landing
Commission)
agement feasible (Parl.) beaches to facilitate fishing vessel
• Increasing the Inshore Exclusive Zone inspection (MESTI/LUSPA, MoFAD/
• Establish co-management committees Fisheries Commission, MWH)
from 30 to 50 meters (MoFAD)
at the community, zonal, and national
• Make on-the-spot fishing gear inspec- levels (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission) • Construct spaces for fish auctions to add
tions (MoFAD/Fisheries Comm.) value, improve data collection/docu-
Fisheries

• Develop management plans for all mentation, and improve traceability of

• Sanction infractions through with- fisheries sub-sectors (MoFAD) catches (MESTI/LUSPA, MoFAD/Fisheries
drawal of fishing licenses and ban- Commission, MWH)
• Conduct new stakeholder analyses
ning inshore vessels, canoes for a
to reflect the changing nature of the • Train personnel, acquire logistics, and
predetermined period (MoFAD/FEU)
sector, help data collection along the deploy officers to collect fish catch
• Record sources, quality, quantity entire fish value chain, and champion and price data at landing beaches, and
of saiko landings; sanction offend- regulatory compliance (MoFAD) conduct regular canoe frame surveys
ers; use records in license renewal (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)
• Prepare a Marine Protected Areas
(MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)
report with a view to establishing
• Suspend vessel import, replacement reserves in zones of fish spawning
(MoFAD/Fisheries Comm.) and biodiversity (MLNR, MoFAD)
• Support efforts for an additional
weekly no-fishing day (MoFAD)

Kakum National Forest near Cape Coast, Central Region.

Jonathan Ernst / World Bank

Executive Summary  xxxv

 Short-term (1-2 years) Medium-term (2-5 years) Long-term (5+ years)

• Obtain better understanding of the • Develop a comprehensive Climate- • Identify vulnerable settlements/com-
potential impacts of climate-related Related Disaster Risk Management munities; formulate a comprehensive
risks, especially at the MMDA level, to Plan, either standalone, or as a slum upgrading and redevelopment
support decision makers and city plan- subsection of a National Disaster strategy (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/
ners in management of climate resilient Risk Management Master Plan, with MMDAs/RCCs, MWH, NDPC)
urban growth and development (MLGRD/ clearly defined actions to prepare for
• Improve, extend hydromet and early
MMDAs, MESTI/TCPD) and mitigate the effects of climate-
warning systems (MESTI/EPA, MoC/
related disasters (MoC/GMet, MESTI/
• Reinforce collaboration between GMet, MoF, MoI/NADMO, MSWR/WRC,
EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MoH/GHS, MoI/
hydromet, disaster mgmt. agencies MWH/HSD)
NADMO, MSWR/WRC)
(MESTI/EPA, MoC/GMet, MoI/NADMO,
• Enhance emergency coordination and
MSWR/WRC, MWH/HSD) • Link disaster and climate risk assess-
disaster risk management operations
Climate Change

ments to master planning exercises

• Enhance enforcement of environmen- capacity to ensure that all parts of the
(MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs/
tal regulations, specifically for spatial country are accounted for under the
RCCs, NDPC, MWH/HSD)
development, sanitation, and flood and emergency operations center (MoC/
stormwater management (MESTI/EPA, • Undertake multi-hazard risk assess- GMet, MoI/NADMO, MLGRD/MMDAs,
MLGRD/MMDAs, MSWR) ments in districts; develop, imple- MSWR/WRC, MWH/HSD)
ment climate change/disaster risk
• Identify actions for improved climate- • Construct, repair, strengthen flood
management plans; build capacity
related disaster response, prepared- management and drainage systems;
for contingency planning (MESTI/
ness (MoI/NADMO, MLGRD/MMDAs/ resource for operation and mainte-
EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs, MoC/
RCCs, MWH/HSD) nance (MLGRD/MMDAs, MWH/HSD)
GMet, MoI/NADMO, MSWR/WRC,
• Develop climate change/disaster pre- MWH/HSD) • Bolster the solid waste mgmt sector
paredness awareness campaigns (MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs, MSWR)
• Increase usage of nature-based solu-
(MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MoE/GES,
tions (MESTI/LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs/ • Establish a fund for climate risk mitiga-
MoI/NADMO, NCCE)
RCCs, MWH/HSD, NDPC) tion measures (MESTI, MoF)

• Create a high-level, inter-ministerial • Provide professional development • Institute a national environmental

body for environmental. policy making; programs for EPA technical staff in action planning process to produce
reactivate ENRAC, inter-sectoral net- addition to capacity building for other action plans covering ten-year cycles;
works (Cabinet, MDAs) stakeholders (MESTI/EPA) include participation of all stakehold-
ers, especially civil society and private
• Delegate some EPA responsibilities to • Design a national registration/
sectors (MESTI)
other institutions (MESTI/EPA, MDAs, accreditation system that tests and
MLGRD/MMDAs) licenses local and foreign consultants • Evaluate implementation progress,
to undertake EIAs (MESTI/EPA) assess effectiveness of proposed
Policies & Institutions

• Support MDAs technically in environ.

actions through an annual environmen-
mgmt. procedures (MESTI/EPA) • Develop a system to inform public
tal policy review (MESTI/EPA)
about issued permits (MESTI/EPA)
• Involve civil, private sectors in executing
• Have districts develop natural resource
EPA functions (MESTI/EPA) • Develop an automated database for
management plans; draft district land
environmental administrative pro-
• Update Environmental Assessment use plans as a first activity (MMDAs)
cedures, monitoring and evaluation
Regulations (Parl., MESTI/EPA)
(MESTI/EPA) • Establish environ./natural resource
• Strengthen, highlight Social, Health mgmt departments within MMDAs; have
• Adopt sector-specific EIA guidelines
Assessments in EIAs (MESTI/EPA) EPA, FC, MC provide technical support
(MESTI/EPA, MDAs)
(MMDAs, MESTI, MLNR)
• Develop guidance on stakeholder con-
sultations in EIAs (MESTI/EPA)

xxxvi
Conclusions
The following are major takeaways to assist the GoG to usher in a Strengthen institutions to ensure accountability and transpar-
new era of pro-growth, pro-poor, pro-environment policies: ency in environment and natural resource management
Enhance EPA powers. If the EPA is going to be the apex institution
Prioritize environmental considerations in for the enforcement of environmental regulations, it needs
development planning to be imbued with prescriptive powers. The adaptive capacity
Increase the ENRM sector budget. For the public sector to ensure of EPA needs to be enhanced, especially since the passing of
that public environmental goods are well taken care of, the right laws and other legal instruments is a laborious and time-consuming
amount of resources needs to be dedicated to their management. process, which has not shown the ability to react fast enough to
The Public Environmental Expenditure Review showed low levels new environmental challenges like e-waste, coastal erosion, and
of funding to MESTI and MLNR. Regulatory agencies, notably EPA, illegal ASGM.
but also MC, FC, and WRC, among others, cannot provide proper
oversight and corrective remedies—compliance and effects moni- Accelerate decentralization. EPA field agents can be imbued with
toring, impact management, audit evaluation—if they are lacking stronger monitoring and enforcement resources and powers, leav-
in operational budgets. ing headquarters to work on national strategy and environmental
mainstreaming across sectors.
Mainstream National Wealth Accounting. National wealth account-
ing quantifies a country’s natural capital and other asset classes. It Create autonomous watchdogs. Autonomous watchdogs that are
provides a warning when a country is experiencing economic growth independent from Ministries or other entities can help ensure that
by liquidating natural capital. Integrating accounting into national conflicts of interest, excesses, and poor governance practices within
economic analysis can help Ghana review tradeoffs between environ- environmental management institutions are prevented. An institution
mental preservation and resource use/extraction and make decisions charged with auditing performance and spending based on legis-
that allow it to prudently and sustainably manage natural capital and lated criteria, which is free from political interference is one way of
reinvest proceeds into people (human capital) and infrastructure stopping political economy issues of untoward or inefficient natural
(produced capital). resource governance.

Act now against climate change. Strategic planning is essential in Enforce/reinforce existing laws and advance critical policy
preparing for and mitigating the effects of climate change. Given reforms
that the worst effects of climate disruption are projected to occur Enforce existing laws. Ghana has a robust legal framework for
to those who are least able to bear them, namely the extreme poor, environmental management, but experiences complications in
Ghana must prepare for the possibility of managing disaster risks in executing its laws. Regulatory agencies that ensure compliance need
the Northern Savannah, urban slums of Accra, coastal communities, reinforcement through recognition of their authority, proportionate
and elsewhere. financial and technical resourcing, and checks and balances that
prevent political interference from obstructing law enforcement.
Promote public awareness raising and proactivity. Dissemination of
information, from data indicators to legal rights not only needs to Bolster existing tools used to manage the environment. For the
be made publicly accessible, but also the population must be edu- Environmental Impact Assessment process to be effective it needs:
cated on how to instrumentalize such knowledge. A publicly available a strong legislative base with clear purpose; specific requirements
scorecard showing achievements and deficiencies could keep the and prescribed responsibilities; dedicated financial resources; appro-
population informed and the GoG incentivized and accountable to priate controls to ensure proper scope and rigor; flexible timetables
meet its environmental duties. for completion; incentives for public participation; accessibility of
consequential information; a transparent and clearly defined rationale
for permit approvals and condition setting. Importantly, a culture of
receptivity by decision makers, enterprises, and communities to abide
by Environmental Assessment results must be forged.

Executive Summary  xxxvii

 Advance other critical reforms. People are given treated water from a tap at a
national water purification plant near the Volta River
● Benefits sharing: the allocation of natural resources revenues in Kpong, Eastern Region.
to citizenry at community-level is insufficient given the lack Jonathan Ernst / World Bank
of infrastructure in rural areas and the recurrence of illegal
resource extraction. MDF implementation being a good start,
GoG may consider increasing the percentage of royalties and
taxes that return to the resource-bearing communities most in
need.

● Justice sector reform: Stronger anti-corruption laws in the

ENRM sector, judges who are well versed in environment
and natural resource laws, and mandatory jail sentences for
Ghanaians who collude to despoil the environment are start-
ing points.

● Elimination of perverse incentives: Import duties on envi-

ronmentally efficient cars can be lowered to bring in vehicles
that emit less pollution, while duties on WEEE can be raised
to discourage non-useful electronics from making their way to
Ghana’s dumpsites. Subsidies for pre-mix fuel of the type used
by fishermen can be eliminated to reduce pressure on Ghana’s
fishing grounds.

The Adinkra symbol “Sankofa” urges us to look to the past to sanitation in growing urban areas—but the root of the issues
make a better future. The details of new environmental chal- will fundamentally remain the same: is the Ghana of today using
lenges will continue to change—climate change impacts along its renewable and non-renewable resources wisely enough for
the coast, bauxite mining in sensitive watersheds, air quality and the Ghana of tomorrow?

xxxviii
 An elephant traverses the northern savannah.
Executive Summary 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Arne Hoel / World Bank xxxix
 1
1
1. Introduction
1.1 Economic Growth and Environmental Challenges

Ghana has managed remarkable suc- FIGURE 1.1: 2017 exports (MIT Observatory of
cess in economic growth over the past Economic Complexity database).
two decades. Since 1990, real GDP in
All other exports
Ghana has more than quadrupled, and 16%

in 2011 the country hit a significant Manganese

2%
milestone when it joined the ranks Cocoa butter
2% Gold (unwrought)
of Lower Middle-Income Countries Cashew nuts 25%
2%

PEMPAMSIE (LMICs).15 Momentum in macroeco- Cocoa paste

2%

(“sew it for nomic growth was accompanied by Cocoa beans

10%
preservation”): reduced poverty, allowing Ghana to
Gold (semi-

foresight, halve its national poverty rate (from manufactured)

24%

precaution, 52.7 to 24.2 percent during the period Petroleum (crude)

17%

readiness 1991-2012). Ghana’s international pov-

erty headcount is lower than the LMIC
average (World Bank, 2018a).

FIGURE 1.2: Resource rents as percent of Ghana GDP (World Bank WDI database).
20%
20%

18%
18%

16%
16%

14%
14%

12%
GDP

12%
of GDP

10%
10%
%%of

8%
8%

6%
6%

4%
4%

2%
2%

0%
0%
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
00

01
02

03

04

05

06

07
08

09

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17
90

91
92

93

94

95
96

97

98

99

20

20
20
20
20

20

20
20

20
20
20
20

20
20

20

20

20
19

20
19
19
19
19

19
19

19

19
19

Forest rents Mineral rents Natural g as rents Oil rents

Forest rents Mineral rents Natural gas rents Oil rents

Natural resources have been key drivers of this development. Strong figures are U.S. dollars) (Figure 1.1).16 This fits an overall trend that has
economic growth has been driven in part by higher prices for Ghana’s seen natural resource rents as a percentage of GDP more than double
main commodity exports, gold and cocoa, and the start of commercial between 1990 and the present; approximately one-half of these rents
oil production in 2011. Gold, oil, cocoa, cashew, and manganese com- come from non-renewable sources (oil, mineral, and natural gas, Figure
bined for 84 percent of Ghana’s 2017 US$17.1 billion export total (all dollar 1.2).17 With the addition of oil, total natural resource rents increased to
nearly one-fifth of GDP in 2011 and 2012, the highest share in West Africa.

15. LMICs are defined as countries with a Gross National Income per 17. Natural resource rents data comes from the World Bank’s WDI
capita between US$996 and US$3,895. (database), https://data.worldbank.org.

16. Trade data comes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s

Observatory of Economic Complexity (database), https://atlas.media.
mit.edu/en/profile/country/gha/.

1. Introduction  2
 FIGURE 1.3: Components of natural resource wealth per capita over time (Lange et al., 2018).
$9,000

$8,000

$7,000
Constant 2014 USD, per capita

$6,000

$5,000

$4,000

$3,000

$2,000

$1,000

$0
2000 2005 2010 2014

Forests Protected Areas Cropland Pasture Energy (non-renewable) Minerals (non-renewable)

FIGURE 1.4: Components of national wealth per capita (Lange et al., 2018).
2014 Constant USD, per capita

$13,853
$7,777
$6,345
$6,796 $10,922
$108 $190
$36 $1,673
$7,302 $7,890 $606
$7,284 $6,745
$5,155
$5,062 $3,600 $5,029 $3,768
$2,890
$(524) $(1,203) $(593) $(581) $(995)

1995 2000 2005 2010 2014

Produced Capital Renewable Natural Capital Non-Renewable Natural Capital Human Capital Net Foreign Assets

Environmental unsustainability may impair Ghana’s economic growth, In contrast, renewable natural capital per capita decreased more than
as demonstrated through two economic indicators. The first is national seven percent, with specific declines in forests and protected areas
wealth a gauge of growth sustainability. It measures a country’s assets assets (Figure 1.3). In Ghana’s case, not only was renewable natural
in produced, natural (renewable and non-renewable), and human capi- capital eroded, but produced capital was as well (Figure 1.4)19. Ghana’s
tal, and net foreign assets (Box 1.1). Between 2000 and 2014, Ghana high population growth makes this a pressing concern since existing
saw total national wealth more than double. Growth is predicated on capital stock must be shared with the younger generation and future
efficiently and sustainably managing natural capital—a fact which can generations. If its current unsustainable natural resource management
be demonstrated through an increase in its per capita value over time18 remains unchanged, Ghana will see its wealth destroyed over the long
—and reinvesting proceeds into other forms of capital, primarily human term with less opportunity to sustain growth and share prosperity.
(Lange et al., 2018). Much of Ghana’s wealth increase came with losses to
renewable natural resources and overreliance on non-renewable assets.
Per capita non-renewable natural capital—mainly from petroleum produc-
tion—increased substantially from a very low base (US$36 to US$1,673).

18. In high-income OECD countries the share of produced capital is 19. Ghana’s shrinking manufacturing as a share of GDP confirms that
double that in low-income countries (28 vs. 14 percent), and human natural wealth asset depletion is not being reinvested in economic
capital reaches 70 percent of wealth. While the share of natural capital activities that can survive in the long run.
in high-income OECD countries is only 3 percent, its per capita value
is three times that of low-income countries (US$19,525 compared with
US$6,421 in 2014) (Lange et al., 2018).

3
 Box 1.1: Philippines: natural capital accounting as a planning tool

Natural capital accounting helps the Philippines to measure the country’s natural resources
and evaluate how they can be used equitably and sustainably. The Philippine archipelago is
rich in biodiversity, coastal and marine resources, minerals, timber and other forest products.
Natural resource wealth underpins the livelihoods of farmers and fisherman and provides
an important social safety net for rural communities, especially during times of crisis. The
country has historically relied on natural capital for its economic growth: in 2010, natural
capital accounted for 19 percent of gross domestic product. Responsible management of
natural capital is critical to ensure future profit streams for private enterprises in the tour-
ism, agriculture and fisheries, and mining sectors, as well as revenues to local and national
governments.

The Wealth Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) Global Partnership Program provides key Philippine decision
makers with scientific-based evidence, information, and capacity building to assess the social, economic, and environmental trade-offs
of different resource-use scenarios and their implications on the achievement of sustainable development. The Philippines is now
producing mineral, mangrove, and ecosystem accounts. The data gives a clearer picture of the country’s natural capital resources
and provides input for investment and policy decisions. With the support of WAVES and the Program on Forests (PROFOR) the country
has produced a significant number of policy briefs, technical reports, natural capital accounts, maps and communications products
to inform development planning and policy around four key policy areas: (i) macroeconomics, (ii) minerals, (iii) mangroves, and (iv)
landscapes and ecosystems.

To strengthen macroeconomic monitoring, the Philippine Statistical Authority developed adjusted macroeconomic indicators—adjusted
net national income, adjusted net national savings, comprehensive wealth, produced capital—that are used to measure not only
whether the Philippine economy is growing, but also whether that growth is sustainable. At a sectoral level, the accounts have been
used to measure the contribution of natural capital to the economy. Minerals asset accounts (gold, copper, nickel and chromium)
determine the extent to which the Philippine Government is recovering and reinvesting nonrenewable resource rents. The role of
mangroves in protecting people and assets from coastal hazards helped to identify priority areas for mangrove restoration. The
valuation of hitherto unmeasured ecosystem services, such as hydrological services, carbon storage, and erosion control, provided
critical input to improved local land use management and planning.

Source: World Bank, 2016a.

1. Introduction  4
 Chocolate bar production at the Golden Tree cocoa
processing and chocolate plant in Tema.
Jonathan Ernst / World Bank

5
A second related indicator, adjusted net savings (ANS), also sug- the same two factors that have accounted for about 8-15 percent of
gests stresses on the sustainability of Ghana’s development pathway GDP since 2000, represent the largest shares of net natural resource
(Box 1.2). ANS in Ghana, which has barely been positive since 2000, wealth depletion according to the ANS indicator, with an increased
turned decidedly negative in 2007. Since 2000, economic losses trend of depletion over time. ANS levels in Ghana’s structural peers
due to natural resource depletion of forest, mineral, and energy show that Ghana is leveraging a greater percentage of its natural
resources skyrocketed from US$18 to US$162 per person/year (2017). resources to promote GDP growth. The only other peer with similar
Dissaving has increased dramatically since the oil boom, reaching a rates of natural wealth depletion is Mauritania, whose growth has
low of negative US$273 in 2012 (Figure 1.5). Minerals and forestry, been lifted primarily through mining and oil (Figure 1.6).

Box 1.2: Adjusted net savings

ANS measures national savings—a key element of how wealth changes over time, defined as national income less total consump-
tion, plus net transfers—adjusted for gains (education spending) and losses (consumption of fixed capital, depletion of minerals
and forests, air pollution). If wealth is accumulating, ANS is positive and growing. When ANS becomes negative, it may indicate that
diminishing these assets is fueling present growth, and hence the country is on an unsustainable development path.

Source: Lange et al., 2018.

FIGURE 1.5: Net natural resource wealth depletion (World Bank WDI database).

$50.0
$50.0

$-
$-

$(50.00)
Current US$, per capita

$(50.00)
Current US$, per capita

$(100.00)
$(100.00)

$(150.00)
$(150.00)

$(200.00)
$(200.00)

$(250.00)
$(250.00)

$(300.00)
$(300.00)

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Adjusted savings: carbon dioxide damage Adjusted savings: energy depleon Adjusted savings: mineral depleon
Adjusted savings: net forest depleon Adjusted savings: parculate emission damage Adjusted net savings, including parculate emission damage
Adjusted savings: carbon dioxide damage Adjusted savings: energy depletion Adjusted savings: mineral depletion

Adjusted savings: net forest depletion Adjusted savings: particulate emission damage Adjusted net savings, including
particulate emission damage

1. Introduction  6
 1.2 M
 anagement of Natural Resources in Ghana’s FIGURE 1.6: Adjusted savings. Natural resource
Urban, Rural, and Coastal Landscapes depletion, Ghana vs. structural peers (World Bank
WDI database).
Ghana faces environmental challenges roughly corresponding to its
rural, urban, and coastal landscapes. The complexion and complex- 14%

ity of Ghana’s environmental issues are changing as a function of the 12%

socioeconomic and environmental dynamics in these areas. Meanwhile, 10%

the population is set to double over the next 40 years, at which point 8%

% of GNI
more than 75 percent of Ghanaians will be living in cities.20 Growth and 6%

development will deplete natural capital—as the GDP per capita growth 4%

rate must exceed the population’s growth rate to have a poverty-reduc- 2%

ing effect—complicating existing environmental, climate, and natural 0%

Mauritania Ghana Kyrgyz Nicaragua Myanmar Cameroon Kenya Cote
resource management challenges. Republic d'Ivoire
(20 16)

The livelihood of much of the rural population depends on access to

natural resources. Although the economic structure is shifting to services, livelihoods for 10 percent of the population and accounts for 60 percent
a substantial share of jobs is still based in renewable natural resources. of animal protein consumption in Ghana.
In rural areas 71 percent of people are employed in agriculture, forestry,
and fishing and the sector is a primary source of employment for the People in Ghana’s northern savannah, coastal areas, and urban slums are
300,000-350,000 new workers who enter the labor force each year most at risk to an increasingly variable climate. With one-third of the total
(World Bank, 2016b; 2018b).21 Cocoa, Ghana’s most important agricultural labor force involved in agriculture23, insufficient rainfall during the major
export, employs over one million households and is a driver of poverty cropping season may lead to devastating effects across the national
reduction, with poverty rates among cocoa farmers declining from 60 to economy and societal landscape, including crop failure/losses, disease
24 percent between 1991-2005 (World Bank, 2018b). Food production outbreaks, and dislocation of human populations. Climate change will
also doubled during this period. exacerbate land degradation and is expected to adversely affect crop
yields, affect crop yields, leading to a decline in agricultural GDP and
Economic growth has brought rapid urbanization. The services sector further entrenching rural poverty. Climate change poses a threat to the
has become the largest contributor to the economy, with an attendant suitability of cocoa production in Ghana, and past cases show that spe-
shift of labor from rural farm work to provision of urban services. Since cialized economies have difficulty recovering from the collapse of their
2009, Ghana’s urban population has outstripped its rural one, standing main activity (World Bank, 2017). Mean annual rainfall fell from 11.7 mm/
at 55 percent (Figure 1.7). Accra’s population nearly doubled over the past year in 1901-1910 to 6.3 mm in 2011-2015 in the poorest one-third of
two decades, but the capital city’s overall proportion of all urban dwellers
has remained steady, indicating that urbanization has been occurring
FIGURE 1.7: Ghana population by rural-urban
on a wide scale. Rural exodus to and rapid growth in traditional urban
presence (World Bank WDI database).
population centers such as Accra and Kumasi are being complemented by
development in cities such as Tamale, Sekondi-Takoradi, Sunyani, Cape
Coast, Obuasi, Teshie, Tema, and Koforidua. Nearly one in five Ghanaians 35
Millions

now lives in an urban agglomeration of more than one million people22. 30

25

The coastal zone is a hybrid of rural and urban settings with a high density 20

of human settlements interwoven along marine ecosystems. About three 15

million people are projected to live in Ghana’s coastal zones by 2050. This 10

includes those living in low elevation flood-prone informal settlements, 5

where poverty is more prevalent. Eighty percent of Ghana’s industrial -

base is found along the coast and about US$1 billion, equivalent to 1.5
19 0
19 1
19 2
19 3
19 4
19 5
19 6
19 7
19 8
19 9
19 0
19 1
19 2
19 3
19 4
19 5
19 6
19 7
19 8
20 9
20 0
20 1
20 2
20 3
20 4
20 5
20 6
20 7
20 8
20 9
20 0
20 1
20 2
20 3
20 4
20 5
20 6
20 7
18
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
19

Rural population Urban population Population, total

percent of GDP, is exposed to sea level rise. The fisheries sector provides

20. Population data from the United Nations Department of Economic 22. Data comes from the World Bank’s WDI (database), “Population in
and Social Affairs (database), https://population.un.org/wup/ urban agglomerations of more than 1 million,” https://data.worldbank.
Country-Profiles/. org

21. This employment is higher than the labor force study suggests because
more than 80 percent of Ghana’s workforce is in the informal sector, 23. Data comes from World Bank WDI (database), “Employment in
55 percent of which is in agriculture and fisheries, and 13 percent of agriculture (% of total employment),” https://data.worldbank.org.
which is involved in agro-related services and sales.

7
districts. The northern savannah, where subsistence agriculture is the investments in Ghana for several decades, it is uniquely positioned to
main employment for poor households, has been affected by frequent provide critical analysis on the root causes of challenges in these sectors.
droughts and flooding accompanied by high temperatures and intense
heat. Catastrophic floods in 2007, which affected 317,000 people, were For its methodology, the CEA leverages existing research to contextualize
followed immediately by drought—indicative of the high variability in environmental challenges and permit fresh analysis into the sustainability
climate and hydrological flows in northern Ghana. Coastal communi- of Ghana’s economic development. Undertaking a vast literature review,
ties face erosion and infrastructure collapse from rising sea levels. The the CEA synthesizes existing data and analyses from a wide range of
effects of climate risks are likely to magnify the uneven social and spatial publications including reports by government development partners
distribution of risk in Ghana, and possibly amplify poverty in the north and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), research findings, and
and vulnerable areas. lessons learned from international best practices. This base permits an
economic analysis of the Cost of Environmental Degradation (CoED),
1.3 Objectives which is calculated using the latest methodology approved by the World
Bank. These findings were discussed with government stakeholders and
The objective of this Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) is to analyze development partners. Each section concludes with recommendations to
critical environmental and natural resource issues threatening sustainable improve environment and natural resource governance that are split into
economic growth in Ghana and propose policy actions and investments categories of short-term (recommendations for immediate implementa-
to address them. The main output of the analysis aims to broaden dia- tion, i.e. over the next two years), medium-term (recommendations ready
logue with Government and engagement with the public on improving for implementation once foundational reforms are in place, i.e. over the
environment and natural resource management. The CEA aims to effec- next two to five years), and long-term (recommendations that can only
tively analyze and communicate the links between good environmental be implemented once an enabling environment exists, i.e. five or more
and natural resource stewardship in Ghana, and economic growth and years from now).
improved livelihoods to galvanize investment in environmental man-
agement, conservation and restoration, policy and regulatory reform, It is also to be noted that since the writing of this report Ghana has
institutional strengthening, and capacity building. Ultimately, the CEA changed its number of administrative regions from 10 to 16. Given the
will permit the Government, the World Bank, development partners, and newness of this division, data in this report refers to the administrative
other stakeholders to make informed decisions that effectively address boundaries that existed up to the end of 2018.
environmental sustainability and natural resource management ques-
tions that affect Ghana’s future. The following chapters proceed along the thematic sectoral lines of rural,
urban, and coastal challenges24, and are followed by cross-cutting chap-
1.4 Methodology and Structure ters on climate change and policies and institutions. The report begins
with an overview on the cost of environmental degradation (Chapter 2).
The CEA does not address all Ghana’s environmental concerns, but Urban issues are addressed first: air pollution (Chapter 3), plastic pollution
instead focuses on priority topics that require in-depth analysis and (Chapter 4), and e-waste (Chapter 5). The next section moves to rural
short-term actions. There are three reasons behind this decision. issues: forest resources (Chapter 6), land degradation (Chapter 7), and
First, the Government of Ghana has already prepared a “State of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (“galamsey”) (Chapter 8). The third
Environment” Report with the support of the Natural Resources and section, coastal resources, includes two chapters: fisheries resources
Environment Governance (NREG) Project financed by the World Bank. (Chapter 9), and coastal erosion (Chapter 10). Finally, cross-cutting chap-
That report comprehensively covered all aspects of environmental and ters on climate change (Chapter 11) and policies and institutions (Chapter
natural resource management issues facing Ghana. Second, the World 12) are followed by conclusions (Chapter 13).
Bank held consultations with the Ministry of Environment, Science,
Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Environment Protection
Agency (EPA) during which both prioritized the emerging challenges
of e-waste, plastic waste, and illegal small-scale artisanal mining as
key issues to be addressed. Finally, because the World Bank has been
engaged in land, forests, coasts and fisheries, and pollution management

24. This analysis acknowledges that lines can be blurred between environmental challenges. For example, the air pollution chapter addresses ambient
and household air pollution, with the former mainly affecting urban zones and the latter rural ones. This is not to say that air pollution is solely an
urban issue. The analysis classifies it as such given trends showing increasing ambient air pollution (from urbanization and industrialization) and
decreasing household air pollution (from urbanization and access to cleaner energy).

1. Introduction  8
9
 View from Umbrella Rock in the Yilo Krobo District
(Eastern Region), outside of Accra. The Umbrella Rock
is situated on a high land making it possible to watch
nature hundreds of miles away into the green.
Felix Lipov / Shutterstock

1. Introduction  10
 2
11
2. The Cost of Environmental
Degradation in Ghana
2.1 Objective and Scope 2.2. Sectors Analyzed
2.2.1 Air pollution
This chapter estimates Ghana’s annual cost
of environmental degradation (CoED) at The total cost of air pollution is estimated at about US$2.5 billion, or 4.2
the national level in monetary terms. percent of GDP. Household air pollution is responsible for US$1.37 billion,
Specifically, it values the effects of environ- while ambient air pollution accounts for about US$1.11 billion. Ambient
mental degradation on Ghana’s national and household air pollution negatively affect human health, primarily
society due to air and water pollution, agri- due to exposure to fine particulates (PM2.5). This exposure translates into
cultural land degradation, deforestation, premature mortality due to induced lower tract respiratory infections;
illegal mining, overfishing, coastal erosion, ischemic heart disease; stroke; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
ASAASE YƐ DURU
and flooding. In addition, it estimates the tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer; and diabetes mellitus type 2; and
("the Earth has weight"):
impact of environmental degradation on morbidity, as a result of problems such as chronic bronchitis, hospital
sanctity and divinity of
the global community, through the cost of admissions, lost work days, and restricted activity days (Hunt et al., 2016;
the Earth
carbon emissions from economic activities. Stanaway et al., 2018; World Bank, 2016). Monetary valuation is based
on the Value of Statistical Life (VSL) for mortality, which reflects the soci-
This assessment estimated the present value (PV) of both short-term and ety’s willingness to pay to reduce the risk of death, and a morbidity cost
long-term impacts caused by activities occurring over the latest year for assumed to be 10 percent of the mortality cost25.
which data were available. Certain activities cause short-term impacts,
for example, air pollution causes certain health problems that last from Ambient air pollution. The annual average PM2.5 concentration has been
a few weeks to several months (bronchitis, respiratory symptoms). Other estimated at 50 ug/m3 for urban areas [EPA data for Accra; World Health
activities have long-term impacts, such as deforestation, which causes Organization (WHO), 2018; and Van Donkelaar et al., 2016 for other cit-
ecosystem losses that may take years or decades to recover. The analysis ies] and 40 ug/m3 for rural areas (Van Donkelaar et al., 2016). The total
uses a six percent discount rate and a time horizon of 30 years (World population (approximately 29 million) is exposed to ambient air pollution,
Bank, 2016). The results are expressed in absolute terms (US$, 2017 of which approximately 16 million people are in urban areas and 13 million
prices) (all dollar figures are U.S. dollars) and relative terms (as a percent- are in rural areas Using the most recent concentration-response functions
age of Ghana’s 2017 GDP, which was US$59 billion) to benchmark the from the literature (the 2017 Global Burden of Disease (GBD)), ambient air
extent of damage against macroeconomic indicators. Both anthropogenic pollution is estimated to cause about 7,200 premature deaths per year.
and natural factors are considered for estimating CoED.
Household air pollution. Household PM2.5 concentration varies depend-
The assessment looks at damages at three levels: social, such as morbid- ing on the type of fuel used for cooking, location of the kitchen (inside or
ity and mortality due to air and water pollution; economic, including lost outside the house), ventilation system and level of penetration of ambient
agricultural productivity due to soil erosion and lost fishing rents due to PM2.5 into the household. The cost is based on a concentration at 128
overfishing; and environmental, such as reduced value of watershed ug/m3 for Ghana (Van Vliet et al., 2013). Using Ghana Statistical Service
services due to deforestation. (GSS) et al. (2015) data related to the use of solid fuel for cooking, the
population exposed to indoor air pollution is nine million people in urban

25. So far, no commonly accepted method has been developed to value the overall cost of morbidity due to air pollution (OECD, 2014). However, results
of studies conducted in several countries indicate that morbidity costs account for a small percentage of mortality costs – about 10 percent (Hunt et
al., 2016).Forest data comes from the GFW database, https://www.globalforestwatch.org/.

2. The Cost of Environmental Degradation in Ghana  12

 areas and 11.5 million people in rural areas. Accordingly, household air Mercury. Exposure to mercury vapor can lead to several symptoms,
pollution is estimated to cause 8,800 premature deaths per year. including immunological changes, insomnia, and abnormal renal func-
tions. In Ghana, it is estimated that gold miners and people living in
2.2.2 Water proximity to contaminated sites incur 0.17-0.3 Years Lived with Disability
(YLD) each year. Using the forgone income approach, this corresponds
The total cost due to inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene is to about US$0.48 billion.
estimated at US$1.8 billion, or just over three percent of GDP. Inadequate
water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are important challenges 2.2.4 Agricultural Land Degradation
for Ghana. The burden of waterborne diseases is particularly serious in
rural areas, where only a small share of households benefits from safely The cost of soil erosion is estimated at about US$0.54 billion, equivalent
managed WASH26 . These problems, exacerbated by discharge of solid to 0.9 percent of the country’s GDP. The agricultural sector contributes
waste, industrial effluents, and toxic substances in water systems, have about 18 percent of Ghana’s GDP and accounts for 36 percent of formal
serious effects on health. employment (GSS, 2017; World Bank, 2018). A large proportion of agri-
cultural land is degraded due to unsustainable agro-pastoral practices.
The valuation shows that inadequate WASH is responsible for about Land degradation is especially pronounced in the country’s Northern
10,600 deaths per year, estimated based on WHO data related to relative Region (MESTI, 2017). The cost of agricultural land degradation is based
risks for water-borne diseases (Prüss-Üstün et al., 2014). This is primarily on a study conducted by Diao and Sarpong (2007). The authors used
due to diarrhea, typhoid, and paratyphoid (5,600 deaths); malnutrition an economy-wide model that estimated the cost due to land erosion
(4,800 deaths); and, to a lesser extent, schistosomiasis, dengue, and covered by the main agricultural crops (e.g., maize, sorghum, cassava,
ascariasis (200 deaths). In addition, diarrheal morbidity due to WASH is yam) to be about US$4.2 billion for the period 2006-2015. The valuation
estimated at 14.7 million cases. assumes that the effect of soil erosion was similar in 2017.

2.2.3 Gold Mining, E-waste and Other Contaminated Sites 2.2.5 Forests

Total annual cost attributed to exposure to toxic metals in Ghana is esti- The cost of deforestation, on average, is about US$0.4 billion, equivalent
mated at US$0.68 billion, equivalent to 1.2 percent of GDP. Chemical pol- to 0.67 percent of GDP. Forests in Ghana cover about 5.7 million ha (Global
lution—with hazardous chemicals and heavy metals—is a major problem Forest Watch (GFW27). Deforestation is a widely recognized problem,
in Ghana due to several unregulated activities such as recycling and mainly due to cocoa expansion, slash and burn agriculture, and illegal
disposal of electronic waste (e-waste), burning plastic, and artisanal small- logging. However, available estimates differ considerably, for example,
scale mining. Dowling et al. (2016) estimated that Ghana has between GFW indicates an annual deforestation of 98,500 ha during 2013-2017,
1,600-1,900 sites contaminated with electronic waste; among the key while Ghana’s Forestry Commission (FC) shows annual losses of 315,000
pollutants are lead, chromium, and arsenic. In addition, there are about ha during 2001-2015, and of nearly 795,000 ha during 2013-2015 (MLNR,
77 mercury-contaminated sites, largely as a result of gold mining. The 2017). Due to this uncertainty, the valuation assumes that the area subject
current analysis estimated the impacts of lead and mercury on health. to deforestation varies between 98,500 ha (low scenario) and 315,000
ha (high scenario) per year. It is estimated that deforestation leads to an
Lead. Human exposure to lead can increase the incidence of cardiovas- annual loss of forest benefits of about US$90/ha28, which corresponds
cular, kidney, and neurological diseases. Based on GBD (2017) data, lead to a present value of US$1,300. The cost of deforestation is estimated
exposure in Ghana caused about 1,200 deaths due to cardiovascular as a range between US$135 million and US$658 million, from which the
and kidney diseases in 2017, corresponding to about US$146 million in assessment takes the average to derive its estimate.
VSL. In addition, exposure to lead in hotspots contaminated by e-waste
(particularly from recovery of used lead-acid batteries) has reduced the 2.2.6 Fisheries
intelligence quotient (IQ) in children by an estimated 2.4-6.3 IQ points
per child. Using a forgone income approach, the annual cost of IQ loss The total annual cost of overfishing in Ghana is estimated at US$233
is estimated at about US$58 million on average. Accordingly, the total million, equivalent to 0.4 percent of GDP. Over the past decade,
cost of lead contamination is about US$0.2 billion/year. overfishing has led to declining biomass of pelagic and demersal fish
stocks in Ghana. Recent studies indicate excessive numbers of vessels
in marine waters (Akpalu and Okyere, 2018; Koranteng and Awity,

26. Only seven percent of rural households benefit from safely 28. The value of sustainably managed forests has been crudely
managed drinking water and a very negligible portion benefit from estimated at US$110/ha, including extractive values (US$80/ha/year,
safely managed sanitation and hygiene (https://washdata.org/data). based on Angelsen et al., 2014) and forest services (US$30/ha/year,
based on Siikamäki et al., 2015, adjusted to 2017). It is assumed that
deforestation leads to a loss of all extractive values and one-half of
27. Forest data comes from the GFW database, https://www.
the value of services.
globalforestwatch.org/.

13
FIGURE 2.1: Framework for mercury exposure (Poulin et al., 2008).

BIOLOGICAL
SOURCE OF EXPOSURE OUTCOME
MEASURE OF
EXPOSURE PATHWAY
EXPOSURE

Dental amalgams

Folk medicines,
religious practices,
etc.

Thermometers,
barometers, etc.

Mining
Mercury in food
Fossil fuel
Combustion
• Blood
Waste Mercury in air • Urine
Incineration
Mercury in water
Industrial
processes Transformation by
microorganisms and
bioaccumulation in
aquatic species

• Hair
Methylmercury Methylmercury health
• Blood
in food
• Cord-blood

2018). The cost of overfishing is estimated through the difference in 2.2.8 Coastal Zone
rents between the current fish catch and the maximum sustainable
yield. Based on Akpalu and Okyere (2018), this difference is valued The annual cost of coastal floods and erosion32 is estimated at about
for artisanal (US$101 million), tuna (US$87 million), industrial (US$41 US$47 million, equivalent to less than 0.1 percent of GDP. As in many
million) and semi-industrial fleets (US$4 million) in marine waters. West African countries, Ghana faces significant challenges to its
coastal zone, including erosion, floods, marine and coastal pollution,
2.2.7 Inland Floods rapid urbanization, and unsustainable land use. This section focuses
only on the cost of coastal flooding and erosion and is based on a
The total annual cost of inland flooding is estimated at US$120 million, study conducted by World Bank (2017a). The study assessed these
equivalent to 0.2 percent of GDP. Ghana is prone to floods during the damages using information on the frequency of events, exposure
rainy season. Communities located along riverbanks and in coastal (i.e., assets and ecosystem services at risk), damage functions (for
areas and lowlands are particularly affected by floods (Bramiah et both short- and long-duration floods, and erosion), and unit values
al., 2014). The International Disaster Database indicates that the of damage to different land uses. Erosion alone accounted for 57
frequency of floods is increasing; a major flood occurring in 2017 percent of the estimated cost.
affected more than one million people (EM-DAT29). The impact of
inland floods is estimated based on the Aqueduct model that the 2.2.9 Climate Change
World Resources Institute30 developed. The model calculates the
annual expected urban damage due to inland floods through direct On average, the cost of Ghana’s carbon emissions to the global
damage to assets in the affected areas. For Ghana, this is estimated community is US$2.3 billion each year, equivalent to 3.9 percent
between US$120 million and US$169 million31; for conservative rea- of Ghana’s GDP. It is to be noted that this high value is not a cost
sons, this assessment considers only the lower estimate. for Ghana, but for the global community. Valuation is based on the
shadow price of carbon, which ranges between US$37 (low scenario)

29. Information from the EM-DAT database, https://www.emdat.be/. 31. The estimates represent the level of urban damage assuming the
country has a five-year flood protection level ($120 million) and a
two-year flood protection level ($169 million).activities, solid waste
30. Information from World Resource Institute, https://floods.wri.org/#/
landfills and waste incineration, household sources of air pollution.
country/87/Ghana.

32. This value was estimated for 2015.

2. The Cost of Environmental Degradation in Ghana  14

 to US$75/tCO2 (high scenario) for 2017 (World Bank, 2017b). Ghana’s Among the national costs, it is important to note that:
Second Biennial Update to the United Nations Convention on Climate
● Air pollution stands out as the most important driver of degra-
Change (UNFCCC) estimated the total net greenhouse gas (GHG)
dation (4.2 percent of GDP). This is primarily due to the impacts
emissions at about 42.2 million tCO2e for 2016 (MESTI, 2018).
caused by household air pollution (about 8,800 premature
Agriculture, forestry, and other land uses (AFOLU) were the largest
deaths), and secondarily by ambient air pollution (about 7,200
source of emissions, followed by energy.
premature deaths) in rural and urban areas.

● Water pollution causes significant damage (3 percent of GDP)

Ghana has an opportunity to sell carbon emissions reductions from largely due to the health effects of an inadequate water supply,
reduced deforestation and degradation through its forthcoming poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene (about 10,600 deaths).
Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Program. It is hoped that the country The problem of water pollution is partly due to the discharge of
will succeed in trading emission reduction credits, at a price of about solid waste, industrial effluents, and toxic substances in water
US$5/tCO2 (Forestry Commission projections, see Chapter 6: Status systems.
of Forest Resources). This achievement would mean a reduction of
● Gold mining, e-waste, and other contaminated sites also
the global cost of carbon emissions and significant future earnings
impose high costs on Ghana (1.2 percent of GDP). Activities
for Ghana.
mainly related to the recycling and disposal of electronic
waste, burning plastic, and artisanal small-scale gold mining,
2.3 Conclusions cause the release of hazardous chemicals and heavy metals,
to which exposure can be fatal (e.g., 1,200 deaths due to lead
The CoED to Ghanaian society is estimated at about US$6.3 billion,
exposure).
equivalent to 10.7 percent of the country’s GDP in 2017. Additionally,
GHG emissions cause damages to the global community that are esti- ● Agricultural land degradation, deforestation, and over-
mated at just under four percent of GDP. The national CoED appears fishing are also noteworthy due to their negative effects on
almost triple that of the global cost (Table 2.1). resource productivity and ecosystem services.

TABLE 2.1: Estimated CoED in Ghana, 2017 (Estimates by authors).

Lower bound Upper bound Average

Category % of GDP
(US$ billion) (US$ billion) (US$ billion)
Air pollution 1.32 3.65 2.49 4.2%

Water pollution 0.74 2.85 1.80 3.0%

Heavy metal contamination* 0.39 0.97 0.68 1.2%

Agricultural land degradation 0.14 0.95 0.54 0.9%

Deforestation 0.14 0.66 0.40 0.7%

Overfishing 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.4%

Inland flooding 0.06 0.17 0.12 0.2%

Coastal zone degradation 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.1%

Cost to Ghanaian society 3.05 9.53 6.29 10.7%

Climate change 1.53 3.10 2.31 3.9%

Cost to Global community 1.53 3.10 2.31 3.9%

*Gold mining, e-waste, and other contaminated sites.

15
 Cars driving along a road in Osu, Accra.
Olivier Asselin / Alamy Stock Photo

2. The Cost of Environmental Degradation in Ghana  16

 3
17
3. Air Pollution
3.1 Baseline Air Quality in Ghana

Air pollution is the release of gases, Air pollution is Ghana’s number one environmental risk to public
finely divided solids, and aerosols into health and its sixth-ranked overall risk (out of 19) for death.36 100
the Earth’s atmosphere at levels difficult percent of Ghana’s population is exposed to PM2.5 levels exceeding
to dilute naturally and which may cause WHO guidelines. Ghana’s air pollution mortality rate—inclusive of AAP
adverse health, environmental, and and HAP—is 105 people per 100,000 (age standardized) (Stanaway
economic effects. It can be subdivided et al., 2018). Air pollution is responsible for eight percent of total
MFRAMADAN into (outdoor) ambient air pollution mortality with approximately 16,000 Ghanaians dying prematurely
(“wind-resistant
MFRAMADAN (“wind- (AAP) or (indoor/near-home) household each year: 8,500 in urban areas (4,600 due to AAP; 3,900 from
house”):
resistant house”): air pollution (HAP). AAP has both natural HAP) and 7,600 in rural areas (2,600 due to AAP; 5,000 from HAP)
resilience, self-
resilience, self-reliance, origins and anthropogenic sources.33 (Table 3.1).37 Over the past two decades, the HAP mortality rate has
reliance,in the face
alertness Emissions from anthropogenic activi- dramatically decreased, while AAP has slightly increased (Figure
alertness in the
of difficulty ties far outweigh those from nature. 3.1). Air pollution’s disease burden is disproportionately borne by
face of difficulty Common components of AAP causing infants and the elderly. Figure 3.2’s top panel demonstrates how
noxious health effects are particu- the elderly experience most AP-related premature deaths, while the
late matter (PM), ozone (O3), nitrogen bottom panel shows that a greater proportion of non-fatal illness is
dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).34 HAP results from incomplete borne by young children.
combustion of solid biomass fuels (e.g. wood, charcoal, crop waste,
dung), coal and kerosene, for cooking, heating, and lighting needs. Rapid urbanization presents Ghana with a challenge in air quality
Smoke from biomass combustion contains suspended PM, NO2, SO2, management. Data from 2006-2015 show monitor readings with
carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde and polycyclic aromatic hydro- concentrations well above PM10 guidelines set by both Ghana
carbons (PAHs) (UN, 1997). (70 μg/m3, 24-hour mean) and WHO (50 μg/m3, 24-hour mean) (MESTI,
2017). Roadside sites tend to show higher concentrations than com-
PM affects more people than any other pollutant. It primarily consists mercial and industrial sites, which in turn show higher concentrations
of solid and liquid particles of inorganic and organic substances—sul- than residential sites. This supports findings that transportation and
fates, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, black carbon, mineral dust, commercial/industrial sources are significant contributors to Accra’s
water—suspended in the air.35 Although coarse PM of 10 microns in AAP. However, elevated annual average concentrations in some resi-
diameter (PM10) can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, exposure dential neighborhoods suggest that household combustion of solid
to fine PM, being 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5), can pose significant and biofuels remains a significant contributor to AAP levels (Table 3.2).
even fatal health risks. Illnesses associated with air pollution-related
mortality include lung cancer, ischemic heart disease, stroke, acute Natural phenomena add to AAP. Zhou et al. (2013) point out the role of
lower respiratory infection and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease the Harmattan winds that come off the Sahara Desert from December
(COPD) (e.g., bronchitis, emphysema). to February/March as a natural air pollution source modulating Accra’s
air quality. Harmattan winds carry high concentrations of Saharan

33. Natural air pollution sources include smoke from bush/forest fires, 35. Information from WHO, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/
windblown dust, pollen and mold spores, volcanic activity, sea detail/ambient-(outdoor)-air-quality-and-health.MLGRD = Ministry of
spray, etc. Anthropogenic sources include fuel combustion from Local Government and Rural Development; MMDAs = Metropolitan,
motor vehicles, electricity and heat generation, industrial and mining Municipal, and District Assemblies.
activities, solid waste landfills and waste incineration, household
sources of air pollution.
36. Public health information comes from the Global Burden of Disease
(database), https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/.
34. Information from WHO, https://www.who.int/airpollution/ambient/
pollutants/en/.
37. Final health burden estimates are adjusted for multiple risks because
the same diseases are associated with different environmental risk
factors.

3. Air Pollution  18
 FIGURE 3.1: Rate of death associated with HAP and AAP (Global Burden of Disease database).

60

50
Deaths per 100,000

40

30

20

10

0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
HAP AAP Linear (HAP) Linear (AAP)

mineral dust, resulting in periods of extremely high PM2.5 and PM10 ccra’s air pollution has a complex source structure. Analysis of early
across the city, contributing over one-third of total air pollution mass. data found three factors driving the distribution of air pollution: den-
sity of households burning charcoal/wood, density of trash burning,
Higher PM2.5 concentrations are found in the southern and west- and socioeconomic status. This suggests at least two significant
ern parts of the city where populations are higher, denser, and of emission sources contribute to poor air quality: household energy
lower-income, and where there is more commercial and industrial and trash incineration (Rooney et al., 2012). Besides Harmattan dust
activity. Ghana EPA and U.S. EPA estimated annual average PM2.5 and sea spray, key pollution sources include vehicle emissions, tire
concentrations in Accra in 2014; Figure 3.3 shows how those data and brake wear, and road dust (Zhou et al., 2013; 2014). Household
vary geographically with lighter areas representing higher concentra- sources affect the wider community and ambient emissions find their
tions. The right-most white spot on the map corresponds to the South way into the home, causing overlap between AAP and HAP-related
Industrial Area and Agbogbloshie scrapyard/e-waste site. Polycyclic mortality. In Accra, solid biomass combustion comprises 39-62 per-
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), emitted in e-waste combustion, have cent of HAP, but also 15-42 percent of AAP. Traffic emissions are
demonstrated the ability to travel as far as northern Accra, the coast, associated with 12-33 percent of in-home exposure (Zhou et al., 2014).
and beyond (Feldt et al., 2013) (See Chapter 5: E-waste). The left-most
white spot corresponds to Dansoman, Accra’s most heavily populated
neighborhood. The coastal area, another hotspot, is where many
poorer neighborhoods—James Town, Ussher Town, Lavender Hill,
Chorkor—are located (See Box 3.1). .

19
TABLE 3.1: Annual mortality burden attributed to AAP/HAP, by age (Estimates by authors).

Age
AAP 0-4 5-14 15-49 50-69 70+ Total

Ischemic heart disease 0 0 269 788 694 1,752

Stroke 0 0 296 680 507 1,483

Chronic obstructive pulmonary 0 0 59 172 208 439

disease
Lung cancer 0 0 14 73 53 141

Lower respiratory infection 543 56 517 915 1,065 3,096

Diabetes Mellitus 2 19 129 123 271

Total 543 56 1,174 2,758 2,650 7,182

HAP 0-4 5-14 15-49 50-69 70+ Total

Ischemic heart disease 0 0 302 860 845 2,008

Stroke 0 0 361 713 584 1,659

COPD 0 0 73 216 261 550

Lung cancer 0 0 20 99 71 190

Lower respiratory infection 691 71 657 1,163 1,354 4,130

Diabetes Mellitus 2 21 142 136 299

Total 691 71 1,434 3,193 3,252 8,835

AP (AAP+HAP) 1,234 127 2,608 5,951 5,902 16,017

Plumes of smoke from a rural kitchen.

Curt Carnemark / World Bank

3. Air Pollution  20
 TABLE 3.2: PM concentrations in Accra vs. air quality guidelines (Various authors).

ACCRA PM CONCENTRATIONS (ΜG/M3) AIR QUALITY GUIDELINES (ΜG/M3)

WHO (2005) Ghana EPA

PM2.5 PM10 Source PM2.5 PM10 PM10

Baseline 20-40 60-90 Arku et al. (2008)

Roadside locations 40-50 80-110 Dionisio et al.

(2010)

Residential areas 30-70 60-110 Dionisio et al.

(2010)

24-hour means 300-800 600-1200 Dionisio et al. 25 50 70

(2010)

Annual means 50-350 Ghana EPA (2017) 10 20

FIGURE 3.2: Premature deaths (top) and illness (bottom, in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) associated with
air pollution risk in Ghana (Global Burden of Disease database).

2,000

1,800

1,600

1,400

1,200
Deaths (2017)

1,000

800

600

400

200

0
5 - a rs

rs
7 - ays

1 - a ys
6 4 ys

s
9 s

4 s

9 s

4 s

9 s

4 s

9 s

4 s
-5 ars

4 s

9 s

4 s

9 s
s

9
9 5 -94
ar
r

r
ar

-8

-8
1 5 ye a

20 ea

2 5 ye a

3 0 ye a

3 5 ye a

4 0 ye a

4 5 ye a

5 0 ye a

6 0 ye a

6 5 ye a

7 0 ye a

7 5 ye a
1 0 yea
2 8 da

ye

ye
e

ye
d

80

85

90
y

y
6
27

+
0-

-1

-1

-2

-2

-3

-3

-4

-4

-5

-6

-6

-7

-7
-3

55

Age

21
 60,000

50,000

40,000
DALYs (2017)

30,000

20,000

10,000

0
1 - a ys
6 4 ys

s
-1 rs

-2 rs

-2 rs

-3 rs

-3 rs

-4 rs

-4 rs

-5 rs

-5 rs

-6 rs

-6 rs

-7 rs

-7 rs

s
5 - a rs

-1 rs
7 - ays

9
9 5 94
ar
ar

-8

-8
1 5 ye a

2 0 ye a

2 5 ye a

3 0 ye a

3 5 ye a

4 0 ye a

4 5 ye a

5 0 ye a

5 5 ye a

6 0 ye a

6 5 ye a

7 0 ye a

7 5 ye a
1 0 yea
2 8 da

-
ye
ye
d
ye

80

85

90
d
27
6

+
4

9
0-

-3

An estimated 20.5 million Ghanaians—over 70 percent of the popu- sub-Saharan Africa, while findings particular to Accra hold that they
lation—burn solid fuels, like fuelwood, charcoal, and dung, in their are up to one-third of AAP (Chafe et al., 2014; Zhou et al., 2014).
homes for cooking and heating. Households use open fires or inef-
ficient cookstoves—often in confined, poorly ventilated spaces— FIGURE 3.3: Estimated spatial distribution of annual
that generate PM2.5 pollution. Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) (2015) average PM2.5 concentrations in Accra for 2014
reported that over half of urban households and 90 percent of rural (MESTI, 2014).
households use solid fuel for cooking (Table 3.3). Since 2005 Ghana
has reduced, by over 20 percent, the proportion of the population
using solid fuels (HEI, 2019). Clean cookstove interventions and gov-
ernment programs to support liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distribu-
tion have played a key role in this transition (Box 3.2).

HAP contributes directly to Ghana’s disease burden but is also a

major source of AAP. The cooking area in many compounds does not
have closed walls or windows, so often exposure is not technically
indoors. As these emissions disperse into the neighborhood, they
serve as both a direct health risk through HAP and a contributor to the
health risk associated with AAP. One regional estimate holds that such
emissions contribute approximately 10 percent of AAP across western
The lighter the color the higher the PM concentration.

TABLE 3.3: Fuel used by households in Ghana (DHS, 2016; Van Vliet, 2016; Van Donkelaar, et al., 2016)

Location Population that uses solid fuel Population that does not use solid fuel

Accra 1.6 million 2 million

Other Urban 7.4 million 5 million

Rural 11.5 million 1.3 million

Average household PM2.5 concentration 128 µg/m3 45-50 µg/m3

3. Air Pollution  22
 Box 3.1: Distributional effects of air pollution in Accra

Research suggests that poor health from air pollution expo-

sure is not equally distributed across a city. Studies have
found significant differences in road conditions, traffic pat-
terns, and fuel use between affluent and poorer neighbor-
hoods, which have an impact on ambient pollution levels and
disease burden. Zhou et al. (2013) made measurements in
four different neighborhoods that lie on a line from the coast
to Accra’s northern boundaries (see figure). James Town and
Nima are densely populated low-income communities where
most residents use biomass for cooking at home and for
street food. Fewer people use biomass in Asylum Down, a
middle-class neighborhood, and East Legon, an upper class,
low-density neighborhood where families live on large plots of
land in modern low-rise homes. Zhou et al. (2013) found sea salt aerosol and crustal material (Saharan dust) predictably distributed,
with larger contributions of sea salt at southern sites (near the ocean) and dust at northern sites. They also found biomass smoke
contributed more particle pollution in poorer neighborhoods, where the density of households using biomass fuels was substantially
higher than in affluent areas. Road dust and traffic aerosols were more significant at the two sites near traffic routes, one a busy
road in Nima, the other in Asylum Down, which is bordered by the highly trafficked Ring Road. A final source for fine particles, likely
from burning solid waste, was identified in all neighborhoods except East Legon, where there is regular trash collection. This source
was largest in James Town where old tires and trash are commonly burned.

Source: Zhou et al., 2013.

It appears that rural areas are also experiencing dangerously high this may not be the case for long. AAP is estimated to cost US$264
levels of air pollution. Testing conducted in Navrongo, Upper East million dollars/year alone in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana’s two largest
Region, at the town’s periphery gave lower ambient PM2.5 concentra- cities (Figure 3.4).
tions than at the roadside, suggesting that the relationship between
road proximity and ambient concentrations holds in urban and rural
locations. Exposure to CO, a key indicator of HAP-related health 3.3 Air Pollution Governance Framework and Analysis
outcomes, was greatest in households near city centers, dropping
off in increasingly rural areas. On the other hand, exposure to car- Ghana has piecemeal laws, regulations, and policies related to
bonaceous PM2.5—black carbon and organic carbon suspended in improved air quality and reduced GHG emissions, but no overarch-
air—was higher in rural households (Van Vliet et al., 2013; Ofosu ing policy on air quality management (AQM). The need for air quality
et al., 2013; Piedrahita et al., 2017). This may be explained by the management was defined in the Environmental Protection Agency
higher prevalence of LPG and charcoal, which emit less PM2.5, in more Act 1994 (Act 490) and the Environmental Assessment Regulations,
centralized households or the greater role of non-cooking sources (1999) (L.I. 1652). The National Environmental Sanitation Strategy
in overall air pollution exposure in cities. and Action Plan (2010) supported actions to prevent open burning of
municipal and agricultural waste. The 2014 National Environmental
Policy reiterated the call for improved AQM through a comprehensive
3.2 Economics of Air Pollution in Ghana National Air Quality Policy and concurrent compliance monitoring
system. In 2018, Ghana developed a National Action Plan (NAP) to
Annual total air pollution in Ghana has an estimated average cost combat emissions of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, identifying and
equivalent to 4.2 percent of 2017 GDP, or about US$2.5 billion (Table prioritizing policy options to adopt.
3.4). AAP, estimated at US$1.1 billion is currently less costly than HAP
by about US$250 million/year, but increasing urbanization means

23
 Box 3.2: Multiple benefits of clean cooking in China

Ghana has experience with clean cooking interventions through several LPG cookstove distribution programs supported by the
Ministry of Energy and Petroleum. Associated research has documented the benefits for reducing exposure but has not investigated
other development advances that can be achieved by providing access to modern fuels. A case study in China, for example, showed
that a scenario to provide a 20 percent public subsidy between 2015 and 2020 for fuel-efficient, lower-emitting cookstoves and solar
cookers, and subsequent unsubsidized sales through 2030, resulted in cleaner cookstoves for all rural poor and was estimated to
have the following benefits:

● Lives saved: Over one million from avoided premature deaths due to AAP, with a value of US$1.5 trillion; more lives are saved
if considering the health impacts from reductions in HAP emissions;

● Jobs created: about 22,000;

● Energy saved: 545 million gigajoules (GJ) reduced coal use and 5,400 million GJ biomass use;

● CO2e emissions reduced: 49 million tons, valued at US$1.5 billion based on a social cost of carbon of US$34/tCO2e in 2010,
rising to US$55/tCO2e in 2030;

● Macroeconomic benefits: US$10.7 billion between 2015-2030 (largely due to economic impact of fuel savings).

While the benefit categories in Ghana may be somewhat different, there is likely to be a similar range that should all be considered
when weighing the cost effectiveness of a given intervention. As of January 2020, one Ghanaian cedi (GHS) was equal to approximately US$0.18.

Source: World Bank and ClimateWorks Foundation, 2014.

TABLE 3.4: Estimated annual cost (billion US$) of AAP and HAP-related health effects in Ghana, 2017 (Estimates
by authors).

Urban (US$ Rural (US$ Total (US$

Location Cost estimate 2017 GDP equivalent
billion) billion) billion)

Total AAP High 1.1 0.6 1.6 2.8%

Low 0.4 0.2 0.6 1.0%

Average 0.7 0.4 1.1 1.9%

Total HAP High 0.9 1.1 2.0 3.4%

Low 0.3 0.4 0.7 1.2%

Average 0.6 0.8 1.4 2.3%

Total AP High 1.9 1.7 3.7 6.2%

Low 0.7 0.6 1.3 2.2%

Average 1.3 1.2 2.5 4.2%

3. Air Pollution  24
 The main agency responsible for AQM is the EPA. EPA’s air quality 3.4 Gaps and Challenges
monitoring activities are geared toward: (1) improving coordination
of all activities to monitor atmospheric air quality, (2) scientific deter- Cross-sectoral coordination. Successful AQM planning requires
mination of levels of various air pollutants resulting from natural and strong coordination between relevant ministries, departments, and
anthropogenic sources, and (3) developing enforceable air quality agencies (MDAs), as well as external organizations. This level of
standards and regulations to improve air quality and protect human inter-agency, multi-stakeholder coordination requires commitment,
health. resources, and leadership at the highest levels of government. For
example, the EPA is attempting to strengthen the regulation of vehicle
AQM planning aligns with Ghana’s Nationally Determined emission standards. The Ministry of Transportation (MoT), Ministry
Contributions (NDC) goals, submitted under the 2015 Paris Climate of Finance and Economic Planning (MoF), and private sector trade
Agreement. The GoG will seek to reduce GHG emissions by at least associations and industries all have a part in supporting regulations to
15 percent below a “business as usual” baseline scenario, which ensure compliant fuel supplies, vehicle inspection and maintenance
projects national emissions to be 73.95 MtCO2eq in 2030. Targets programs, alternative transportation choices, and active enforcement
are to be achieved broadly, but primarily focused in the energy and through increased vehicle checks and fines. Similarly, solid waste
waste sectors with non-emission targets in the transportation as well collection and disposal initiatives requires public-private partnerships
as forestry sectors (MESTI, 2015). The commitments are directly in that span multiple government agencies and private sector partners.
line with air quality goals given that several of the energy, transpor- Currently, there is no such coordination mechanism in place.
tation, and solid waste targets are among the chief sources of air
pollution. Forestry sector targets are indirectly linked to air pollution
since wood fuel contributes to emissions. Another of Ghana’s NDC’s
goals is to reduce hydrofluorocarbons emissions from retired heating/
cooling equipment.

Several ongoing projects demonstrate how investment and lending

can be aligned with an AQM/multiple benefits agenda (Table 3.5).

FIGURE 3.4: Estimated AAP cost per year by urban area (Estimates by authors).

$500
$448
$450
$400

$350
$300
US$, million

$250

$200
$161
$150
$103
$100
$50
$-
Accra Kumasi Other urban areas

25
 Box 3.3: Air pollution at the Tema roundabout

Many women work at Tema Roundabout, a large traffic circle located halfway Accra and Tema. Two years ago, Georgina, a 30-year-
old single mother from Western Region, moved with her five children to a home 100 meters from this bustling crossroads. Georgina
sets up a wooden table next to the pavement and sells kenkey (fermented cornmeal) and fish to passers-by, working from 6 a.m.
to 11 p.m. After school her children join her to help with the family enterprise. Georgina sets her table up seven days a week but
makes only 20 cedis a day (less than US$4). Jennifer and Janet are “hawkers” who weave in between cars, buses, and trucks sell-
ing plantain chips and water sachets to hot and dusty road travelers. Both in their twenties and hailing from Central and Northern
Regions, respectively, they live in Ashaiman, a sprawling, densely populated, impoverished neighborhood 30 km away. They earn
more money plying the roadway than in agriculture (Jennifer) or selling eggs (Janet).

Asked about any ill health effects from working so close to a highly trafficked highway that sees near constant traffic jams, the three
women complain of “catching cold,” although Georgina believes this is due to the weather. Janet, who has also been working at the
roundabout for two years, complains of severe headaches, sneezing, and a lingering cough. The headaches are daily and cause her
great distress due to their severity. Georgina too complains of near constant headaches and chest pains, observing that they seem
worse when the dust and fume concentrations are higher, although she says that she is habituated to the sour smell of exhaust.
Jennifer gets the occasional headache, but she has only been working at the roundabout for two months. The three agree that the
dust coming from a nearby construction site is very bad and, combined with the black smoke and exhaust fumes they are exposed
to all day long, can cause severe pain.

Janet, Jennifer, and Georgina try not to think about the effects the air may be having on them, but they find themselves going to the
pharmacy often to buy painkillers. Recently, Georgina had to go to the clinic to get a CAT scan due to her continuing chest pain. She
could not afford to stay because admission costs GHS2,000, 100 times her daily earnings.

TABLE 3.5: Selected air quality improvement projects

Project title, location Development partners;

Activity
(duration) Government partners

Greater Accra Open burning of municipal solid waste is a major source of pollution in GAMA. The World Bank; Ghana Water
Metropolitan Area US$150 million project is focused on improving service delivery in the wake of the Company Ltd., Ministry
(GAMA) Sanitation and 1993 GoG decentralization reform. This sectoral program attempts to increase of Sanitation and Water
Water Project, Greater access to improved sanitation and improved water supply in the GAMA by coor- Resources
Accra (2013-2020) dinating municipal entities.

Transport Sector This US$150 million project aims to improve regional connectivity with the central World Bank; MoF, Ministry of
Improvement Project, part of Togo and improve road infrastructure supporting ongoing agricultural Transport, Ministry of Roads
Northern Ghana development and improve accessibility in one of the poorest agricultural produc- and Highways
(2017-2023) tion areas of Northern Ghana. The Ghana Poverty and Inequality Profile (June
2015) shows a high correlation between the presence of road infrastructure
and poverty rates.

Urban Health and Short- The initiative aims to mobilize the health sector in support of policy action to WHO; MESTI/EPA, Ministry of
Lived Climate Pollution mitigate climate change and air pollution. It emphasizes the health risks of air Health/Ghana Health Service
(SLCP) Reduction Project, pollution and climate change to the public and other economic sectors with the
Accra (2017 - Present) hope of compelling constituencies and policy makers to act.

3. Air Pollution  26
 Increased data. The lack of quality data on pollution and its cost ● Maintain collaboration with Nigeria and other Economic
exacerbates the challenges of building a case to allocate public budget Community of West African States countries to reduce vehicle
to AQM. Relatedly, there is need for capacity enhancement to assess emissions: setting limits for sulfur in fuels at <50 ppm 39(MESTI)
the nature and severity of air pollution. Quantifying the contribution
● Lower import duties on environmentally-friendly cars; raise
to pollution from various sources will help determine AQM priorities.
duties on higher-emission secondhand vehicles (MoF/GRA40)
The EPA has laid the foundational step of establishing an air quality
monitoring network, which collects data from over a dozen locations ● Transition away from solid biofuels; establish HAP guidelines
throughout Accra and its environs. As of now, the monitoring network for clean cookstoves to regulate residential combustion levels
lacks ability to track key gaseous pollutants. Further progress will (MESTI/EPA, MoTI41)
require advancing the network’s level of sophistication and scaling-up
● Analyze causes and effects of trash burning in Accra, other
beyond the Accra metropolis.
major urban areas and develop suitable policies and mecha-
nisms to prohibit/control it; encourage public-private part-
nerships to finance municipal services for waste collection,
3.5 Recommendations to Improve Air Quality
disposal, recycling (MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs, MSWR)

3.5.1 Short-term (1-2 years)

3.5.3 Long-term (5+ years)
● Improve enforcement of existing air pollution regulations
(MESTI/EPA) ● Improve understanding of air pollution sources; work with
universities, research institutes to use existing expertise and
● Finalize the draft AQM policy (Cabinet, MESTI)
build future capacity for analysis of pollution issues (MESTI)
● Create a multi-stakeholder platform to coordinate AQM
● Provide sustained funding to hire/retain qualified staff to
planning across public, private, non-profit sectors (Cabinet)
deliver on AQM goals (MESTI, MoF)
● Reinforce/recruit staff with proper training and expertise in
● Mainstream and coordinate AQM policy planning, implementa-
AQM to document levels of air pollution, monitor trends, and
tion, and enforcement across national, regional, local levels of
quantify improvements (MESTI/EPA)
Government (MDAs42 , MLGRD/MMDAs)
● Make the case for clean air policies as an avenue to protect
● Quantify air pollution costs and AQM benefits using natural
human capital and develop economic opportunities (MESTI/EPA)
capital accounting (at macroeconomic level) and cost-benefit
● Establish a robust data management system that can support analysis (at project level) to target priority sectors for action
decision-making and provide information to the public on (MESTI, MoF)
when to take self-protective measures (MESTI/EPA)
● Given the high personal exposures observed in households
● Support behavior change communication that helps households, using solid biomass fuels, provide air quality monitoring in rural
especially women, to adopt practices that reduce health risks settings to address HAP (Wiedinmyer et al., 2017) (MESTI/EPA)
from HAP (MESTI/EPA)
● Impose sufficient distances between industrial, commercial,
residential zones in city planning (MESTI/LUSPA43, MLGRD/
3.5.2 Medium-term (2-5 years) MMDAs)

● Bolster the institutional framework in a way that facilitates ● Design LPG cookstove interventions for rural and urban
achievement of AQM policy objectives, e.g. creation of a “Clean communities; study supply chains and market conditions to
Air Czar/Commissioner” (Cabinet, MESTI) identify incentives for LPG distribution companies and clean
cookstove manufacturers/suppliers; target subsidies to transi-
● Enhance AQM regulatory and enforcement authority of the EPA tion away from solid biomass fuel use; employ results-based
(Parliament, MESTI) financing to reach program goals (e.g. World Bank, 2016)
● Author HAP/AAP guidelines, regulations, by-laws that account (MESTI, MoTI)
for socioeconomic and cultural differences across neighborhoods
and rural/urban settings (Parliament, MLGRD/MMDAs38)

38. MLGRD = Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; 41. MoTI = Ministry of Trade and Industry.
MMDAs = Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.
42. MDAs = Ministries, Departments, Agencies.
39. Setting limits for sulfur in fuels at 50 ppm or lower (by 2020) will
enable Ghana to follow through on the 2015 Transportation Policy
43. LUSPA = Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority, an agency of
Roadmap, which calls for adopting EURO emission standards for
MESTI.
automobiles and diesel trucks.

40. MoF = Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning; GRA = Ghana

Revenue Authority
27
Boy removes plastic waste caught
in a fishing net, west of Accra.
Ulrich Doering / Alamy Stock Photo

3. Air Pollution  28
 4
29
4. Plastic Pollution
4.1 Plastic Waste in Ghanaian Society over 30,000 MT of municipal solid waste are generated each day.
Of this waste only 14 percent is collected; 38 percent is dumped in
open spaces set aside as informal dumps; 24 percent is deposited at
Plastics are an integral and ubiqui- “community containers”; nine percent is dumped indiscriminately; 11
tous component to human life and percent is burned in the open; and four percent is buried (GSS, 2013).
economic activity. Consequently, Spatial disparities in access to waste management services exist
more and more plastic ends up as between regions, as well as between rural and urban areas. Without
waste. In Ghana, over 3,000 metric effective alternatives more than four out of every five households
tons (MT) of plastic waste is generated improperly dispose of their wastes, including plastics.
every day—equivalent to 1.1 million MT
per year—comprising 10-14 percent The result is widespread environmental and urban pollution, which
HYE WON HYE
of the municipal solid waste stream has become commonplace in nearly every community in Ghana over
(“that which does not
(Troutman and Aseidu-Dankwah, the past 20 years. Packaging plastics serve as a primary component
burn”): Imperishability,
2017; Miezah et al., 2015) (Table 4.1). of increasing accumulations of improperly disposed wastes, resulting
endurance
in environmental degradation and contributing to disasters, especially
An estimated 86 percent of Ghana’s flooding and cholera outbreaks. Even when rain conditions are insuf-
waste plastic load, roughly 2,500 MT/ ficient to cause flooding, drains clogged with a mixture of plastics,
day or 1 million MT/year, is mismanaged. This challenge may be placed organics, and water become an inviting habitat for disease-carrying
in the context of the overarching waste management system, in which vectors such as mosquitos and rats, posing threats to public health.

Table 4.1: Plastic waste generation in Ghana, by plastic grade (Troutman and Aseidu-Dankwah, 2017; Miezah et al., 2015).

Plastic type Examples Distribution, by Daily (MT) Annually (MT)

grade (%)
LDPE (film) Black/white (transparent)/other color 25.31 760 277,145
carrier bags
(Low density polyethylene)
PET Soft drink and water bottles; oven-ready 23.00 690 251,850
meal trays
(Polyethylene terephthalate)
HDPE Bottles for milk and washing-up liquids; 19.19 576 210,131
garden chairs; buckets
(High-density polyethylene)
PP (rigid) (Polypropylene) Bottle lids, disposable cups, cutlery 10.61 318 116,180

PS (Polystyrene) Yogurt pots, carryout trays, hamburger 3.75 113 41,066

boxes, egg cartons, vending cups, cutlery,
protective packaging for electronics, toys
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) Food trays, cling film, bottles for squash, 4.31 129 47,195
mineral water, shampoo
Other Any other plastic in consumer waste 13.83 415 151,439
stream (e.g. textiles, shoes, electronic
enclosures)
14% of municipal solid waste 3,000 1,095,000

4. Plastic Pollution  30
 The impact on air pollution can be significant given that 11 percent of organisms that are at the base of the food chain, exaggerating bioac-
Ghana’s waste is burned. Burning plastics releases toxic substances cumulation and bioamplification phenomena.
and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Air
pollutants are available for environmental and human exposure via Once in the ecological food chain, the chemicals derived from plastics
many pathways, including inhalation, dermal exposure, and ingestion bioaccumulate in the food web, finding pathways into the human
of contaminated food and water. Health effects include decreased diet. Plastics and especially chemicals associated with plastics are
immune function, cataracts, kidney and liver damage, breathing prob- known to have many adverse effects on the food web, including
lems, asthma-like symptoms, lung function abnormalities, skin inflam- inhibition of plant growth, broken nutrient pathways, animals chok-
mation, and increased risk of cancers of the skin, lung, bladder, and ing and foraging, and chemical uptake in both plant and animals
gastrointestinal organs (Verma et al., 2016; North and Halden, 2013). (NetEnrich, 2015). Of importance are persistent organic pollutants
(POPs) associated with chemical fertilizer and pesticide use in agricul-
Mismanaged plastics are strewn across the landscape, where they ture. Plastics—especially microplastics and nanoplastics—are known
either directly or indirectly migrate to stormwater drains, rivers, and to have a high affinity for POPs (Koelmans et al., 2013). These find-
streams and eventually the ocean. Estimates for Ghana’s contribu- ings, in connection with ingestion of plastics by fish consumed by
tion to global marine debris range from approximately 92,000 MT humans and pathways for chemical contamination from plastics to
to 260,000 MT every year, or one to three percent of the global fish to human are problematic.
total. Without comprehensive interventions, marine debris inputs are
expected to soar in excess of 350,000 MT/year by 2025 (Jambeck
et al., 2015; Troutman and Asiedu-Dankwah, 2017). Impacts include
entanglement and ingestion by wildlife, alteration of habitats, and 4.2 Economics of Plastics in Ghana
the transport of alien species. Freshwater environments are also
vulnerable to many of the hazards that plastics pose to the marine Since the turn of the 21st century, plastics have become a large,
environment. ever-growing proportion of packaging applications. In Ghana, this
has resulted in a burgeoning domestic plastics industry. From 1996
Fragmented plastic pieces, both micro and nanoplastics, are so small to 2010, local plastics manufacturing grew from 20 companies to
they can be absorbed by plants and animals and bioaccumulate 895; those companies directly employ 147,410 people, mostly in the
up the food web. Once in the food web, micro and nanoplastics Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area (Adama-Tettey, 2012). The plastics
particles enter the cells of all living organisms including humans value-chain includes imports, manufacture of semi-finished and fin-
and wildlife, amplifying most of the ecotoxilogical impacts (Revel et ished goods, retail, waste generation, waste management, plastics
al., 2018; Kershaw and Rochman, 2015). Microplastics are fragments collection, recycling, and exports (Figure 4.1). Plastics in Ghana are
less than 5 mm produced from the weathering of larger plastics or imported as either virgin pellets or finished products. Importers of
deposited directly, such as microbeads used in cosmetics, and are virgin pellets also manufacture semi-finished goods such as bottles
found in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems (Rochman, and lids for the food and beverage industry. Fast-moving consumer
2018). Nanoplastics are nano-sized particles (< 1 μm), that are now goods manufacturers are mostly represented by multinational cor-
found ubiquitously in the environment and are a significant threat to porations. Retail is predominantly carried out in the informal sector
the environment and human health (Revel et al., 2018). The reduced by micro-enterprises, a sector characteristically difficult to regulate.
size of these particulates makes them susceptible to ingestion by

FIGURE 4.1: Plastics value chain

31
Growth in imported finished products (e.g. prepared food) and semi- new group of recyclers in Ghana is emerging that transforms waste
finished goods (e.g. flexible plastics used in packaging) has outpaced plastic materials into innovative, high-value products, including diesel
domestic plastic manufacturing. All plastics in Ghana originate from fuel, fishing rope and nets, affordable housing building panels, high-
foreign sources, imported mainly from Asia and Europe (GSS, 2014). value furniture, and asphalt road modification. In the past decade,
2009-2013 trade data from the GSS (2014)44 showed 265 percent conventional recycling has been used to transform waste high-density
growth in polyethelene (PE) raw imports, 333 percent growth in plas- polyethylene into low-value products, like single-use carrier bags, in a
tics and 304 percent growth in prepared foods, which are typically process referred to as “down-cycling.” Formal sector waste manage-
packaged in flexible plastic films. In context, total imports grew by 275 ment service providers are interested in diversifying their business
percent (Table 4.2). In the flexible packaging sector, the Ghana Plastics models to include higher levels of plastics recovery. However, the
Manufacturers Association reports annual production of 27,000 MT sector is impeded by a limited domestic market for recyclables and
of flexible packaging and imports of 120,000 MT of plastic films. insufficient national and regional collaboration to achieve the econo-
Waste characterization studies over the same data period (2014-2017) mies of scale necessary to generate the high tonnages demanded
estimate that 275,000 MT of flexible plastic films are discarded every by international markets (Authors’ interviews).
year, which suggests that 55 percent of all flexible plastics in Ghana
are imported as a finished product (GSS, 2014).

Two to five percent of plastic waste in Ghana is collected for recycling

and more than 95 percent of all waste plastics recovered for recycling
are recovered by the informal sector. (Adama Tettey, 2012). Most
collection for recycling involves thin-film plastic sachets for drinking
water, which is transformed into reusable shopping bags. Waste pick-
ers recover plastics from streets and markets, scavenge at landfills
and dumpsites, or offer micro-enterprise door-to-door services in
many communities. Presently, Ghana’s market for recycled plastics
is demand-driven, with supply substantially outweighing needs. A

Table 4.2: Imports by Section, 2009-2013 (Adapted from GSS, 2014).

Sector 2009, million GHS 2013, million GHS Growth (%)

Prepared food 496.0 1,509.4 304

Plastics and articles thereof 470.9 1,360.5 333

PE having a specific gravity > 0.94, in primary 79.5 210.8 265

form

Total Imports 9,087.7 25,001.7 275

44. Most recent data publicly available.

4. Plastic Pollution  32
 4.3 Economics of Plastics in Ghana

There are several national institutions and private organizations whose Act 863, the Customs and Excise (Duties and Other Taxes) (Amendment)
mandates and activities touch—and overlap—on waste management Act (2013), known as the Environmental Tax, places an excise duty
issues (including plastics). Principally, plastics waste management is of 10 percent of the ex-factory price of select plastics. Proceeds are
shared by three ministries—MESTI; Ministry of Local Government and intended for the Plastic Waste Recycling Fund. Act 863 is defunct
Rural Development (MLGRD); and Ministry of Sanitation and Water because the Fund has not been set up, although virgin plastic gran-
Resources (MSWR). The overlapping mandates create redundancies ules have been taxed at the seaport since the Act was brought into
and delays in efficient planning and governance. Lack of direction in force. Furthermore, as only virgin plastic granules—used notably by
policy setting and implementation and a lack of resources are factors domestic manufacturers—have been subjected to the excise duty,
have contributed to challenges in plastic pollution management. there has been an influx of cheaper imported products (e.g. single-use
carrier bags) able to easily outcompete local production.
In 2007 the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development
published an ambitious and holistic Environmental Sanitation Policy45. In 2015 MESTI published a directive that “all flexible plastics pro-
The Policy’s main theme is “Materials in Transition (MINT).” MINTing duced in the country will have bio-degradable additive added to
is a philosophy of creating awareness to change public attitudes them to make them bio-degradable for easy management.” Use of
toward handling and disposal of all types of waste by demonstrating oxo-biodegradable plastics (OXOs) have been proposed as a solu-
that there remains economic value in waste components. MINTing tion to the global problem of plastic pollution, as they are meant to
aims to create “green collar” jobs and has the potential to reduce degrade in the presence of oxygen more quickly than regular plastic.
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies’ (MMDAs) waste However, they have also received widespread criticism and caution
management costs. The policy has seven broad and cross-cutting due to fears they may actually worsen the problem.
focal areas: (1) capacity development; (2) information, education
and communication; (3) legislation and regulation; (4) sustainable MESTI released a draft National Plastics Management Policy in early
financing and cost recovery; (5) levels of service; (6) research and 2018. The Policy is designed to bring cohesion and clear account-
development; and (7) monitoring and evaluation. ability to all plastics-related issues. It aligns with the objectives set
out in the Environmental Sanitation Policy, attempting to translate
An associated National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action them into detailed activities that are actionable and measurable (Box
Plan is robust and comprehensive in scope but neglects to define 4.1). At the time of this report, the National Plastics Management
roles, responsibilities, and activities with the level of detail neces- Policy and associated Implementation Plan were under review by
sary for implementation. Consequently, although the Environmental the Presidential Cabinet.
Sanitation Policy provides a strong mandate for sustainable develop-
ment and plastics management, the framework for action is ineffec-
tive and little progress has been made in implementing the Policy over
the past 10 years. Lack of accountability, coordination, and strategic
planning have been principal causes leading to its failure.

45. The Policy was revised in 2009.

33
A pile of trash discarded on the roadside,
Ada Foah, Volta Region.
Neja Hrovat / Shutterstock

Box 4.1: Pillars of the plastics management policy

The Plastics Management Policy is organized by five focal areas 3. Accelerate innovation and transition toward a circular
and seventeen strategic actions: economy
1. Encourage behavior change toward sustainable plastics 3.07. Promote local research and development (R&D) in
management plastic management
1.01. Establish a national communications and education 3.08. Encourage and support locally-appropriate technolo-
strategy gies and service models
1.02. Update school curriculum and infrastructure 3.09. Establish a plastics trading platform and resource
locator
1.03. Encourage alterative materials
4. Deploy means for resource mobilization
2. Facilitate strategic planning and cross-sectoral
collaboration 4.10. Develop a resource mobilization strategy
2.04. Establish collection, recovery, recycling and re- 4.11. Establish a certification trading system and database
manufacturing targets
4.12. Establish an extended producer responsibility
2.05. Develop national, regional, district, and local action scheme
plans
4.13. Institute the Environmental Tax Regime (Act 863)
2.06. Mandate Plastics Waste Management Plans for
5. Support good governance, inclusiveness, and shared
Institutions and Industry
accountability
5.14. Establish green public procurement standards
5.16. Develop a robust regulatory framework
5.17. Establish a mechanism for phasing out most hazard-
ous plastics grades and product applications
Source: Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, 2019

4. Plastic Pollution  34
 TABLE 4.3: Selected projects dealing with plastics/urban waste pollution.

Project title, location Activity Development partners;

(duration) Government partners

The US$55.6 million GASSLIP Project aims to increase access to safe and
Greater Accra Sustainable sustainable sanitation to the residents of the Greater Accra Metropolitan
Sanitation and Livelihoods Area (GAMA), targeting the urban and peri-urban poor. It provides domestic
Improvement Project and municipal level sanitation infrastructure, support skills development and AfDB; MSWR
(GASSLIP) Greater Accra, livelihood improvements, and enhances the capacity of sanitation service
(2017-2022) providers and local government to better deliver and manage climate-resilient
sanitation services.

The US$15 million project—funded by Norway and divided between Ghana and
Promoting the Bangladesh—is designed to support implementation of the Basel Convention
Environmentally Sound on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Norwegian Agency for
Management of Plastic Disposal. The project seeks to strengthen capacity to control transboundary Development Cooperation,
Wastes and Achieving the movements of plastic waste, ensure environmentally sound management Secretariat of the Basel
Prevention and Minimization of plastic waste, and prevent and minimize the generation of plastic waste. Convention; MESTI/EPA
of the Generation of Plastic It will do this by addressing issues related to infrastructure, plastic waste
Wastes (2018-2021) management regulations and institutions, national inventories, and strong
presence of the informal sector.

GPAP will support Ghana to transition to a circular plastics economy, reducing

Ghana Plastic Action the country's plastic waste and pollution. Ghana’s National Plastic Action
Partnership (GPAP), nation- Partnership convenes stakeholders to develop a national plastic waste road- UNDP; MESTI
wide, (2019 -) map; it is built on three strategic pillars: curating knowledge and insights;
driving implementation and action plans; and catalyzing strategic investment.

Greater Accra Resilient and The US$200 million project seeks to improve flood risk and solid waste manage-
Integrated Development ment in the Odaw River Basin and improve access to basic infrastructure and World Bank; MWH, MSWR,
(GARID) Project, Greater services in targeted communities there. Specifically, GARID aims at reducing MICZD46 , MLGRD
Accra, (2019-2025) the amount of solid waste, including plastics, flowing into the primary Odaw
channel.

4.3.1 Gaps and Challenges and recycling sector despite utilizing capital intensive, low-efficiency
conventional models that are not well suited to the context in Ghana.
Market inefficiencies. Financial issues and a limited market for waste In contrast, the informal sector performs 95 percent of waste plastics
plastics are major challenges to sustainable and effective plastics recovery yet receives little support or incentives to improve, clean-up,
waste management. Stakeholders consistently explain that the lack or expand operations.
of financing across the plastics value chain is the most limiting fac-
tor for improving the waste phase of plastic management (Authors’ Non-execution of Act 863. The inoperability of Act 863 (2013) is
interviews). Financial issues include a shortage of capital, high rates of a matter of great contention amongst stakeholders (Authors’ inter-
pending debt from both the Government and clients, and continually views). That the Plastic Waste Recycling Fund has not been actualized
dropping prices paid for waste plastics. In addition, operating costs since the Act’s passage, resulting in several billion cedis of foregone
for fuel, electricity, and water continue to rise. Moreover, the formal revenue for remediation projects, remains a sore point for those
sector receives the vast majority of investments in the plastic recovery involved in plastic waste collection and recycling, who feel entitled

46. MICZD = Ministry of Inner-Cities and Zongo Development

35
to financial support for their activities and are among the stakehold- for different scales of operations, to promote private sector-led
ers involved in plastics manufacturing who are often blamed for the initiatives in plastic reuse (MESTI, MoTI)
state of plastic pollution and threatened with having their products
banned if they do not resolve the situation. Manufacturers believe 4.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)
such resolution is outside of their function or responsibility.
● Establish a unitary, cross-sectoral body, such as a secretariat, to
hold authority for making and implementing plastic management
Problems with the Directive on OXO-biodegradable plastics.
policies and that can be held accountable to and continuously
The directive requiring use of OXO additives in certain plastics is
engage with relevant MDAs, the private sector, academia, and
a potential cause for concern, as current science does not conclu-
civil society groups to harmonize plastic pollution control efforts
sively support claims made by their manufacturers. Questions about
into a cohesive, holistic, strategy and action plan (Cabinet))
the efficacy of OXOs as a solution to plastic pollution and littering
include: (1) lack of scientific data on biodegradation presently in use; ● Dedicate budgetary resources—personnel, equipment, moti-
(2) lack of evidence on the impact to shelf life of products packaged vation—to agencies tasked with enforcement of anti-plastic
with OXOs (with possibility of risks of higher quantities of waste and pollution regulations (Cabinet, MoF)
revenue loss for retailers); (3) impact on marine life and seafood
● Improve capacity, coordination at subnational administrative
from increased microplastic formation and pollution; (4) inability to
levels: i) empower community, district, regional governments
recover or recycle OXO plastics; and (5) not addressing the problem
to manage plastic waste by leveraging indigenous knowledge
of littering, and possibly worsening it.
and locally-appropriate technologies and service models;
ii) join national and regional planning at economies of scale
to provide localities with markets for recovered materials
4.4 R
 ecommendations to Improve Plastic Waste (MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs49)
Management
● Explore innovative models to mobilize sustainable financing: i)
4.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years) enact a plastics levy to generate additional funds for recycling;
ii) embed progressive taxes into consumer products so that
● Operationalize the Plastic Waste Recycling Fund (Act 863) to
citizens pay in relation to consumption; iii) increase wholesale
collect revenues for plastic pollution remediation activities and
cost of purchase of plastic bags (MoF/GRA)
support sustainable plastics enterprises (Parliament, MoF/GRA)

● Amend Act 863 compliance protocols to tax imported semi- 4.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)
finished and finished plastic products (correcting the imbal-
● Incentivize plastic recycling by placing an economic value on
ance between domestic manufacturers, importers) (Parliament,
the return of waste materials to a designated location, i.e.
MoF/GRA)
cash-back schemes50 (MESTI, MSWR)
● Communicate behavior change to plastics consumers: i) raise
● Create reverse logistics schemes that remunerate retailers for
awareness of the impacts of improper waste management on
collecting waste plastics (as a complementary activity to their
health, society, economic productivity; ii) update national school
core business) (MESTI, MSWR)
curriculum, through the School Health Education Programme, to
educate youth in sustainable plastics management; iii) under- ● Legislate extended producer responsibility (EPR) for plastic
take a national advocacy campaign to instill civic pride in manag- waste: hold manufacturers legally accountable for effective
ing plastic waste; iv) distribute/install waste plastic collection management at the end of useful product life (i.e., once they
receptacles (MESTI, MoE/GES47 , MSWR, NCCE48 ) have entered the waste stream) (Parliament)

● Clarify mandates/roles regarding enforcement of plastic waste ● Integrate economic efficiency criteria into project design
regulations (MESTI, MSWR, MLGRD) and public procurement awards, as measured in tonnages of
material sustainably managed per cedi invested (MOPP/PPA51)
● Undertake a market analysis on the financial sustainability of
selected recyclable products, determining break-even prices

47. MoE = Ministry of Education; GES = Ghana Educational Service. 50. Cash-back schemes are particularly effective because they do not
require every household/individual to participate, as do conventional
“curb-side” or “at-source-separation” schemes.
48. NCCE = National Commission for Civic Education

51. MOPP = Ministry of Public Procurement; PPA = Public Procurement

49. RCC = Regional Coordinating Council. As stipulated under the
Authority.
Local Government Act (Act 936), 2016, and National Development
Planning (System) Act (Act 480), 1994, RCCs are to harmonize and
lend technical support to District Planning Coordinating Units.

4. Plastic Pollution  36
 Box 4.2: Central Reforms to Stabilize the Waste Sector and Engage the Private Sector in Senegal

Senegal produces more than 2.4 million tons of waste per year. However, about 1.08 million tons remains uncollected. Of the waste
that is collected, most is disposed of at a central dump that is one of the 10 largest dumpsites in the world. The country, which faces a
rapid urbanization rate of 2.5 percent each year, has strongly focused on modernizing its waste management sector and developing
the urban services needed by its burgeoning city population.

Although Senegal was interested in engaging the private sector to revitalize the waste management sector, it faced challenges
typical of low- and middle-income countries related to transparency and difficulty in navigating the political system. Until 2015,
waste management responsibilities were spread over several ministries, making coordination difficult. Furthermore, to invest in
infrastructure and provide collection and disposal services, corporations require opportunities to recover costs. In Senegal, thelack
of an established citizen payment system created financial gaps and led to payment delays that discouraged private entities.

Recognizing the pressing need to revitalize the waste sector, Senegal turned to internal reforms. The national government established
a single public entity to streamline all waste management planning and services, called L’Unité de Coordination de la Gestion des
Déchets Solides, or the Waste Coordination Unit, in 2015. This organizational structure was sustained even as regimes changed,
and the government now has a mix of public and private service provision. The government structured a realistic relationship by
devolving responsibilities to the private sector that are affordable to both the capital, Dakar, and the country at large. This structure
is complemented by reliable and stable public entities that will follow through on contracts.

The waste management sector recovers 15 percent of operational costs, with the remaining 85 percent coming from the central
government budget. Small, local private entities provide services from street cleaning to waste collection, and the government is
responsible for residual activities. Waste is now collected daily in Dakar, streets are swept consistently, and most waste deposits
have been cleaned up. The Waste Coordination Unit also began using media to communicate with citizens and optimized waste
collection routes using web-based monitoring systems. They recruited young professionals to deploy modern technologies and
implement progressive policies, ensuring long-term development of the sector.

The success of the new management structure has revived the interest of potential investors, including international donors. The rapid
improvement in waste service delivery in Senegal was made possible through radical changes in governance and improvements in
technical capacity centrally. While Senegal has so far improved waste services without a traditional public-private partnership, the
structural transformation in governance has created a more stable, attractive waste management sector for investors and waste
management companies.

Source: Case study reprinted from Kaza et al., 2018

37
 Two young workers stand in the middle of the
Agbogbloshie e-waste dumpsite, Agbogbloshie
Scrapyard, Accra.
Steven J. Silverstein / World Bank

4. Plastic Pollution  38
 5
39
5. E-waste
5.1 Ghana’s E-Waste Dilemma

Over the past two decades increases lead-acid batteries (ULABs)—televisions/VCRs/DVD players, radios
in technological innovation, as well as and transmitters, speakers, microwave ovens, and other household
in consumer demand and affordability, appliances. The “Global E-waste Monitor” estimates that 44.7 million
have led to rapid expansion in the range MT of e-waste was generated in 2016. The amount is expected to
of electrical and electronic equipment increase to 52.2 million MT by 2021, with an annual growth rate of
(EEE). While this has been a net gain for 3-4 percent (Baldé et al., 2017).
NKYINKYIM human development, it has also resulted
(“twisting”): in a new and unprecedented global envi- The GoG launched the Information and Communication Technology
initiative, ronmental challenge: the generation of for Accelerated Development Policy (ICT4AD) in 2004 to “bridge
dynamism,
electronic waste. Electronic waste, also the digital divide.” To encourage trade in digital products, the
versatility
known as “e-waste” or “waste electrical Government reduced import duties on used computers and acces-
and electronic equipment” (WEEE), refers to discarded devices that sories to zero. These measures were successful in increasing access
are at the end of their economic use and can no longer be used by to technology, including computers and Internet. Cell phone use
consumers. Such waste includes computers and their accessories, grew exponentially, and personal computers are now in one out
consumer electronics, refrigerators and freezers, cellular phones, every seven homes (Figures 5.1, 5.2)52.
heavy machinery, engines, motors, batteries—including used

Figure 5.1: Ghanaians using Internet (ITU, 2018).

45%

40%
Percentage of Ghanaians using Internet

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

52. Technology use data comes from International Telecommunications Union (ITU) (database), https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.
aspx.

5. E-waste  40
 releases lead, tin, and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)—
Figure 5.2: Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions in
persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that remain in the environment
Ghana (ITU, 2018).
and can bioaccumulate in living organisms with deleterious health
Millions
50 effects (Daum et al., 2017).
45

40
The second stage, metal recovery, is often the most noxious, espe-
35
cially when burning of the e-waste is employed. Wire cables, encased
Number of subscriptions

30
in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) insulation, are incinerated to get the copper
25

20
inside, creating atmospheric pollution. Burning plastics impregnated
15
with flame retardants (e.g., PBDEs, triphenyl phosphate, and plasticiz-
10 ers like phthalates), especially PVC, can lend to a wide array of nega-
5 tive health effects, including to fetuses and young children. These
0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
chemical processes foster generation of fine particulate matter, PM2.5,

The accumulating stocks of electronic and electrical goods meant Table 5.1: WEEE origination (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011).
to jumpstart Ghana’s information and communications technology
(ICT) development and catalyzed by ICT4AD, had the unintended Metric tons/
side effect of creating tons of discarded waste. The influx of EEE and
Origin year (2009) Percentage
outflux of WEEE has become a complicated challenge and significant
environmental issue. Amoyaw-Osei et al. (2011) estimated the amount of
Consumers 96,000 56.1
e-waste generated at 171,000 MT/year (based on 2009 figures) (Table
5.1). Waste originates from two sources: domestic generation and
Communal 5,000 2.9
imports. Over half of WEEE comes directly from Ghanaian consum-
collection
ers who sell to informal collectors plying neighborhoods in search of
scrap. Another quarter comes from repair and refurbishment shops
Repairers/ 48,000 28.1
unable to fix used EEE and a small amount is claimed from communal
refurbishers
dumpsites. Importation of completely unusable electronic equipment
(i.e. WEEE), brought in under the guise of being reparable secondhand
Imports 22,000 12.9
goods, has further increased quantities of e-waste. Estimates of
WEEE in imported shipments vary significantly, from 10-20 to 70-80
Total 171,000 100
percent (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011; Grant and Oteng-Ababio, 2012;
Grant and Oteng-Ababio, 2016).

Some component parts in WEEE are rare or valuable and can be which causes complications in the respiratory and cardiovascular
extracted for re-use. E-waste provides an alluring source of valuable systems, and of dioxin-rich and dioxin-like compounds—polychlo-
metals for recovery—gold, silver, palladium, aluminum, copper—and rinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/Fs), polybrominated
hence a livelihood to many. However, inappropriate processing of dibenzo-p-furans (PBDFs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)—known
e-waste can cause detrimental environmental and public health carcinogens that cause endocrinological, immunological, and der-
effects as toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, copper, matological diseases and impair sexual, hormonal, emotional, and
nickel, and mercury, and hazardous contaminants, such as dioxins physical development (Fujimori et al., 2016). Scrap recyclers feed
and dioxin-like compounds are released (See Annex B). E-waste pro- fires using polyurethane foam found in old refrigerators and vehi-
cessing thus demands, but does not often receive, environmentally cles, producing by-products of dense smoke and toxic gases such
and technically sound extraction and disposal methods. as chlorofluorocarbons.

Treatment of e-waste is in three stages— dismantling, metal recov-

ery, and disposal. Dismantling in Ghana is typically performed with
manual implements such as hammers and chisels. Environmentally
unsound disassembly pollutes the ground. For example, glass from
cathode ray tubes, found in older computer monitors and televisions,
contains large quantities of lead (a neurotoxin) that leach into the soil
and groundwater. Grinding computer circuit boards to extract gold

41
The final stage of e-waste processing, disposal, involves dump- few exceptional examples. Most workers are illiterate or lack formal
ing or burning non-valuable components to reduce volume. Non- education. Work is attractive not only because it is low-skilled: daily
salvageable items include monitors, keyboards, capacitors, and dry income is seven times the minimum wage and payment is regular
batteries, which contribute lead, cadmium, mercury, plastic, glass, and in cash (Amankwaa, 2013). Child labor is rife; one survey showed
and brominated flame retardants to the environment. Hazardous one-quarter of collectors were under the age of 15, with many choos-
and non-hazardous waste is disposed of haphazardly in the open or ing work over schooling (Grant and Oteng-Ababio, 2012). There is a
at unmanaged or informal dumpsites. Some soils have accumulated significant amount of income inequality in the system—scrap dealers
moderate to high amounts of metal like iron, copper, and lead, with obtain a disproportionate share of revenues—and workers at the base
the latter two posing significant hazards to children and aquatic eco- are constrained from investing their income into productive purposes
systems (Akortia et al., 2017). due to poverty and heightened health burdens.

5.2 Economics of E-waste 5.3 Agbogbloshie: Ghana’s E-waste Epicenter

As noted earlier, this CEA calculated the cost of exposure to lead Agbogbloshie, a neighborhood in center-west Accra, is a giant scrap-
and mercury, in part from areas contaminated by e-waste (in part yard and the hub of Ghana’s informal e-waste industry. Together with
from illegal mining, see Chapter 8: Illegal Artisanal Small-scale and Old Fadama, its residential sister, it is home to about 80,000 residents
Gold Mining), and specifically originating from used lead-acid bat- (community census 2009) (Farouk and Owusu, 2012). Agbogbloshie’s
teries. The cost to Ghanaian society from disease and lost IQ points e-workers are predominantly young men from northern Ghana who
in children was estimated at US$440 million per year, equivalent to have fled economic dislocation and declining agricultural productivity
.75 percent of 2017 GDP. (Box 5.1) (Amoyaw-Osei et al., 2011; Grant and Oteng-Ababio, 2012).
Processing an estimated 40-60 percent of the country’s total WEEE, it
The most widely accepted estimate places the contribution of e-waste is entrenched as the epicenter of e-waste recycling due to an evolved
recycling and associated activities to the Ghanaian economy at scrap salvage supply chain, proximity to the port of Tema and Accra’s
US$105-268 million (Prakash et al., 2010). This estimate is based on Central Business District, and an ambiguous land tenure regime
annual national e-waste treatment/processing figure of 10,000-13,000 that permits the site to grow unabated (Grant and Oteng-Ababio,
MT, though Amoyaw-Osei et al. (2011) have suggested a figure more 2012). The Greater Accra Scrap Dealers Association (GASDA) has
than ten times higher (155,100 MT). Though these vastly different 4,000 estimated members, half of whom are involved in e-waste.
estimates are a decade old, they are also the best currently available. On average, each recycler employs a team of three to four work-
ers (CEHRT Environmental Consulting, 2015). Prakash and Manhart
The informal economy, buttressed by an intricate hierarchy of actors (2010) estimate that outside of scrap collecting “enterprises,” there
in its supply chain, handles the majority of e-waste collection, pro- were 200 associated small businesses operating at Agbogbloshie.
cessing, treatment, and trading. At the base of the pyramid are scrap
collectors who roam and search for discarded equipment. Recyclers The hub is highly polluted, ranking among one of the world’s most
purchase the equipment to extract precious metals. Middlemen serve toxic sites and raising critical environmental and public health con-
as intermediaries, purchasing the metals from recyclers and selling cerns (Caravanos et al., 2013; Daum et al., 2017). In Agbogbloshie’s
them to dealers. Scrap dealers are at the apex, supplying bulk metal soils and sediments researchers have observed elevated levels of
to domestic and international refineries, aluminum re-smelters, steel trace metals--including extremely high concentrations originating
plants, exporters, and others. There are also refurbishers and repair- from combustion of plastic sheathing on metal wire--and dioxin-rich
ers who fix EEE to prolong its useful life; importers, both formal and compounds, specifically PCDD/Fs and PBDD/Fs, likely originated
informal; and retailers, who often sell used EEE (Daum et al., 2017; in combustion of plastics containing PBDE (Otsuka et al., 2012;
Grant and Oteng-Ababio, 2012). Estimates of the number of informal Tokumaru et al., 2017; Tue et al., 2016).
e-workers are 4,500-6,000 in Accra, and 6,300-9,000 nationwide.
Refurbishing contributes about 10,000-15,000 jobs in Accra, and This pollution has dramatic effects on the health of Agbogbloshie’s
14,000-24,000 nationally. An estimated 121,800-201,600 depen- e-waste workers. Testing of workers’ blood serum indicates sig-
dents53 rely on income generated from e-waste (Prakash et al., 2010). nificant levels of barium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, selenium
and zinc, all of which are released during the burning of plastic-
From a socioeconomic perspective informal e-waste collection is a encased copper wires (Srigboh et al., 2016). Young male workers
male-dominated sector. Women serve in auxiliary capacities, selling at Agbogbloshie showed PCDF concentrations in their blood four
food and drink to workers; they may also act as scrap brokers in a

53. Prakash et al. (2010) assume an average of six people per household

5. E-waste  42
 Box 5.1: The “Burners” of Agbogbloshie

Abdulrahim, 23, is a married father of three. He and his family live within the confines of the Agbogbloshie e-waste scrapyard in
Accra. On an average day, Abdulrahim wakes up, attends morning prayer, and is on his “burn site” by 7 a.m. He stays there burning
plastic tubing off copper wiring and smelting metal scraps into balls of iron until 6 p.m., a practice he engages in six to seven days a
week. Abdulrahim has been working at the scrapyard since 2007, earning himself the status of “boss man” due to seniority, which
puts him in charge of 20 “burners.” Workers foraging for scrap metal come to Abdulrahim with tubes, pipes, circuit boards, and
motor parts, asking him to smelt the remaining precious metal that can be salvaged.

Everyone who works at Agbogbloshie knows the flames are dangerous and the fumes are noxious. For protection Abdulrahim and
his burners wear light clothing (heavier clothing tends to catch fire) makeshift masks, gloves, and boots bought secondhand. He
says his best protection is to “stand behind the smoke.” There is a clinic near the worksite where burners can go when they get
burned, get migraine headaches, or cough up blood from inhaling the toxic plumes. Abdulrahim and his crew generally avoid the
clinic because they and their households can ill afford treatment costs.

Abdulrahim’s crew is comprised of northerners from areas near Tamale and Bolgatanga. Leaving home in search of work, they have
settled in Agbogbloshie because other northerners before them had done the same. Abdulrahim takes home GHS50 (less than
US$10) a day, his burners about GHS20 (less than US$4). On the same site, children as young as 12 scavenge for metal bits, trying
desperately to earn enough money to pay the daily school feeding fee. Although Abdulrahim says burning is “honest work” he would
take any other job presented to him. He hopes to return home one day and purchase land so that he can start a farm.

times higher than Ghanaians living 25 km outside of Accra (Wittsiepe living near Agbogbloshie contained elevated levels of PCBs, PBDEs,
et al., 2015). Workers whose tasks included burning had very high and hexabromocyclododecanes, a brominated flame retardant. Many
levels of toxic metals and PAHs, much higher in fact than non-burning mothers had purchased fish and meat from the market (Asante et
peers (Feldt et al., 2013; Srigboh et al., 2016). Ambient air samples al., 2011).54
at Agbogbloshie have shown aluminum, copper, iron, and zinc, as
well as lead at levels four times above U.S. permissible exposure Damage is not limited to the immediate area of Agbogbloshie. Toxic
standards. Studies have confirmed atmospheric release of metals into plumes affect neighborhoods within a 4 km radius (Amoyaw-Osei et
adjoining communities (Caravanos et al., 2011; Caravanos et al., 2013). al., 2011). Surface dust samples collected within a ½ km radius around
Agbogbloshie revealed pervasive heavy metal contamination, which
In the vicinity of Agbogbloshie the population is directly exposed to can carry PBDEs and other POPs (Petrlik et al., 2019). This dust has the
contamination via air, water, and food pathways. Spatial analysis has potential to settle on fruits and vegetables in Agbogbloshie’s markets,
shown heavy metal presence in soils around Agbogbloshie, with mer- which provision large swathes of Accra in tomato and onion. Eggs
cury the most prevalent toxic metal (Kyere et al., 2017). Hair samples from chickens foraging in the waste have some of the highest levels
of community members showed trace metal—copper, molybdenum, of dioxins and brominated dioxins ever tested (Petrlik et al., 2019).
cadmium, antimony, lead—accumulation over time (Tokumaru et al.,
2017). Sellers and buyers in the local markets, predominantly women Agbogbloshie is situated on the Odaw River in the upper Korle Lagoon,
and their infants or toddlers, inhale the fumes and dust wafting in the major catchment basin into which Accra’s floodwaters flow before
from the burn sites. Contaminated soil can affect health, especially meeting the Atlantic Ocean. It is thus a significant point source of
children’s, through ingestion. Women working close to the dumpsite pollution on the Gulf of Guinea (Karikari et al., 2006). E-waste pol-
showed toxicity levels higher than e-workers at the site for several lution can alter the ability of wetlands to regulate flooding and filter
elements (Srigboh et al., 2016). The breast milk of nursing mothers pollutants from stormwater runoff. Rainfall, flooding, and atmospheric

54. The elevated levels in women’s breast milk is very likely due to the the testicles of men and the mammary glands of women. Because
physiological pathway in which the human body stores and excretes women secrete less frequently from mammary glands as the
anthropogenic chemicals the body is unable to metabolize. Many average man does from his testes, women often exhibit higher
chemicals are known to accumulate in the reproductive organs: concentrations of many anthropogenic toxins.

43
deposition migrates contaminated ash, soil, debris, dust, and oil into Agbogbloshie (Atiemo et al., 2016). It is possible that opportunistic
surface and groundwaters before discharging them into the ocean. micro-entrepreneurs see the money in e-waste processing and have
River sediment samples confirm copper and cadmium contamination entered the industry as WEEE volumes have continued to grow.
and high concentrations of PCBs (Chama et al., 2014; Hosoda et al.,
2014). Cadmium and lead are extremely toxic contaminants that dam- 5.4 E-waste Governance Framework and Analysis
age aquatic food chains, since the former inhibits aquatic plant growth
and the latter stunts algae growth (Huang et al., 2014). Up until the The Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act,
1960s, Korle Lagoon had supported commercial fisheries and related 2016 (Act 917) and its associated regulations, L.I. 2250, are the main
socioeconomic activities, but extreme pollution has turned it into a legal instruments that govern the control, management, and disposal
morass that can support neither, and the area’s aesthetic value has of hazardous and electrical/electronic waste, as well as regulating EEE
been destroyed (Karikari et al., 2006). Many aquatic species in the imports and domestic production and prohibiting WEEE imports. The
lagoon have disappeared and exposure to contaminants has and will Act also provides for the establishment of an Electrical and Electronic
continue to adversely affect the diversity, abundance, and biomass of Waste Management Fund, the objectives of which are to finance
aquatic organisms (Huang et al., 2014). Increased precipitation and modern e-waste recycling facilities, support research and publication
flooding related to climate change means more hazardous e-waste of reports, and conduct education and awareness campaigns. Other
will find its way into the river, lagoon, and sea, putting the population legislative instruments have supported management and control
at greater risk of exposure to high concentrations of contaminants of electronic waste over the years but, because most e-waste is
and compounding the negative effects of climate-related disasters. processed in the informal economy and Government surveillance
remains minimal, the regulations are largely not respected. The EPA
The frontier for collecting e-waste has expanded beyond Agbogbloshie, is currently preparing guidelines for e-waste management and recy-
with e-waste sites opening in Greater Accra, Koforidua, Kumasi, and cling, adapted from the Sustainable Recycling Industries initiative of
Tamale. Accra hosts other e-waste scrapyards and smaller localized the Swiss government. Until 2016, Ghana did not maintain a specific
sites around the city, while the Greater Accra and Eastern Regions e-waste policy and legal framework for WEEE management, which
have significant e-waste sites. Kumasi in Ashanti Region has recycling created oversight challenges. A national e-waste policy is under
clusters, one of which, Suame Magazine, may actually be larger than development with a final draft forthcoming.

Electronic waste is burned at

Agbogbloshie Scrapyard in Accra.
Steven J. Silverstein, World Bank

5. E-waste  44
 The EPA, under MESTI, has the mandate to regulate and manage ● Technical Committee on Waste Shipment Prevention, which
WEEE (also see Table 5.2). The Environmental Protection Agency drafts national guidelines on waste imports, builds capacity
Act, 1994 (Act 490) empowers the Agency to prescribe pollution and to meet the guidelines, coordinates programs to monitor and
toxic substance standards and guidelines and to coordinate relevant control waste imports, and raises awareness around WEEE
bodies to control the generation, treatment, storage, transportation, import and dumping issues.
and disposal of industrial waste. The Agency has the responsibility
to issue environmental permits and pollution abatement notices for The GoG, bilateral aid agencies, and NGOs have started projects at
substances hazardous to the environment. The EPA’s main functions in e-waste sites, mainly Agbogbloshie, to increase awareness about the
WEEE management are to establish a framework for e-waste recycling environmental and health hazards of unsound handling of e-waste
operations, create health and safety standards for recycling sites, (Table 5.3). Many activities remain fragmented, worker participa-
and enforce regulations through compliance monitoring. Its mandate tion is not compulsory, and limited access or long queues at the
extends to helping manage hazardous waste and overseeing clean- few improved facilities militates against their use, but coordination
up and reclamation of contaminated sites. is starting to improve. Known active projects meet on a biannual
basis to facilitate collaboration using a single stakeholder dialogue
The EPA also coordinates several inter-sectoral committees to control forum facilitated by the German Development Agency (GIZ). Still,
and manage e-waste: one of the biggest impediments to tangible progress is the time
that infrastructure and system changes require. The interventions
● Hazardous Chemicals Committee, which monitors hazardous
underway will require years for successful implementation consider-
chemicals through data collection on import, export, manu-
ing bureaucratic obstacles.
facture, distribution, sale, use, and disposal, and advises on
regulation and management;

● Technical Committee on E-waste Management, which coor-

dinates initiatives aimed at improving e-waste control and
management;/

Table 5.2: Imports by Section, 2009-2013 (Adapted from GSS, 2014).

Institution Role in managing e-waste

MESTI Formulates policy, laws, and regulations related to promotion of information technology for the nation’s
development. Tasked with ensuring that technologies are environmentally sustainable. Oversees EEE
and WEEE management. The EPA is the regulatory arm of MESTI.

MLGRD Ensures good governance and balanced development of MMDAs. Guides policies on environmental sani-
tation and rural/urban development. MMDAs are responsible for designating recycling sites for deposit of
electronic waste, in accordance with recycling standards determined by the EPA.

Ministry of Employment and Provides leadership on matters of occupational safety and health. Under this Ministry, The Factories
Labour Relations (MELR) Inspectorate Department provides licensing and safety standards for the setting up and operation of
recycling facilities.

Energy Commission Regulates and manages the development and utilization of energy resources. This role includes improv-
ing energy efficiency of EEE entering the country, and scaling-up buy-back programs with major EEE
importers/manufacturers.

Scrap Dealers Associations Represents civil society organizations for recyclers, serves as interlocutors between members and the
Government, negotiates with e-waste workers to foster understanding of policy changes and assuage
possible tensions.

45
E-waste “burners”—workers who
incinerate plastic covered wiring to
obtain the copper metal inside—hold
out stained hands, Agbogbloshie
Scrapyard, Accra.
Steven J. Silverstein / World Bank

5. E-waste  46
 Table 5.3: Selected e-waste projects

Project title, location Activity Development partners;

(duration) Government partners

Sustainable Recycling Supports small- and medium-sized enterprises that would like to Swiss State Secretariat for
Industries (SRI) - National become part of a sustainable e-waste recycling chain in Ghana. This Economic Affairs (SECO);
(2011-) support includes developing alternative business models, transferring MESTI/EPA
knowledge about recycling practices and technologies, and accessing
markets for recycling outputs. In addition, the project addresses issues
about standards and financing mechanisms to generate favorable
conditions for sustainable recycling industries.

Environmentally Sound Assists in improving the framework for sustainable e-waste manage- German Federal Ministry
Disposal and Recycling of ment; kick-starts and promotes a sustainable e-waste recycling sector. for Economic Cooperation
E-waste in Ghana - National Project activities include capacity development at the individual and and Development (BMZ),
(2016-2020) organizational levels, including MESTI and EPA, and the private sector; GIZ; MESTI/EPA, Accra
support to set up an electronic register to record producers/distributors Metropolitan Assembly
of EEE; technical and in-process advice to promote economically viable
business models for recycling and disposal of e-waste; understanding
technical solutions and their impacts through communication and
network activities; training in environment and recycling/disposal
methods that consider public health.

Recycling and Disposal Pilots and tests a financial mechanism to encourage and enable envi- BMZ, German Development
of Waste of Electrical and ronmentally sound WEEE disposal. The pilot project will construct Bank (KfW), GIZ; MESTI/EPA
Electronic Equipment in and operate a Handover Centre—working with GASDA--where scrap
an Environmentally Sound dealers can sell unprocessed e-waste above market prices. Materials
Way (Phase One) - National will be aggregated and tendered/auctioned to recycling companies
(2018-2021) possessing EPA permits compliant with new national e-waste recycling
guidelines at an incentivized price to support investment in the industry
and accelerated compliance with new EPA standards. The pilot seeks
to demonstrate lessons learned for implementation of the National
E-waste Recycling Fund introduced in Act 917 (2016).

From Grave to Cradle: Contributes to the effective implementation of Act 917 and L.I. 2250 European Commission
E-waste Management in by fostering formalization of informal Micro, Small and Medium-sized – SWITCH Africa Green
Ghana (E-MAGIN Ghana) Enterprises, establishing a collection mechanism for e-waste, dis- Programme; MESTI/EPA
(2018-2021) seminating best practices through capacity building and training of
trainers, providing decision support and creating awareness among
a wide range of stakeholder.

Integrated E-waste Envisions a large e-waste recycling facility (40,000-150,000 MT/year Implemented by SGS –
Management Program, treatment capacity) with funding from the advance eco levy of the Debsther Klean Recycling
Agbogbloshie (2018-2023) Hazardous and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act.

47
5.4.1 Gaps and Challenges
Basel Convention export-compliant, most Ghanaians cannot afford
Non-adaptive policy and legal framework. The absence of to use their services. The use of crude extraction methods and lack
a national strategy on e-waste pollution has been problematic. of modern recycling machinery also means that many of the pre-
Environmental and health regulations have not been updated to cious metals are lost in the recovery process. Prakash et al. (2010)
respond to the modern challenges posed by e-waste. Ghana has no estimate a total valuable metal recovery rate from e-waste of 42
comprehensive occupational health and safety policy—a Draft Policy percent, mostly in common industrial metals, e.g. iron, aluminum,
and Bill date back to 2000—and relevant workplace protection and lead, copper. The remaining 58 percent is in plastic, glass, adhesives,
safety Acts are outmoded, such as the Factories, Offices and Shops non-precious metals, and hazardous fractions.
Act, 1970 (Act 328) (Amendment no. 275 of 1991). The Hazardous
and Electronic Waste Control and Management Act requires EEE
manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers to take back WEEE
found in shipments, which is difficult in practice as unscrupulous 5.5 Recommendations for Sustainable E-waste
exporters of waste often provide misinformation to hide their tracks. Recycling
Issues of longstanding debate, such as land tenure reform, amplify
the crisis. Ambiguous land ownership arrangements at Agbogbloshie 5.5.1 Short-term (1-2 years)
allow the status quo to prevail and for e-waste treatment to continue
● Perform a detailed gap analysis of the policy, legal, regulatory
as the primary economic driver in the area. Whereas the GoG has
and institutional frameworks around e-waste management, i.e.
planned for an ambitious Korle Lagoon Ecological Restoration Project
Act 917 (Hazardous Waste Act) and L.I. 2250, as well as Act 328
to revitalize the wetlands, the unchecked growth of population and
(Factories, Offices and Shops Act, 1970) on occupational health
settlements at the waste site have been the primary social obstacle
and safety (Parliament, MESTI)
to implementation (Davis et al., 2019).
● Increase regularity of e-waste regulation enforcement efforts
Monitoring and enforcement issues. E-waste recyclers have neither (MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs)
incentives nor concerns about punitive actions to properly dispose of
● Reframe the national discourse around e-waste to: avoid stig-
hazardous fractions. They are not recognized for their services and
matizing e-waste workers; highlight economic dynamism of
are often neglected by local authorities, leading to health risks, child
recycling activities; change terminology, e.g. moving from a
labor, unfair business practices, and marginalization. This perpetuates
notion of “e-waste” to “urban mining” (Koehn, 2012; Oteng-
high levels of informality and enables improper e-waste disposal
Ababio et al., 2014) (Cabinet, MESTI
(Oteng-Ababio et al., 2014). Deceptive customs practices and lax
enforcement of import regulations have allowed containers filled ● Raise awareness among policymakers of socioeconomic,
with WEEE, misleadingly labeled as EEE, to enter Ghana, including environmental consequences of e-waste to promote greater
at the port of Tema. The porosity of Ghana’s borders, which allows sensitivity to the human dimension and to encourage new
shipments to pass undetected across poorly monitored and highly legislation (Parliament)
trafficked terrestrial routes such as the West African Coastal Highway, ● Take steps to safeguard welfare of the e-waste labor force,e.g.
is a contributing factor. Direct imports of WEEE into Ghana are likely expanding training programs on mitigating e-waste risks
higher than official records indicate (Grant and Oteng-Ababio, 2012). (MESTI/EPA)
The recently opened Ghana Single Window for trade is meant to
shore up some of this laxity. ● Build capacity of customs officials to monitor ports of entry to
prevent illicit WEEE shipments; enhance internal oversight and
Infrastructure gaps. Hazardous components, or fractions, make quality control within customs; coordinate with neighboring
up more than one-quarter of the waste generated, however, Ghana countries that share transport arteries (MoF/CEPS 55)
does not currently have the infrastructure for their proper manage-
ment. Existent municipal landfills and sanitation infrastructure are
not capable of properly securing hazardous e-waste. Disposal often
occurs on unfortified, unlined grounds with no manmade barrier
to prevent contaminants from entering soil or water. While several
modern private sector companies perform source separation and are

55. CEPS = Customs, Excise and Preventative Service, under the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning.

5. E-waste  48
 5.5.2 Medium-term (2-5 years) 5.5.3 Long-term (5+ years)

● Create a mandatory registration and licensing scheme for recy-

● Designate informal dumpsites as formal recycling centers to cling enterprises, inclusive of the informal sector, to facilitate
permit closer inspection (MSWR) oversight; provide incentives for informal actors to adhere,
● Ensure WEEE goes to approved sites, setting up collection such as access to credit or knowledge and training (Pwamang
points and incentivizing their use (Pwamang and Amoyaw- and Amoyaw-Osei, 2011) (MESTI/EPA)
Osei, 2011) (MLGRD/MMDAs) ● Improve metal recovery rates through international partner-
● Lay out the roles and expectations of MMDAs vis-à-vis e-waste ships, technology transfer (MESTI, MoTI)
and pass stringent, enforceable municipal by-laws (MLGRD/ ● Bolster infrastructure at municipal landfills for proper disposal
MMDAs) of non-salvageable fractions (MSWR)
● Collect accurate data on international and domestic e-waste ● Assist scrap dealers’ associations to better organize the sector
flows to obtain a clearer sense of the scope of the problem and to reduce negative environmental, occupational, and public
inform decision-making: i) conduct regular soil, air, water qual- health and safety effects, as well as income inequality; hold
ity sampling at and near e-waste sites; ii) survey consumers direct consultations with scrap dealers’ associations and their
about their EEE turnover rates (possibly during 2020 census); members to formulate national and local e-waste management
improve data collection and inspections for WEEE at ports strategies (MLGRD/MMDAs, MESTI, MSWR)
(MESTI/EPA, MoF/CEPS/GSS)
● Professionalize the e-waste sector through tripartite public-
● Conduct value chain analysis to determine current and needed private partnerships between international or domestic recy-
levels of human and physical capital for e-waste recycling cling enterprises, the GoG, and the informal sector (President/
within the segments of: collection, pre-treatment, mechanical GIPC 56)
shredding/granulation of cables, trade of steel/aluminum to
refineries (MESTI) ● Legislate extended producer responsibility to organize WEEE
buy-back purchases, as envisioned under Act 917, after stake-
● Explore carbon financing and other environmental funding holder consultations with EEE manufacturers, distributors,
sources (Global Environmental Facility, Green Climate Fund) to retailers (MoTI, MESTI)
forge a sustainable e-recycling sector (MESTI, MoF)

56. GIPC = Ghana Investment Promotion Centre in the Office of the President.

49
 Woman walking in forest, Boabeng-
Fiema Sanctuary, Bono East
(formerly Brong Ahafo Region).
Mint Image Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

5. E-waste  50
 6
51
6. Status of Forest Resources
6.1 The Resource Base

Ghana is endowed with diverse forest phenomenon in Ghana, but rather reflects a pattern that has persisted
resources that cover 25 percent of its for over a century. In 1900, Ghana had over 8 million ha of tropical
land and span three main zones: the high forest, but from the 1950s to 2000, it lost 2.7 million hectares,
High Forest Zone (HFZ), Transitional over 60 percent, of its primary forests (FAO, 2010). Off-reserve forests
Zone (TZ) and Savannah Zone (SZ) have been almost entirely converted to agriculture, infrastructure, or
(MLNR, 2017a). ). The HFZ falls within human settlement and urban expansion, while many forest reserves
West Africa’s Upper Guinean biodi- and national parks have gone on to experience moderate to severe
versity hotspot and is a source of degradation, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, a trend that con-
NYAME DUA
timber—top export species include tinues today (Hawthorn and Abu-Juam, 1995).
(“tree of God”):
African whitewood, known locally as
tree as symbol of
worship and wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon), and Based on analysis of data from 2001-2015, Ghana’s annual deforesta-
veneration ceiba (Ceiba pentandra)—and non- tion rate was approximately 3.51 percent, equating to yearly losses of
timber forest products (NTFPs), as greater than 315,000 ha. Total deforestation during this time period
well as major agricultural production,
including cocoa agroforests (MLNR, 2017b). Intact forests in the HFZ
Figure 6.1: Tree cover loss (Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/
exist only within the 1.2 million ha of Forest Reserves and National
NASA; World Database on Protected Areas (2000))
Parks, a landscape traditionally at the center of the timber industry.
The TZ, covering the middle belt of the country, has expanded since
the 1980s due to gradual drying of the subregion, drought events (El
Niño), and the onset of climate change (Owusu and Waylen, 2009).
The fire-prone nature of the transitional forests has facilitated their
conversion into plantations of timber (mainly teak (Tectonis spp.),
gmelina (Gmelina arborea)), and tree crops (cashew). The SZ is mainly
found in the northern part of Ghana, although there is also savannah
along the eastern coastal plain. The north’s SZ hosts significant wild-
life resources and has the largest national park in the country—Mole
National Park. Savannah woodlands are increasingly a source of
timber, as well as NTFP species like shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa).
High-value timber species, such as African rosewood (Pterocarpus
erinaceus and members of genus Dalbergia), were the top export
species in 2017 and have come under heavy pressure from illegal
exploitation (MLNR, 2017b).

Although logging, cocoa farming, and mining have brought eco-

nomic growth, they have come with significant costs to Ghana’s
forest resources and ecosystem services. Forest loss leads to frag-
mentation of biodiversity corridors, loss of soil fertility and non-timber
forest products, and emission of GHGs. Deforestation is not a new

6. Status of Forest Resources  52

 surpassed 4.7 million ha, of which over 84 percent (3.98 million ha)
Table 6.1: Estimated losses of open and closed forests occurred in open forests, compared to 16 percent (745,326 ha) in
during three time periods (MLNR, 2017a). closed forests57. From 2001 to 2010, the majority of deforestation
occurred in the HFZ and TZ (Figure 6.1), but from 2013-2015 there
Total loss Annual average
(ha) (ha) was a significant increase in forest loss across the SZ, a shift that
pushed annual average forest loss to over one-half million ha/year
2001-2010
(Table 6.1) (MLNR, 2017a). Whereas the loss of closed canopy forest
signals encroachment into state protected land, the loss of open
Open forest 1,800,891 180,089
forests typically reflects conversion of private or customary land
for agriculture. Some open forest was lost inside reserves, but the
Closed forest 371,491 37,149
majority was off-reserve, where forest fragments were converted to
food crop or cocoa farms.
Total 2,172,382 217,238
Additionally, the transition away from mixed agroforestry systems,
2010-2013
especially from shaded cocoa production to no/low shade cocoa
monoculture, played a contributory role in the decrease of open
Open forest 787,214 196,803.5
forest. Deforestation is high in the cocoa forest mosaic landscape
of the HFZ (mainly the Western, Brong Ahafo, and Ashanti Regions),
Closed forest 145,134 36,283.5
even though the cocoa sector greatly depends on forests for soil
fertility, pollination, water regulation, and shade for productive trees.
Total 932,348 233,087
The increasing demand for land for cocoa production in the face of
high international cocoa prices and productivity declines on existing
2013-2015
cocoa farms has increased the incentives for farmers to clear forests
to expand their cocoa farms.
Open forest 1,369,528 456,509
Ghana’s deforestation pathway is characterized by incremental
Closed forest 203,939 67,980
degradation over time. The pattern of forest degradation to defor-
estation has been driven first by logging, followed by smallholder
Total 1,573,467 524,489
agricultural expansion, and finally encroachment into reserves. An

Figure 6.2: Tree cover loss by region, canopy >15% (GFW database).

200,000
Western Ashanti Brong Ahafo Eastern Central Volta Northern Greater Accra Upper West Upper East
180,000

160,000
Tree cover loss (ha), >15% canopy

140,000

120,000

100,000

80,000

60,000

4 0,000

20,000

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

57. Ghana defines forest as lands that have at least 15 percent canopy cover and may also have a three-layer structure. Open canopy
cover, minimum tree height of five meters, and minimum area of one forests are mainly outside of forest reserves and can include mature
hectare. Closed canopy forest is classified as one with a canopy forest fallows and “high-shade” agroforestry systems that maintain
cover exceeding 60 percent and exhibiting a three-layer vertical a significant number of indigenous tree species in the canopy and
structure typical of tropical high forests. Open canopy forest is a sub-strata.
modified or disturbed natural forest that has 15-59 percent canopy

53
FAO (2015) assessment of the forest estate indicated 44 percent of wood fuel harvesting also play roles. Agricultural expansion is driven
forest reserves under active production, 20 percent in poor condition by food crop and tree crop expansion, while logging includes both
and designated for plantation development, 9 percent in poor condi- legal and illegal activities. Fuelwood harvesting, charcoal production,
tion and in convalescence to promote natural regeneration, and 27 wildfires, infrastructure development, and mining (legally and illegally
percent under recognized conservation or community management. for gold and minerals, and for sand) are also drivers (MLNR, 2016b).
In 2018 alone, Ghana lost nearly 190,000 ha; attendant effects have Table 6.3 provides a detailed description of the direct and indirect
led to increased CO2 emissions/ha and increasing losses in biomass drivers of deforestation and degradation in Ghana.
per ha, as well.
Ghana is a net emitter of CO2 emissions, primarily from its oil and gas
The Global Forest Watch (GFW) database—which uses a separate industry, but deforestation and forest degradation contribute. The
definition for deforestation from the one used by the FC—provides average annual emissions in Ghana from deforestation and forest
insights into tree cover loss58 at the subnational level (Figure 6.2). The degradation from 2001-2015 was estimated at 61.2 million tCO2e
top five Regions by absolute tree cover loss over the period 2001- yr-1 and average removals were 569,300 tCO2e/yr-1. Deforestation—
2018 were: Western, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, and Central, all of defined by GoG as human-induced forest loss—was the largest con-
which contain portions of the HFZ. However, when looked at through tributor to emissions (Figure 6.3) On the basis of this information,
the prism of relative tree loss, Upper East Region lost one-quarter Ghana’s national forest reference level (FRL) is 60.7 tCO2e yr-1. For
of its tree cover over the past two decades (though it started from deforestation alone, the annual average emissions over a 15-year
the lowest tree cover extent of all the regions); Western and Central period (2001-2015) were 40,295,807 tCO2e, with a significant
lost a significant proportion of their tree cover, as well (Table 6.2). increase between 2010 and 2015. Overall, emissions were high-
est from the moist evergreen forests of the HFZ, accounting for 28
Forest degradation is a rampant problem, with illegal logging the main percent of the national total (MLNR, 2017a).
source of degradation, though legal timber harvesting, wildfires, and

Table 6.2: Absolute and relative tree cover loss, by region (2001-2018) (GFW database).

Tree Cover Loss (ha) Proportion of Region’s tree

cover lost (%)
Western 402,179 17%

Ashanti 285,983 12%

Brong Ahafo 244,196 8%

Eastern 170,595 12%

Central 160,031 18%

Volta 56,719 5%

Northern 42,143 3%

Greater Accra 5,762 8%

Upper West 2,703 4%

Upper East 577 25%

58. According to the GFW website, “’Tree cover loss’ refers to the equate to “deforestation” and can result from a variety of factors,
removal of trees, which may be within natural forests or tree including mechanical harvesting, fire, disease, or storm damage.”
plantations. Accordingly, “tree cover loss” does not necessarily

6. Status of Forest Resources  54

 Figure 6.3: Main activities causing forest sector emissions in Ghana (2001-2015) (MLNR, 2017a).

Fire, 1% Enhancements, 1%
Fuelwood, 5%
Legal Logging, 5%

Illegal Logging, 22%

Deforestation, 66%

Table 6.3: Drivers of deforestation and degradation (MLNR, 2016b).

Direct Indirect

Agricultural expansion Population growth and development

• Shifting cultivation using slash-and-burn • High population growth rate
• Cocoa expansion; loss of shade trees in cocoa systems • Increasing demand for food crops, fuelwood, charcoal, and construc-
• Other tree crops: rubber, cashew tion materials

Logging Markets
• Illegal logging by timber companies and chainsaw • Increasing demand for high-value timber species
operators • Growing global demand for chocolate and cocoa
• Increasing global and regional demand for palm oil and other agricul-
tural commodities
• Growing global, regional, national demand for timber and wood products

Fuelwood harvesting Weak law enforcement

• Wood harvesting for charcoal production • Weak institutional capacity
• Wood harvesting for firewood • Lack of transparency

Wildfire Land and tenure

• Land clearing for agriculture • Policies that create perverse incentives to remove on-farm trees
• Cattle ranching • Absence of a comprehensive land-use plan
• Hunting

Mining Low and overcapacity

• Wood harvesting for charcoal production • Low stumpage prices in domestic market
• Wood harvesting for firewood • Proliferation of chainsaws and small-scale mills

Infrastructure development Low stumpage prices and overcapacity

• Urban and rural settlement expansion • Low stumpage prices in domestic market
• Expansion of roads and other infrastructure • Proliferation of chain sawing, small-scale mills

55
 BOX 6.1: Changing cocoa forest livelihoods in Papase community, Bia West District

Papase is a cocoa farming community located in the Bia West District of the Western Region. The name Papase comes from the
“Papoa” tree (Afzelia africana) under which one of the original inhabitants, an old hunter, used to sit to enjoy the shade and roast
his meat. The oldest members of the community recount that when they were children the way of life was good, and the area was
a thick forest. “Life was very lovely. Houses were made with bamboo and raffia leaves, a lot of timber trees provided shade and
habitat for wildlife and bush meat to be hunted, food was in abundance and you could hear birds chirping and the cry of animals.
Above all, there was unity.” In those days, people engaged in farming, hunting, and fishing, but over the decades, the community
leaders say that there has been a huge loss of the forest, wildlife, and soil fertility, and overall degradation of the land.

There is no longer any forest remaining in Papase, and disputes over land and water are increasing. They see all these issues as caused
by an increasing population and increasing demand for resources, especially timber resources. As a result, their livelihood options
have also changed and today most people in Papase make a living through cocoa farming, chain sawing, and small-scale mining.
But they are worried because they notice an irregular rainfall pattern, longer dry seasons, and shorter wet seasons. Temperatures
are also rising, and if the trend continues, they feel the area will eventually not support any agricultural activities, including cocoa.

As a result of the loss of forest resources, Papase is worried about the future. “The future is going to be so terrible” and the only
solution they can see is for the government, civil society, and companies to step in and protect the forest resources and “establishome
standards and policies that will safeguard their lives and community.”

Source: Authors’ interviews.

6.2 Economics of Ghana’s Forests

The cost of deforestation to Ghana is about US$400 million, equiv- timber products are Asia and the Far East, followed by Economic
alent to 0.7 percent of 2017 GDP. Ghana’s economic dependence Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union
on the forest sector exceeds that of its peers, as does its rate of (EU). The share of exports to Asia/Far East has increased sharply since
unsustainable resource use. Net forest depletion59 as a percent of 2012, overtaking both the EU and ECOWAS to become the leading
GNI tops the list of low-middle income (non-small island state) coun- export destination, responsible for 59 percent of total export volume
tries, as does its contribution from forests to GDP (Figure 6.4). The (215,300 m³) and 57 percent of total export value (US$107.78 million)
economic costs of dependence rose to just under US$3 billion in in 2015. ECOWAS/Africa markets follow with 68,000 m³, worth €27
the years 2014, 2016, and 2017, with unsustainable forest resource million in 2015 (MLNR, 2016a). The decline in demand from Europe
extraction being used as a motor for economic growth. And yet, the is linked to Ghana’s inability to meet the heightened transparency
volume and value of timber exports remain substantially below levels standards for timber certification under the Forest Law Enforcement,
recorded in the mid-1990s and early 2000s, when Ghana produced Governance and Trade/Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT/
1 million m³ and forestry was an important foreign exchange earner. VPA)60 it has with the EU (Acquah et al., 2015).
It is now negligible compared to other major commodities such as
gold, cocoa, and crude oil. The long-term decline of Ghana’s formal timber market has had an
adverse effect on the timber industry. Historically, the forestry sector
Recent years saw a modest increase in timber product export earnings. In has provided formal employment for more than 100,000. According to
2012, timber exports were valued at US$131 million and rose steadily the Ghana Timber Millers Organisation, 96 companies have collapsed
to a high of US$256 million in 2016 before dropping to US$215 mil- since the early 2000s, representing 80 percent of the firms that once
lion in 2017 (GSS, 2018). The main export destinations for Ghana’s

59. Net forest depletion is calculated as the product of unit resource 60. FLEGT is an EU-sponsored initiative that aims to curtail trade in
rents and the excess of roundwood harvest over natural growth illegally logged forest products by promoting sustainable forest
(World Bank WDI database) . management and improved forest governance. VPAs are bilateral
trade agreements that commit timber exporting countries and the
EU to trading only in legal, FLEGT-certified timber products.

6. Status of Forest Resources  56

 Figure 6.4: Net forest depletion among Ghana's peers (World Bank WDI database).

12%

10%

8%
% of GNI

6%

4%

2%

0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Ghana Kenya Mauritania Nicaragua Myanmar

operated, with a loss of 75,000 jobs. Those that have survived are Perhaps most important is the effect of cocoa on forest resources
operating at 50 percent capacity; they argue that they are threatened in Ghana. Ghana is the world’s second largest producer of cocoa
by a lack of raw materials, overregulation, and high cost of doing busi- beans, and the cocoa sector, valued at US$1.5 billion per year, is a
ness (Ghanaweb, 2018).Domestic timber production comes mainly major foreign exchange earner. Between 1991 and 2005, poverty
from informal or illegal sources—chainsaw millers—using inefficient rates among cocoa farmers declined from 60 to 24 percent, with
and unsustainable practices. Hansen and Treue (2012) estimate that Brong Ahafo and Western Regions showing the greatest achieve-
illegally logged timber in Ghana’s domestic market surpasses 4 million ments in poverty reduction (World Bank, 2018). Cocoa-forest mosaics
m3 per year. Sustainable sources of good-quality timber are needed play an important role in climate change adaptation and mitigation
for construction, housing, furniture, and panels to sustain Ghana’s strategies—as articulated by Ghana’s shift to climate-smart cocoa
growth and development, and even more wood is needed to meet production—through micro-climate generation of rainfall, tempera-
demand for household energy needs. ture moderation, hosting of pollinators, enhancement of soil and
air moisture, and carbon sequestration, among other services. To
The loss of forests in Ghana presents tremendous socioeconomic catalyze these gains, Ghana has decided to test performance-based
risks for the country. Forests provide critical ecosystem services payments through the signing of an Emission Reductions Purchase
that support agricultural production and water generation—water Agreement with the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
catchment, soil fertility, NTFP provision, etc.—and there is high depen- Carbon Fund. From 2018-2024, Ghana will be in a position to gener-
dence on forest resources and agriculture across the country for ate US$50 million in emission reduction results-based payments.
economic development and support for livelihoods. Sixty percent of The long-term value of reducing (a conservatively estimated) 240
the population, including 53 percent of women, are employed by the million tons of CO₂ emissions from deforestation and forest degrada-
agriculture and forestry sectors. Fourteen percent of the population tion in the HFZ over a 20-year period is estimated at US$1.2 billion.
lives in forest-fringe communities and directly depends upon forests Emerging signals that the sector’s revenue sources and funding are
for one-third of their livelihood resources and income. Wood fuel shifting from a timber-centric to a non-extractive model that values
accounts for 78 percent of Ghanaian households’ primary energy the standing forest are encouraging.
consumption. The Atewa Range Forest Reserve serves as a water
tower for more than one million people in Accra, supplying industries, 6.3 Forestry Sector Governance Framework and
urban families, and rural communities and farms. The annual value of Analysis
downstream water consumption from the two main river basins that
have their source in the Atewa Range was more than US$28 million Two national bodies have overlapping mandates over the forestry
in 2016 (IUCN-NL, 2016). Forests serve as the main source of plant sector in Ghana: MLNR and FC. The MLNR is the ministerial body
materials for the traditional medicine industry, valued at over US$30 with supervisory responsibility for the management of Ghana's lands,
million/year. Wildlife and biodiversity represent a large, untapped forests, wildlife, and mineral resources. MLNR oversees a number of
sector with significant revenue potential through development of agencies and independent commissions, including the FC, which has
an eco-tourism industry. the constitutional mandate to develop and manage the country’s for-
est and wildlife resources. The FC maintains a large corporate struc-
ture that is highly centralized in its decision-making and financing.

57
It is divided across multiple divisions or similar units, with offices activities, policy reforms, benefit sharing, and monitoring systems, as
spread across the country at district and regional levels. The core well as strong private sector investment and collaboration. The most
of the Commission is focused around three main divisions—Forest advanced ER program is the Ghana Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme
Services Division (FSD), Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD), (GCFRP), which targets the HFZ and expansive cocoa production,
and Wildlife Division (WD). FC last produced an Annual Report in and has strong support from the global chocolate industry. The Shea
2015, which noted that it employs more than 3,800 staff members. Savannah Woodland Project is under development, while the other
Of those figures, women account for 18 percent of senior staff and ER programs outlined in GRS include the Coastal Mangroves, the
11 percent of junior staff. Togo Plateau, and the Transitional Forest Landscape Program (MLNR,
2016b). A critical aspect of the strategy, and of all the articulated
Ghana updated its Forest and Wildlife Policy (FWP) in 2012. The policy programs, is the need to foster much greater collaboration and coor-
aims to: (1) manage and enhance the ecological integrity of Ghana's dinated actions across all stakeholders working in a landscape or
forest resources, (2) promote the rehabilitation and restoration of sub-landscape. The long-term success of the strategy will depend
degraded landscapes, (3) promote the development of viable for- upon concerted efforts and not siloed initiatives. A look at other
est and wildlife-based industries and livelihoods, (4) promote and current initiatives is presented in Table 6.4.
develop mechanisms for transparent governance, equity sharing,
and citizen participation in forest and wildlife resource management, Economic rights to naturally occurring trees sit with the Ghanaian
and (5) promote training, research, and technology development for State. The Timber Resources Management Act 617 (2002) decrees
sustainable forest management. The FWP aligns with other key inter- that landowners and land users do not have the right to harvest
sectoral policies, including Ghana’s National Climate Change Policy naturally occurring trees for commercial or domestic purposes. The
(2012), the National Gender Policy (2015), and the Ghana Shared FC is entitled to issue permits or concessions to timber companies to
Growth and Development Agenda II (GSGDA). It is comprehensive and harvest trees off-reserve, often damaging tree crops during felling.
lays a strong foundation for sustainable forest and wildlife manage- This has created a perverse incentive to the sustainable management
ment, however, implementation often falls short. Timber still takes of trees on farms, failing to acknowledge the role that farmers play
precedence over all other sub-sectors, and the gap between the in selecting and nurturing trees. Under Act 617, ownership rights are
policy’s objectives and sustainable outcomes is significant. conferred to a person who plants a tree, but making such documenta-
tion is a significant challenge. Despite movement towards a broader
Ghana also has a Forest Plantation Strategy (2016-2040). The goal of set of tree tenure reforms that would address naturally-occurring
the strategy is to achieve a sustainable supply of planted forest goods trees, the government has not been able to implement the needed
and services to deliver a range of benefits. In partnership with the policy or legislative reforms.
private sector, it aims to establish 625,000 ha of forest plantations,
conduct enrichment planting over 100,000 ha of degraded forest 6.3.1 Gaps and Challenges
reserves, and promote on-farm tree planting (agroforestry) across
3.5 million ha. Plantation development has featured prominently in all Fiscal revenues and budgetary problems. The GoG provides most
sector programs and the government has been adding approximately funding for forestry activities though the forestry sector’s share of
10,000-15,000 ha/year through internal and bilateral funds. Private total government expenditures had been declining. Between 2007
sector uptake, however, has been limited due to the associated costs and 2015 financing increased from 19 percent of total forest expendi-
and off-reserve land tenure challenges, among other factors. There tures to 46 percent and was as high as 63 percent in 2014. Internally
is also concern that an over-dependence on establishing on-reserve generated funds—stumpage fees, export levies, timber rights fees,
plantations will lead to a loss of natural forest areas, which could and royalties—used to be the largest source of financing for the
have otherwise regenerated and recovered if left to convalesce. FC but these funds are no longer consistent and are plagued by
significant fluctuations. In 2015, these funds, mainly from FSD and
In 2016, Ghana developed a comprehensive national REDD+ strategy TIDD, accounted for less than half of the budget; at the same time
focused on a commodity-based, landscape-scale program to reduce FC overspent their budget by 27 percent.
deforestation. The Ghana REDD+ Strategy (GRS) outlines a broad
plan to implement large-scale, sub-national emissions reduction Sectoral investment enabling environment. Although timber
(ER) programs that follow ecological boundaries and are defined by demand is likely to keep growing, investment in new production or
major commodities in each forest zone. Under the GRS, each land- plantations is low. The unattractive climate for private investment
scape program is to be supported by a set of over-arching, national is partly due to the complexity of land tenure arrangements, the
absence of land and tree tenure security for smallholders, and lim-
ited financing options for long-term forest sector prospects, such
as plantations. However, the Government is neither in a position to
perform the role of the private sector nor to create entrepreneurial

6. Status of Forest Resources  58

 opportunities. At the local level, farmers and communities have little ● Promote a multi-country dialogue for West and Central African
incentive to protect naturally regenerated trees on farms because cocoa and commodity producing nations to catalyze wider
of Ghana’s tree tenure and benefit-sharing system, which vests the action on the drivers of deforestation and land degradation
management rights and economic revenues in the government and (MLNR, MoFA)
other high-level stakeholders, leaving smallholders with few incen-
● Scale-up extension services promoting adoption of agrofor-
tives to care for existing trees or to plant new ones.
estry models, especially in timber, cocoa (MLNR/FC, MoFA/
Cocobod61)
Lack of institutional transparency, accountability. The prevalence
of political interference, personal interests, and intimidation are crip- ● Use evidence from the first national forest monitoring (compar-
pling Ghana’s forestry sector institutions. As a result, management ing it against the reference level) to demonstrate that Ghana
decisions and enforcement of laws at all levels are frequently driven is stopping natural forest loss, or, in the case of natural forest
by interests and opportunities as opposed to ethically and techni- loss, devise an action plan to take immediate, targeted steps
cally sound principles and laws. While the policies and strategies are to control the situation (MLNR/FC)
focused on sustainable and equitable use and regeneration of the
● Offer material and financial support to trade associations in the
resources, the Government has struggled to follow through with effec-
forestry sector so that they can work towards forging partner-
tive implementation. This is most glaring in the face of the galamsey
ships with potential investors (MLNR/FC, MoTI)
crisis (See Chapter 8: Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining).
Despite bans, inter-sectoral task forces, and the deployment of Rapid ● Promote a multi-country dialogue for West and Central African
Response Units, the incidence of illegal mining (mainly for gold) and cocoa and commodity producing nations to catalyze wider
illegal logging (rosewood harvesting in the SZ and illegal logging in action on the drivers of deforestation and land degradation
forest reserves in the HFZ) across the country is growing and the scale (MLNR, MoFA)
of destruction is highly worrisome. Without strong institutional and
political will to implement transparent programs that hold offend- 6.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)
ers accountable, illegal resource extraction will continue unabated,
● Update the national FRL every two years (MLNR/FC)
causing severe damage to people and forests.
● Harmonize/align monitoring and reporting methods on rates of
deforestation, degradation, forest cover, emissions (MLNR/FC)

● Create an enabling environment for no-deforestation commod-

6.4 Recommendations for Sustainable Management ity supply-chains (MLNR, MoTI)
of Ghana’s Forest Resources
● Enable greater investment in NTFP value chains and strongly
6.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years) encourage value addition by actively seeking partnerships with
large international private sector players (MoTI/NBSSI62)
● Improve coordination, communication, collaboration within
divisions and units of the FC; strengthen relationships across ● Harmonize policy enabling conditions to promote climate-
relevant MDAs to reinforce the forestry sector (MLNR/FC, MoF, smart cocoa production to boost smallholder incomes and
MoTI) cocoa sustainability (Cabinet, MLNR, MoFA/Cocobod)

● Appoint institutional leaders who have technical apprecia- ● Strengthen and scale-up CREMAs/HIAs, especially with sustain-
tion and deep knowledge of forest resources management able financing strategies (MLNR)
(President, MLNR) ● Expand wildlife tourism sites, experience, and infrastructure
● Legislate tree tenure reforms that create incentives to maintain for middle-income clients (MoTAC63)
and protect trees (Parliament) ● Recommit to sustainable forest management practices across
● Offer material and financial support to trade associations in the the forestry sector and for all export markets (MLNR/FC, MoTI64)
forestry sector so that they can work towards forging partner-
ships with potential investors (MLNR/FC, MoTI)

61. Cocobod = Ghana Cocoa Board 63. MoTAC = Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture

62. NBSSI = National Board for Small Scale Industries

59
Table 6.4: Selected initiatives to reduce forest loss

Project title, Development part-

location Activity ners; Government
(duration) partners
Ghana Forest A US$50+ million program, GFIP has a strong climate mitigation component. The World Bank; MLNR/FC
Investment main activities are to: (1) improve forest and landscape management with communi-
Program, HFZ, ties, (2) implement institutional reforms, policy strengthening, (3) enhance trees and
(GFIP) (2015-2023) agroforestry practices in cocoa forests (4) make on-reserve investments for REDD+
and plantations. Early remote sensing analysis has shown positive land-use changes.

Ghana Cocoa Valued at more than US$230 million, with a potential US$50 million performance- World Bank; MLNR/FC,
Forest REDD+ based payments the GCFRP covers 5.9 million ha of the HFZ and is the world’s MoFA/Cocobod
Programme, first commodity-based ER Program with the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership
HFZ, (GCFRP) Facility Carbon Fund. The GCFRP is supported by private investment through the
(2019-2025) Cocoa and Forests Initiative (see below). The GCFRP is being implemented in
identified hotspot intervention areas (HIAs) through five main pillars of activities
that require concerted actions by stakeholders: (1) institutional coordination and
monitoring, (2) landscape level land-use planning, (3) climate-smart cocoa pro-
duction, (4) risk management and finance, and (5) legislative and policy reforms.

Cocoa and Forests More than 30 cocoa and chocolate sector companies have committed to a no- World Cocoa Foundation,
Initiative (CFI), deforestation supply chain from Ghana (and Côte d’Ivoire), in partnership with the Dutch Sustainable Trade
cocoa areas, GoG. Having signed a Framework for Action in 2017, individual companies are now Initiative; MLNR/FC,
(2019-) taking concrete steps and making investments to end cocoa-related deforestation MoFA/Cocobod
and support reforestation. The main actions are focused on forest protection and
restoration, sustainable cocoa production and farmers’ livelihoods, and community
engagement and social inclusion. The CFI aims to align with the Paris Climate
Agreement and the GCFRP.64

Form Ghana The US$24 million loan to Form Ghana Ltd., a forest plantation management com- African Development
Reforestation pany, aims to restore 11,700 ha of degraded forest reserves by establishing a large Bank, Forest Investment
Project, Ashanti scale sustainable commercial forest plantation (composed of 10 percent indigenous Program; MLNR/FC
Region (2017- ) tree species, 90 percent teak) in partnership with GoG. The project focuses on
production of billets, poles, and round logs for local and export markets. Form
Ghana is the first FSC-certified plantation company in West Africa, andis already
producing Carbon Credits as per Verified Carbon Standard (VCS).

Community The CREMA mechanism is Ghana’s natural resource management and landscape- MLNR/FC (Wildlife
Resource level planning tool for community initiatives. It was developed by the FC’s Wildlife Division)
Management Division under the 1994 FWP to enable community-based natural resource manage-
Area (CREMA), ment in off-reserve lands. CREMAs fill a critical policy gap by giving communities
nationwide the right to govern, manage, and benefit economically from their natural resources
(Kasanga, 2003; Sarpong, 2006). There are at least 30 CREMAs across Ghana, with
an estimated 500,000+ ha under management. CREMA use is growing, and its
scope has evolved over the past two decades from a wildlife management tool to
a mechanism that supports eco-tourism, NTFP value chains, climate-smart cocoa
production, and REDD+, among other revenue generating activities. CREMA has
most recently been adapted to serve as the foundation of the GCFRP HIA model
for landscape-level governance.

64. Information comes from the World Cocoa Foundation, http://www.

worldcocoafoundation.org/initiative/cocoa-forests-initiative/

6. Status of Forest Resources  60

 ● Bring tree registration to farmers’ doorsteps through a national ● Explore how to generate sustainable revenue from payment
registration campaign (MLNR/FC) for forest ecosystem services (MLNR/FC)

● Pioneer REDD+ forest reserves to capture climate finance; ● Prioritize research and development of new or under-devel-
increase incentives for sustainable forest, land, and cocoa oped forest resource value chains, such as rare indigenous
management practices and private sector engagement; step timber tree species (MLNR/FC, MoTI/NBSSI)
up efforts to access and utilize climate finance for emissions
reductions (MLNR, MoFA/Cocobod)

6.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)

● Improve forest investment climate for foreign/domestic invest-

ment in forests, plantations; promote extension of commercial
credit lines to prospective timber plantation owners (MLNR/FC,
MoF)

● Bring local officials, traditional authorities, and agriculture and

mining actors together in a participatory land use planning
process to better balance competing uses of land and forests
(MESTI/LUSPA, MLGRD/RCC/MMDAs, MLNR/FC/LC, MOCRA65 )

● Address illegalities and lack of transparency within the sector

(President, MLNR/FC)

Lumber yard factory.

Curt Carnemark / World Bank

65. MoTAC = Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture

61
 A fire in northern Ghana. Nicolas
Marino / Alamy Stock Photo

6. Status of Forest Resources  62

 7
63
7. Land Degradation
7.1 Land Health in Ghana

Land degradation affects Ghana’s Nationally, the problem is one of gradual degradation with no single
crop and pasture lands, forests, dominant driver. Proximate causes of land degradation are a complex
natural habitats, urban areas, mosaic of demographic, economic, and policy influences: high popu-
and water bodies. It is a complex lation growth; land tenure issues; increasing local demand for agricul-
process caused by a combination tural and wood products; limited technology use in farming systems
of biophysical and anthropogenic (and persistent reliance on rainfed and slash and burn agriculture);
drivers, occurring mainly in dry- dependence on fuelwood and charcoal for household energy in rural
BESE SAKA lands and on the margins of tropi- and urban settings; and lack of enforcement of relevant regulations,
(“sack of cola nuts”):
cal forests where soils have lost among others. The drivers of land degradation are varied (Table 7.1)
affluence,
abundance; their ability to provide ecosystem and closely associated with ecological zone and agricultural produc-
agriculture as unifier services. These services include tion system. Unsustainable agricultural practices are the leading
nutrient cycling, water filtration, drivers, out of which progressive reduction of fallow periods prob-
waste absorption, and the breakdown of vegetative cover and soil ably ranks foremost, accompanied by overgrazing, overharvesting
formation. The four major types of land degradation in Ghana include of fuelwood, and uncontrolled bush fires.
soil erosion, declining soil fertility, deterioration of rangelands, and
deforestation (MEST, 2011). These forces increase barren lands and Land degradation has increased over the past two decades in Ghana.
lower resilience to climate change (MES, 2002). They also constrain Two measures of vegetation health—the normalized difference veg-
socioeconomic development—reducing the availability or access to etation index (NDVI) and net primary productivity (NPP)—confirm
water, food, and energy and contributing to resource-based conflict— this. An analysis of annual mean vegetation density—defined as the
and jeopardize successful achievement of development goals, like number of plants per unit area—shows that Ghana’s vegetation health
UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15: Life on Land. has been decreasing since 2000. Net Primary Productivity (NPP66) ,
an indicator of vegetation health, has exhibited a downward trend

Box 7.1: Definition of Land Degradation

Land degradation is defined as “reduction or loss, in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, of the biological or economic produc-
tivity and complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or
from a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i)
soil erosion caused by wind and/or water; (ii) deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological or economic properties of soil;
and (iii) long-term loss of natural vegetation”

Source: UNCCD, 2012

66. MoCRA = Ministry of Chieftancy and Religious Affairs

7. Land Degradation  64
 Table 7.1: Drivers and factors behind land degradation (MES, 2002; MESTI, 2017a; MESTI, 2017b).

Driver
Anthropogenic
Process Type
Unsustainable, unregulated, Biophysical
Agro-silvo-pastoral practices
illegal use of common areas

Physical Erosion (water, wind) Improper soil management Lack of urban planning Naturally occurring
vulnerabilities
Galamsey mining due to:
Compaction
• Soil
Crusting Reduced fallow periods Sand and gravel winning composition
• Topography
Hardpan formation
• Climate

Chemical Nutrient depletion Slash-and-burn agriculture Bushfire setting conditions

(removal of NPK
resulting in decline in Limited use of fertilizers and
soil fertility) amendments use

Limited use of irrigation

Biological Loss of organic matter Agricultural horizon expansion Unsustainable fuelwood

(vegetation, biomass, /charcoal production
biodiversity)
Improper soil management Illegal logging

Deforestation / forest Livestock overgrazing Unsustainable forest

degradation management

Deterioration of Improper annual, perennial,

rangelands tree crop care (e.g. use of
no-shade)

in every region except for Greater Accra (which is mostly urban) and The Ministry of Environment and Science (2002) estimated that 35
Western (which is heavily forested). Declining NPP, considered a proxy percent of Ghana was prone to desertification with the overwhelming
indicator for land degradation, shows land degradation is intensify- area of vulnerability located in the Upper East Region and eastern part
ing in the north and middle of the country (particularly Upper West, of the Northern Region. The soil erosion map (Figure 7.1) illustrates
Northern, Upper East, Brong Ahafo, and Ashanti regions) (Barbier soil erosion geographically across the country with darker areas
et al., 2016). suffering the worst effects. Apart from the northern regions, there
are significant levels of soil erosion in the upper Volta Region and
Nearly 70 percent of Ghana is estimated to be subject to “severe to Brong Ahafo, as well as in Accra, where insufficient urban planning
very severe” erosion (Table 7.2) (Asiamah, 1987). Soil erosion rates has compromised the soil structure.
are high in the Upper West, Northern, Brong Ahafo, and Upper East
Regions where NPP has been on a strong downward trend for the The agriculture sector, which contributes about 18 percent of GDP
past two decades (2000-2016). Soil erosion from wind or water stems and 36 percent of formal employment, is the primary driver of land
from inappropriate agriculture, forestry, and infrastructure practices. degradation in Ghana. (World Bank, 2018b; GSS, 2017). Agricultural
In areas with more degraded lands surface runoff, and hence soil land—land under annual crops, perennial crops, and permanent pas-
erosion, is widespread and concentrated. Erosion is the greatest ture for livestock—is about 70 percent of total land area, up by about
threat to Ghana’s drylands in the Guinea and Sudan savannah zones one-third since 198067 . To keep up with rural population growth—27
in the North, where land degradation is qualified as “desertification.” percent since 1995—and increasing demand from urban consumers,

67. Net primary productivity shows net uptake of carbon--how much carbon dioxide plants take in during photosynthesis minus how much they release
through respiration. A negative value signals more carbon being released into the air, due in part to decomposition.

65
Figure 7.1: Soil erosion (RUSLE model) (World Bank the northern savannah and the transitional zone in the country’s
Hidden Dimensions Dataset). middle have become fragmented and unsustainable.

At the same time, Ghana’s agricultural growth is slowing. Annual

growth rates are on average below those of industry and services.
The sector remains plagued by low yields, with Ghana behind many
of its West African peers. Data from the last decade indicate that
while total output has increased, productivity growth has lagged,
suggesting agricultural growth is driven by expansion of the agricul-
tural horizon into uncultivated areas—typically natural forests—rather
than by increasing output through higher yields (Figure 7.2 and Box
7.2) (World Bank, 2018b). Ghana’s use of irrigation was a mere 0.23
percent of all agricultural land equipped for it. Nutrient depletion—
removing the nutrients nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium
(K) from the soil without replacing them—is prevalent across all of
Ghana’s agro-ecological zones. Such overexploitation is caused by
farmers with little access to fertilizers who are forced to bring less
fertile soils on marginal lands into production. Ghana has a negative
soil nutrient balance the amount of NPK added is significantly less
than the amount removed at harvest or lost by erosion and leaching.
Fertilizer consumption in Ghana is just under 21 kg/ha, which is six
times less than lower-middle income country peers (Figure 7.3)69.

agricultural production has increased by more than one-half (57 per-

cent), in large part through expansion of arable land. But arable land Table 7.2: Erosion vulnerability in Ghana (Asiamah, 1987).
per capita has shrunk by one-fifth since 2000, from 0.205 ha/person
to 0.165 (2016 figures)68. With decreasing levels of arable land per Type of erosion Land Area (km2) Proportion of
capita, Ghana has less room for agricultural expansion other than Land Area
by intensification. Slight/moderate
70,441 31%
sheet erosion70
The marked increase in agriculture has fostered changes in land use Severe sheet and
across all regions of the country. This has led to two major negative 103,248 45%
gully erosion
trends in land use and productivity: (1) transformation of forests to
Very severe sheet
croplands and shrubs, grasslands, sparsely vegetated areas (i.e., for- 54,712 24%
and gully erosion
est degradation and deforestation); and (2) a decline in productivity
(MESTI, 2017b). Conversion of natural habitats to agricultural use
homogenizes the diverse mosaic of vegetation types—savannah, Figure 7.2: Growth of staple crops, 2008-2014
woodlands, gallery forests, and wetlands—and turns them into crop- (Adapted from World Bank, 2018b).
dominated landscapes. Land degradation is especially pronounced Crop production Area cultivated Yield (MT/ha)
12.96%

12.13%

in the Northern Region, where the share of forest conversion is the

highest in Ghana. In this region, conversion of forest lands to shrubs,
9.38%

grasslands, and sparse vegetation is estimated at about 75 percent

6.66%
6.50%

5.56%

(MESTI, 2017b). Shoyama et al. (2018) discuss how the northern savan-
3.64%

3.35%

2.96%

2.78%

nah has been a significant victim to this change. A 5,600 km2 sample
0.98%
0.84%

of the Northern Region between 1984-2015 showed cropland steadily

M a i ze Ri ce S or g h u m Ca s s a v a Yam

increasing by 150 percent while grassland and closed woodland

-1.28%

declined 90 and 73 percent, respectively. Due to this phenomenon

-3.19%
-3.66%

68. Data comes from World Bank WDI (database), https://data.worldbank. 70. Sheet erosion is washing away of soil due to surface runoff. Gully
org/indicator/AG.LND.AGRI.ZS?locations=GHData comes from World erosion is when runoff carries away soil and forms channels of
Bank WDI (database), https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/AG.LND. significant depth.
AGRI.ZS?locations=GH

69. Data comes from World Bank WDI (database), https://data.worldbank.

org/indicator/AG.CON.FERT.ZS?locations=GH.

7. Land Degradation  66
 Figure 7.3: Fertilizer consumption, Ghana vs. contributor to land degradation. Water courses are particularly vulner-
structural peers (World Bank WDI database). able because land disturbances increase the likelihood of erosion
and sediment loading in streams (Rajaee et al., 2015).
70

60

50
7.2 Economics of Land Degradation
Cameroon
Kyrgyz Republic
kg/ha arable land

40
Cote d'Ivoire

30
Kenya
Myanmar The cost of soil erosion is estimated at about US$0.54 billion, or 0.9
Nicarag ua

20
Ghana percent of the country’s GDP. Land degradation harms Ghana’s most
10
vulnerable population, the rural poor, entrenching extreme poverty
0
even more deeply. The 32 districts with increasing poverty rates
are those more likely to have a negative NPP trend, while districts
2007 2008 2009 201 0 201 1 201 2 201 3 201 4 201 5 201 6

with reduced poverty rates tend to see positive changes in NPP. In

2012, there were 6.2 million people living below the national pov-
Other factors such as internal migration and illegal galamsey gold erty line in Ghana71. Although the percent poverty headcount ratio
mining have contributed to and amplified land degradation. Migrants for the entire country is 24 percent, it is 40 percent in districts with
seeking to escape land degradation at home may also be fueling land degraded land—those with negative or no change in NPP. Districts
degradation in their new destinations. The population has decreased that have seen little or no poverty reduction tend to see more intense
in degraded rural areas and moved to urban areas, primarily in the land degradation, and NPP change is more negative in places with
Greater Accra (Accra, Teshie, Tema), Northern (Tamale) and Ashanti a stagnant or increased poverty rate.
(Kumasi, Obuasi) regions. Population growth and rapid urbanization
correlate with increased land degradation, which tends to be greater
in districts where population growth is strongest (Figure 7.4). Not
surprisingly, the Greater Accra Region, which experiences the great-
est influx of migrants, has the highest soil erosion rate in the country
at 15.6 tons/ha/year. Illegal gold mining has also been a significant

Box 7.2: Specifics of staple crop production in Ghana

As reported in a yield gap study, staple crop production in Ghana is predominantly with smallholders, with about 90 percent of
farmers cultivating less than one hectare. It is characterized by traditional methods of farming using hoes and cutlasses. There
is little mechanization except in the forest/savannah transitional zone and the Guinea Savannah zone, where tractors are used
for land preparation. Land preparation using bullocks is also practiced in the Sudan savannah zone. Cereal crops (mainly maize,
sorghum, and millet) are produced in annual single-crop systems in the lower rainfall areas in the three northern regions. Maize is
produced in annual single-crop systems in the higher rainfall area in the southern forest zone and in annual double-crop systems
in the forest/savannah transitional zone. Typical double-crop systems in this zone include maize-maize, maize-cowpea and
groundnut-maize. In the three northern regions, sorghum and millet are often intercropped with cowpea and/or maize and in the
southern forest zone maize is often intercropped with one or more other crops such as cassava, cocoyam, and plantain.

Source: http://www.yieldgap.org/ghana

71. Data from World Bank Poverty and Equity Data Portal,
http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/country/GHA

67
Land degradation may be inhibiting poverty reduction and contribut- Figure 7.5: GDP, poverty reduction, and GEP (GSS, 2018;
ing to income inequality. The additional macro growth that Ghana World Bank WDI database; World Bank Macroeconomic
has experienced has not been fully inclusive. Poverty reduction has Growth Accounting Tool).
slowed dramatically even as annual GDP growth rates have increased.
Consequently, the growth elasticity of poverty (GEP)—defined as
9% 1.4
the percent change in poverty divided by the percent change in per 8%
1.2
capita GDP—has dropped precipitously (Figure 7.5). GEP decline 7%

GDP and Poverty rates

1.0
6%
is a structural change that shifted drivers of economic growth to 5% 0.8

GEP
Ghana’s services and non-manufacturing industrial sectors—minerals 4% 0.6
3%
and oil—and away from agriculture, where most poor households 2%
0.4

0.2
are occupied. The extractives industry, which has grown faster rela- 1%
0% 0.0
tive to many sectors including agriculture, is capital intensive and 1991-1998 1998-2005 2005-2012 2012-2016

employs a small proportion of unskilled workers. The type of natural Annual GDP growth Annual GDP growth per capita
Annual poverty reduction Growth elasticity of poverty
resource-dependent growth that Ghana is now experiencing has low
potential to create quality employment, especially for the non-urban
poor. Poverty rates have stagnated, inequality has widened, and the
absolute number of the poor has increased in the Volta, Northern, and Wealthier districts are characterized by higher vegetation, produc-
Upper West regions, where unsustainable agricultural practices have tivity, and more favorable agricultural land. Both NPP (vegetation
led to lower soil quality, higher erosion, and lower output. productivity) and NDVI (green vegetation) were higher in wealthy
districts, defined as the highest quintile in terms of poverty rates,
while the poor districts were in the lowest quintile in both 2000 and
Figure 7.4: Scatterplot showing correlation between
2010 (in 2010, these differences became statistically significant).
land degradation and population growth (World Bank
This suggests wealthier districts are not only endowed with higher
Hidden Dimensions Dataset).
vegetation and vegetation productivity, but that the gap has also
widened between rich and poor districts (World Bank, 2018a)72. The
share of more favorable agricultural land, defined as better irrigated,
flatter land of higher soil quality, is high in wealthy districts, and soil
erosion is lower. Additionally, flood frequency and drought severity,
two factors amplified by land degradation, are lower in districts with
lower poverty (Table 7.3).

This wealthy/poor dichotomy manifests itself geographically through

a development gap between the North and South of the country. Over
the past two decades prosperity has not been shared equally. The
more populous southern coastal and forest zones (Figure 7.6) have
led the national decline in poverty. Forest zones contribute double
the agricultural GDP of the savannah zones thanks to their supplying
Reducing poverty is a challenging task in regions where land deg- high-value products such as cocoa and timber (World Bank, 2018b).
radation is high. The soil erosion rate (RUSLE model, 2015) is high Ghana’s poor, however, have remained concentrated in the Northern
in the Upper West, Northern, Brong Ahafo, and Upper East Regions Savannah Ecological Zone (NSEZ)—comprised agroecologically of
where NPP has been on a strong downward trend for the past two the Sudan and Guinea savannahs and administratively by the Upper
decades (2000-2016). Rural populations on degrading agricultural East, Upper West, and Northern Regions, and the northern portions
lands, such as those in remote areas like the north, appear immune of Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions—where more than seven out of
to the poverty reduction stimulated by nationwide economic growth. every 10 people live below the poverty line73. The NSEZ has a hot, dry
Barbier and Hochard (2016) demonstrated that the higher the pro- climate, low rainfall and recurrent drought, shallow, erosion-prone
portion of a country’s rural population living on degraded lands, the soils, and is home to a population dependent on rainfed agriculture
lower the effects on poverty reduction. and transhumance. As part of the drylands it is highly susceptible
to environmental degradation and climate change (CILSS, 2016).

72. This may be linked to significantly higher precipitation in wealthy 73. Poverty rates (as of 2018) for the three northernmost regions are:
districts than in poor ones in 2010. Upper East Region, 72 percent; Upper West Region, 76 percent;
Northern Region, 71 percent. This information comes from the
World Bank’s Hidden Dimensions Dataset (database).

7. Land Degradation  68
 Figure 7.6: Agroecological Zones in Ghana (World The interplay of gender dynamics on land tenure and land manage-
Bank, 2015). ment services amplifies the land crisis. The gender gap in agricultural
land ownership is especially pronounced. In the Northern, Upper East,
and Upper West Regions women are traditionally excluded from land
inheritance; across these Regions only two percent of women own
land, compared to 50 percent in Ashanti Region. Women in the north
also have less access to credit, markets, and information. Women
farmers in Greater Accra are able to access credit at twice the rate of
those in the Upper East. Another example: thirteen percent of agricul-
tural extension agents are women, which poses a cultural problem in
areas where social norms render it difficult or forbidden for women to
interact with men outside of the home (World Bank, 2018a). Evidence
shows that gender inequality has knock-on effects on productivity.
In the cocoa sector, women farmers’ productivity is 25-30 percent
lower than that of men due to difficulties in access to training, loans,
and agricultural inputs (Hiscox and Goldstein, 2014). Women farmers
also have lower yields because they fallow their lands for shorter
periods and are more likely to have their land expropriated during
fallowing due to weak tenure security (Goldstein and Udry, 2008).

Severe land degradation can force rural populations to expand agri-

cultural lands to other ecosystems. Analysis shows that districts with
high shares of agricultural labor have lower rainfall and vegetation
productivity (using NPP as an indicator) and suffer from more frequent
floods and severe droughts as well as more intense soil erosion (World
Bank, 2018a). If other parts of the economy are not able to siphon
excess labor rural, populations will expand their agricultural search
Traditional rainfed agriculture is the dominant economic sector in to marginal and fragile lands. Expanding crop cultivation to relatively
the Northern, Upper West, and Volta Regions, where poverty rates low fertility soils on degraded lands may not lead to sustainable
have stagnated, and the absolute number of poor has increased. agricultural production—with households earning US$950 (in 2011
Land degradation contributes to declining agricultural productivity PPP terms) less than those tilling more productive soils—and that
and output and thus household earnings, which helps to explain why loss of ecosystem functions through chronic degradation of land has
those engaged in agriculture as their primary form of employment long-lasting effects and is difficult to remediate (Haile et al., 2016).
earn around US$1,000 annually, slightly more than one-half average Such findings confirm the theory of link between land and a poverty
GDP per capita (World Bank, 2018b). trap. Thus, land degradation is part of a vicious cycle that feeds into
both poverty and sustained environmental damage.

Table 7.3: Flood occurrence, drought severity, soil erosion rates and share of more favored agricultural land area
by districts’ poverty level (World Bank Hidden Dimensions Dataset).

Drought sever-
Share of agricultural Flood occurrence
Soil erosion rates (t/ ity (avg. length of
land considered as (avg. number,
ha/yr) drought times dry-
“more favored” (%) 1985-2011)
ness, 1901-2008)

Top 1/3 of districts by pov- 78.9 3.2 8.6 20.1

erty rates (“rich districts”)

Bottom 1/3 of dis- 40.4 6.8 12.1 22.9

tricts by poverty rates
(“poor districts”)

69
7.3 Governance Framework and Analysis

The legal framework governing land management in Ghana is com- leads watershed planning and implementation of SLWM activities in
plex and is characterized by an intricate combination of constitutional the agricultural landscape through Directorates such as those for
provisions, common law principles, legislation, and traditional law. Agricultural Engineering Services (AESD) in the case of watershed
Some inconsistent legislative provisions make it difficult to effectively planning, and Agricultural Extension Services (DAES) in the case of
implement the legal provisions. Table 7.4 presents some legislation on-farm activities. Under MLNR, the Forestry Commission’s Wildlife
enacted since 1953 to address land management in Ghana. Division and Forest Service Division implement activities related to
biodiversity management in non-agricultural landscapes in the case
Technical land degradation issues are governed by institutions across of the former, and sustainable forest management activities, in the
several Ministries. MESTI provides leadership on land degradation case of the latter. Also, under MLNR is the Lands Commission (LC)--
from the technical perspective, with its EPA taking care of monitoring established in Article 258 of the 1992 Constitution and by the Lands
aspects related to SLWM. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) Commission Act, 2008 (Act 767)—which is tasked with managing

Table 7.4: Additional relevant legal and legislative instruments related to SLM

Legislation Purpose

Town and Country Planning (Gold Coast) (Cap. 84) Establishes the Town and Country Board, which is tasked with the
responsibility of the orderly and progressive development of land,
towns, and other areas whether urban or rural, and the preservation
and improvement of amenities in these areas.

Land and Soil Conservation Ordinance (1953) Provides for the establishment of committees with powers to preserve
and reclaim land and to protect water resources in approved areas,
and of further committees to coordinate the work and policy therein
as well as to make provisions for related matters.

Land Planning and Soil Conservation Act (amended 1957) Amends the Land and Soil Conservation Ordinance and provides for
the establishment of committees that should promote in designated
areas proper land use and cultivation for purposes of erosion control.

Administration of Lands Act 1962 (Act 123) Permits the State to act as a Trustee for stool lands, creating a situation
where the State holds the legal title to the land, but channels accrued
benefits to the community.

State Lands Act, 1962 (Act 125) Provides for the acquisition of land in the national interest and other
purposes connected therewith.

Lands (Statutory Wayleaves) Act, 1963 (Act 186) Provides for the entry on any land for the purpose of the construction,
installation, and maintenance of works of public utility, and for the
creation of rights of way and other similar rights in respect of such
works and for purposes connected with those matters.

Control and Prevention of Bushfires Act 1990 (PNDCL 229) Prohibits use of bushfire unless expressly authorized; sets up local
governance structures to prevent, control, and monitor bushfires.

Water Use Regulations. 2001 (L.I. 1692) Establishes regulations for issuance of water use permits or grant of
water rights for various uses.

7. Land Degradation  70
 public lands, advising on land use policy, guaranteeing tenure, and for land services delivery, and promote community and participa-
providing services in geographic information, property registration tory land management and land use planning within a decentralized
and valuation, and surveying and mapping. planning system.

The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), an institu- As a signatory to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, Ghana
tion of the Executive Branch, is the main institution responsible for developed, in 2002, the National Action Programme (NAP) to Combat
long-term national land use planning (as well as implementation of Drought and Desertification (2002-2027). The NAP proposed seven
the SDGs). As per Article 87 (c) and (d) of the 1992 Constitution the action programs and plans designed to operate simultaneously within
NDPC makes proposals “for the protection of the natural and physi- a context of integrated watershed management to address the proxi-
cal environment” and “for ensuring the even development of the mate and direct causes of land degradation holistically: 1) land use
districts of Ghana by the effective utilisation of available resources.” and soil management; 2) management of vegetative cover; 3) wildlife
The National Development Planning Commission Act, 1994 (Act 479) and biodiversity management; 4) water resources management; 5)
and the National Development Planning (System) Act, 1994 (Act 480) rural infrastructure development; 6) energy resources management;
provide the contours for development planning policy and strategy, 7) improvement of socioeconomic environment for poverty reduction.
and define and regulate planning procedure, respectively. Restoration of vegetative cover is considered a key objective. The
NAP stipulated that program implementation would be the respon-
The NDPC executes the The Medium Term National Development sibility of the erstwhile Ministry of Environment and Science, now
Policy Framework (2018- 2021), which focuses on agriculture as the MESTI, and that there would be a National Desertification Committee
main driver of economic transformation. The Agenda seeks to expand made of multi-sectoral stakeholders, and a National Secretariat to
forest conservation areas, promote sustainable water management, Combat Desertification based at the EPA; a National Desertification
combat deforestation, desertification, and soil erosion, and boost Fund is meant to finance NAP activities. At the subnational level
resilience to climate change. Several initiatives linked to the Agenda regional, MMDA, and local committees are tasked with SLWM issues
pivot around SLWM, such as “Planting for Food and Jobs” (provision of (Figure 7.7).
improved agricultural inputs such as subsidized fertilizer, and access
to markets and information) and “One Village, One Dam” (construc-
tion of small dams and dugouts to provide smallholder farmers year- Figure 7.7: Governance Structure SLM and
round water availability) (See Table 7.5). Desertification

The Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority (LUSPA) performs the
MESTI
spatial, land use, and human settlement planning functions as codi-
fied in Act 479 and Act 480. Established under the Land Use and Development Inter-ministerial
Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925), LUSPA is under the umbrella of partners consultation
MESTI; it collaborates with Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs) at
the subnational level. It uses a “three tier spatial planning model” that National SLM / National SLM /
provides for planning of i) spatial development frameworks; ii) struc- Desertification Desertification Fund
Committee
ture plans; iii) local plans to ensure a connection between national
development strategies and their spatial actualization. It is meant to
make and safeguard improvements to the natural and built environ- National SLM/Desertification
Secretariat (based at EPA)
ments, working at the regional and MMDA levels to ensure as much.
In relation to the natural environment, the Authority is mandated to
Regional Environmental
manage physical development in sensitive areas including forest Management Committee
reserves, nature reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, green belts, coastal
wetlands, water bodies, water catchment areas, mining areas, open Metropolitan, Municipal, District
spaces and public parks, collaborating where necessary with EPA, Environmental Management
Committee
MC and FC to reclaim exploited natural resource areas.
Community Environmental
The 1999 National Land Policy, the governing framework on land Management Committee
management, seeks to, among other objectives, harmonize laws
and practices to facilitate equitable access to land and enhance
tenure security, order the land market to curb the incidence of land
encroachment and unapproved development schemes, create and
maintain institutional capacity at the national and subnational levels

71
Table 7.5: Selected land management projects

Project title, loca- Activity Development partners;

tion (duration) Government partners

Sustainable Land and The Project Development Objective of this US$28M project (which includes GEF, World Bank; MESTI
Water Management US$14.77M in additional financing) is to expand the area under SLWM prac-
Project (SLWMP), tices in selected watersheds. The specific objectives are to: (a) improve
Northern Savannah, SLWM practices to reduce land degradation and enhance maintenance
(2014-2020) of biodiversity in selected micro-watersheds; and (b) strengthen spatial
planning for identification of linked watershed investments in the Northern
Savannah region. SLWM activities are currently ongoing in 174 communities
within 12 districts across northern Ghana.

Ghana Agriculture A US$78 million project, GASIP aims at scaling up investments in private IFAD; MoFA
Sector Investment sector-led pro-poor agricultural value chain development; its Objective is:
Programme (GASIP) “agribusinesses, including smallholders, have enhanced their profitability
(2014-2021) and climate change resilience”. The project is built on four strategic axes (i)
linking smallholder farmers to agribusinesses to enhance pro-poor growth,
(ii) nationwide scaling up of a successful value chain investment approach,
(iii) promoting and mainstreaming climate change resilience approaches in
Ghana, in particular in the northern regions, financed through the Adaptation
for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) and (iv) knowledge manage-
ment, harmonization of intervention approaches, policy optimization.

Land Administration The US$85M project (of which US$35M is in additional financing) looks to World Bank; MLNR/LC
Project - 2 (2011-2021) consolidate and strengthen land administration and management systems
for efficient and transparent land services delivery. The project includes
components to harmonize the policy and legislative framework and formal-
ize institutional arrangements in a strengthened and decentralized land
administration system.

Ghana Commercial The goal of this US$150 million project (which includes $50 million of addi- World Bank; MoFA
Agriculture Project tional financing) is to improve agricultural productivity and production of both
(2012-2020) smallholder and nucleus farms in selected project intervention areas (Accra
Plains and Savannah Accelerated Development Authority zone).

Planting for Food and The US$140M program aims to increase food production to achieve food Various donors; MoFA
Jobs self-sufficiency and create jobs. It focuses on staple crops of maize, rice,
soybean, sorghum, and vegetables, and implementation is based on five
pillars: (i) improved seeds; (ii) fertilizers; (iii) extension services; (iv) marketing
arrangements and reduction of post-harvest losses; and (v) an electronic
platform for M&E. The program targets 200,000 farmers in all districts of
the country.

7. Land Degradation  72
 7.3.1 Gaps and Challenges ● Conduct an analysis of indigenous erosion/soil degradation
management practices (e.g. stone bunding); facilitate uptake
Lack of coherence in land management. The legal framework gov- of SLWM knowledge through a locally appropriate knowledge
erning land management in Ghana is byzantine. It is characterized dissemination strategy, e.g. farmer field schools or demonstra-
by an intricate combination of constitutional provisions, common law tion plots to foster peer-to-peer learning (MESTI/EPA; MoFA/
principles, legislation, and, above all, traditional and customary law. DAES)
Inconsistent legislative provisions make effective implementation dif-
● Work with communities to promote low-technology rehabilita-
ficult. As a result, land management and administration fall under the
tion of degraded lands, such as planting of restorative cover
responsibility of a number of different MDAs ministries and agencies,
crops and use of composting and green manure to enrich
as well as traditional authorities. At least 10 agencies and institutions
depleted soils; increase assistance to smallholders to plant
at the central level are directly and/or indirectly mandated for land
trees on farms (e.g. moringa (Moringa olifera), white acacia
management and administration. However, these institutions have
(Faidherbia albida)) (MESTI/EPA; MoFA/DAES)
mandates that are often not well defined and sometimes conflict-
ing. This makes it difficult to identify the correct authority to deal ● Establish and reinforce inclusive local governance structures to
with land issues and pin down institutional accountability. Details of discuss and decide on local rules for management of common
duplication of institutional roles were provided in the World Bank’s and privately held lands, especially in regard to transhumance/
2007 Ghana CEA. livestock grazing in northern areas (MESTI/EPA; MLGRD/
MMDAs; MoCRA; MoFA)
Weak coordination hinders a comprehensive, integrated SLWM
● Increase support to environmental management committees
approach. Coordination among government agencies on land deg-
at the regional and district levels for planning, implementing,
radation issues is generally weak, especially at the national level.
monitoring and evaluating land degradation neutral interven-
Opportunities and forums for strategic dialogue among MESTI, MLNR,
tions (MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs)
and MoFA are limited. Weak intersectoral coordination makes policy
harmonization and coherence more difficult and reduces information ● Relieve pressure on trees in the landscape by promoting:
flow. MESTI may not have the resources or convening power to lead retention and planting of trees on farms, efficiency in fuelwood
on a cross-cutting issue as contentious as land use management. use, e.g. through improved cookstoves, alternate sources of
household energy, and establishment of sustainably managed
Weak enforcement and compliance. Overall weak enforcement community woodlots (MESTI/EPA; MoFA/DAES)
and compliance with environmental laws continues to be a chal- ● Improve public sector ability to prepare and disseminate maps
lenge. The key issue that has impeded adequate implementation and for local, district, and regional land use purposes (MESTI/
subsequent compliance with the law is weak institutional capacity, LUSPA; MLNR/GSD)
specifically lack of adequate resources to cover operational costs. As
a result, illegal activities that negatively affect land such as bushfires ● Develop land use and spatial development plans for all MMDAs;
in forest areas, illegal logging and mining activities, or cultivation over ensure active participation of traditional authorities and other
river banks and hillsides, remain largely uncontrolled. stakeholders in plan formulation and implementation (MESTI/
LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs)

7.4 Recommendations to Reduce Land Degradation 7.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)

7.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years) ● Scale-up existing interventions in SLWM—crop rotation, plant-
● Improve communication and knowledge management related ing of economic trees, composting techniques, development
to SLWM (MESTI) of watershed plans, replanting of degraded riparian zones
to improve water retention—to more districts and communi-
● Improve inter-ministerial and interagency coordination and
ties in order to reduce rural poverty and build the resilience
cooperation on land use and land management issues (MESTI/
of communities and ecosystems; develop the SLWM Project
EPA/LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs; MLNR/FC/LC/MC; MoFA;
(World Bank/GEF) into a larger program of land and water
NDPC)
management across the entire NSEZ (See Box 7.3) (MESTI;
MLNR/FC; MoF)

73
● Incorporate ecosystem values in i) national and local land use ● Build momentum to enact critical reforms in land tenure, secu-
planning exercises and ii) project economic analysis (to quan- rity (Cabinet; Parliament)
tify/monetize application of SLWM practices and illustrate their
● Undertake a comprehensive national land registration exer-
positive economic effects); target dissemination to key policy-
cise, advancing customary land records, and clarifying proce-
makers (MESTI; MoFA; MoF)
dures for access to customary lands and public land acquisition
● Update national education curricula to contain clear messages to facilitate private investment (MLNR/LC)
on sustainable actions that avoid land degradation and/or
● Offer incentives for individuals to invest in their lands through
lead to improvement, restoration, and rehabilitation of lands
land titling, access to credit, access to markets, access to agri-
(MESTI; MoE)
cultural inputs and best practices, etc. (MLNR/LC; MoFA; MoF)
● Promote inclusivity in SLWM by creating employment opportu-
● Establish, scale, and support (with extension services, capacity
nities for women, youth, and other sensitive groups living on
building) CREMAs to incentivize and decentralize local land use
affected/degraded lands (MESTI/EPA; MLNR/FC; MoFA/DAES)
planning and management (MESTI/EPA; MLNR/FC)
● Harmonize and streamline land management policies and
● Resource communities to control bushfires and reduce inci-
regulations, and strengthen key institutions to implement
dence of bushfires started deliberately, e.g. for slash-and-burn
SLWM practices effectively (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, NDPC)
agriculture or hunting of bush game (MoFA/DAES; MoI/GNFRS74 )
● Formalize NDPC role as lead institution in land use planning to
prevent land degradation (Parliament)

● Promote an enabling environment for mechanisms to integrate

land use planning and mainstreaming, including principles of
land degradation neutrality-based land and water manage-
ment programs and projects, across sectors (Cabinet)

● Update land use plans; address human capacity gaps by

making development planners available to the local level
(MESTI/LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs)

7.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)

● Progress towards a holistic, landscape approach to develop-

ment planning and SLWM at the local, regional, and national
levels (NDPC; MESTI/EPA; LUSPA)

● Work with traditional authorities to improve communication

and knowledge transfer that support i) land degradation-
neutral farming and other land uses; ii) women’s access to land
ownership (MESTI/EPA; MLNR/LC; MoCRA; MoFA/DAES)

● Encourage and increase women’s access to land ownership,

markets, credit, and extension services to facilitate invest-
ments in land degradation neutral activities (MLNR/LC)

74. GNFRS = Ghana National Fire and Rescue Service

7. Land Degradation  74
 Box 7.3: Dealing with land degradation: lessons from Nigeria

Despite its middle-income status, Nigeria’s poverty incidence is high with nearly four out of every ten living below the poverty line,
and many of those impoverished living on degraded lands. Almost 6 percent of Nigeria’s land mass is estimated to be severely
degraded. A preliminary inventory identified 6,000 degraded lands sites. The country is classified as one of the ten most vulnerable
countries in climate change in the world, according to the 2017 Climate Change Vulnerability Index.

The Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) is a US$900 million credit from the International Development
Association (IDA) to reclaim degraded areas and reduce vulnerability to soil erosion in targeted sub-watersheds. The project engages
and coordinates across sectors and stakeholders, from government at the federal, state, and local levels, to community and non-
state actors, to academics and private sector service providers. It is supported through an alliance of development partners: World
Bank, GEF, Special Climate Change Fund, TerrAfrica, GIZ, and FAO.

To support Nigeria’s goals of achieving sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development, the project delivers solutions that
reduce the vulnerability of people, infrastructure, assets, and natural capital, to land degradation by preventing erosion, reclaiming
valuable land, and focusing on sustainable livelihoods to enhance resilience. Project activities are a combination of civil engineer-
ing, vegetative land management, watershed protection measures, and community-led livelihood enhancements. NEWMAP’s three
main components are: 1) gully restoration, catchment management, and economic support measures; 2) capacity building in erosion
and watershed management for key national and state institutions; 3) climate change and alternative energy use in rural areas.

Despite challenging circumstances including weak institutions, overlapping responsibilities and conflicting mandates, capacity
gaps, and socioeconomic and environmental factors (e.g. high population density, rapid urbanization, fragile soils, heavy rainfall),
NEWMAP’s approach delivered effective results: drafting of planning tools (participatory sub-watershed management plans; storm
water master plans, state-wide erosion risk mapping); land restoration (over 1,500 ha of degraded land reclaimed; rehabilitation of
25 gully erosion sites, 30 more in process); livelihoods improvements (9,318 households benefitting from income generating activi-
ties, including gabion box welding, cement sales, block molding, aquaculture, tailoring, horticulture, cassava processing, palm oil
production and processing).

The Federal Ministry of Environment has signaled willingness to adopt NEWMAP’s approach as the gold standard in addressing
Nigeria’s land degradation issues. To build upon this success, the European Investment Bank is planning to invest US$200 million
into NEWMAP to scale up investments. NEWMAP has also supported Nigeria in issuing, in December 2017, Africa’s first sovereign
Green Bond with a capital value of US$30 million, to meet its NDC target.

Source: World Bank, 2019.

75
 Illegal gold mining on the bank of the
Pra from
Africa's elephant population is under threat Riverpoaching
in Prestea, Western
and habitat Region.
loss.
Randy Olson / Alamy Stock Photo

7. Land Degradation  76
 8
77 
8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-
scale Gold Mining (Galamsey)
8.1 From Traditional Practice to Modern Challenge

Artisanal and small-scale gold min- advanced machinery and allowing illegal miners, or galamseyers,
ing (ASGM) has figured prominently to exploit large surface areas in short periods of time (Bansah et
in the economic and social fabric al., 2018).
of Ghana since time immemorial.
The country owes its reputation as Galamsey requires the removal of overlying layers of surface veg-
the “Gold Coast” to the ease with etation, forest, and rock. Conducted hastily and without oversight,
which miners can extract gold from illegal mining operations lead to deforestation and loss of biodiversity,
accessible, rich deposits (Afriyie et accelerated soil erosion and sedimentation, and water and air pollu-
BI NKA BI:
al., 2016; Botchway, 1995). Whereas tion. The result is a landscape deprived of vital ecosystem services,
(“bite not one
another”): caution most large-scale miners conduct bearing significant ramifications for local populations dependent on
against provocation hard rock mining, ASGM is primar- land, forest, and water resources (Figure 8.1).
and strife ily alluvial (in stream beds). Some
current ASGM practices still rely Extent. Acknowledged as widespread, the full geographic extent of
on traditional tools and techniques to separate gold from sediment galamsey is unknown. Data are limited due to the clandestine and
(Ofosu-Mensah, 2011; Wilson et al., 2015). transitory nature of operations. Galamseyers work to avoid detection,
choosing sites difficult to access, remaining ready to uproot quickly,
When unlicensed—and hence illegal—ASGM is referred to colloquially and mining at night. The size of an average galamsey site is deter-
as “galamsey75.” McQuilken and Hilson (2016) make the distinction mined by the extent of excavation achievable with a limited number
between formal ASGM and galamsey, with the former synonymous of earthmoving machines and a mining cycle of two or three months.
with legal/licensed mining, while the latter, although illegal, indi- Sites generally range from 5-15 ha, although some stakeholders have
cates that miners have “social license to operate” from traditional reported areas as large as over 100 ha (WBG, 2019). Owusu-Nimo et
authorities or communities, but do not have government permits. al. (2018) identified 7,470 individual galamsey operations in 312 towns
Though informal gold mining established Ghana as a world-class and villages—an average of 24 per town—in Western Region alone.76
gold producer by the time of the Akan and Adansi kingdoms in the
sixth and seventh centuries, galamsey only increased in intensity
and destructiveness when the price of gold skyrocketed following
the 2008 global financial crisis. The recent galamsey explosion has
involved a combination of foreign speculators, politically-connected
locals, equipment/machinery providers, rural villagers, out-of-work
miners, and migrant laborers. Crucially, foreigners and well-heeled
Ghanaians have provided access to capital, enabling the import of

75. The word “galamsey” is derived from the phrase “gather them and 76. Hotspots were in Tarkwa Nsuaem, Amenfi East, and Prestea-Huni
sell.” Valley District(Owusu-Nimo et al., 2017).

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) 78

 Figure 8.1: Key ecological hazards in the ASGM sector (Rajaee et al., 2015 with silhouettes adapted from UNEP
Mercury: Time to Act (2013)).

Water pollution. Dependent on alluvial soils, galamsey follows riv- Furthermore, surface mining can displace farmers, leading to knock-
ers and their tributaries, diverting or destroying them, restricting on effects of deforestation in untouched areas, agricultural intensi-
stream flow, increasing vulnerability to flooding, and endangering fication (due to land scarcity), and land degradation from the loss
downstream water usage. Increased turbidity, sediment loading, of ecosystem services that are critical to rural jobs and the wider
and heavy metal contamination in the major Pra and Birim Rivers are economy. ASGM may also force affected farmers to cultivate marginal,
attributed to galamsey (Attua et al., 2014; Hogarh et al., 2016; Kusimi erosion-prone lands (Schueler et al., 2011). Gold and cocoa especially
et al., 2014). Galamsey disrupts aquatic environments and fisheries maintain an uneasy coexistence, with the two vying over land and
and threatens access to potable water. In Tarkwa, Western Region, labor, and galamsey is a likely contributor to decreased cocoa health
multiple studies have shown water quality levels unsuitable for human and yields (Boateng et al., 2014; Snapir et al., 2017). Nevertheless,
consumption (Armah et al., 2012; Asante et al., 2007; Bansah, et al., galamsey may be tied to positive effects for cocoa because it provides
2018; Cobbina et al., 2013; Rajaee et al., 2015; Rossiter et al., 2010). income diversification and supplements off-season income, allow-
Since 2011, the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) has had to ing farmers to invest mining profits into farming inputs (Hilson and
shut down water treatment operations several times, including on Garforth, 2013; Okoh and Hilson, 2011).
the Birim, where pollution was too high for water to be treated for
household use (Amankwah, 2013; Bansah et al., 2018; Long et al., Land degradation. Digging and dredging of alluvial soils can lead to
2013). Without alternatives, miners and communities may continue loss of arable land and degradation of rural landscapes. The destruc-
to rely on contaminated water for daily needs. tion of farmlands in galamsey areas has engendered food security
issues, including increases in the price of staple crops (Bansah et al.,
Deforestation. Ghana’s mineral belts coincide with its remaining for- 2018). In the cocoa-growing southwest, galamsey directly affected
ested areas, making galamsey a deforestation and forest degradation 43,879 ha in 2015—up 250 percent from 2011—and an additional
risk. Some HFZ forest reserves saw as much as a 12-fold increase in “impact zone” of over 500,000 ha (Snapir et al., 2017). Open mine
galamsey between 2011-2015; reserves spared from encroachment pits and abandoned galamsey sites are massive fall hazards that
still experienced galamsey’s deleterious effects when water polluted threaten people and livestock; they also modify natural drainage pat-
upstream flowed through their forests (Snapir et al., 2017). As illegal terns and become stagnant pools and breeding zones for mosquitoes
mining communities expand, illegal logging and fuelwood harvest- and mosquito-borne diseases (Bansah et al., 2018).
ing increase to fulfill demand for construction and cooking needs.

79
A giant illegal gold mining pit mars the edge of a
forest in Nkatieso, Western Region.
Steven J. Silverstein / World Bank

Heavy metal contamination. Recovering gold creates pollution from to harbor three times the mercury suggested by the U.S. EPA, while
arsenic, lead, and mercury, among other elements. Contaminants samples of cassava, a staple of the Ghanaian diet, have also revealed
are discharged in the immediate environment, including as effluent contamination (Rajaee et al., 2015).
in water bodies. Excavation churns naturally occurring metals to
the surface, affecting riverine flora and fauna, as well as humans 8.2 Economics of Galamsey
(Rajaee et al., 2015). Harmful levels of arsenic and cadmium have
been found in miners and communities, with arsenic levels exceed- Gold mining is a major contributor to national wealth and poverty
ing Ghana Standards Board/GWCL/WHO guidelines in two-thirds of reduction. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (2019), Ghana
samples; samples from Western Region and northern Ghana found was the 8th largest gold producer in 2017 and holds two percent
arsenic at levels threatening carcinogenic risk (Armah et al., 2012; of the world’s reserves. Of the 120 MT of gold Ghana produced in
Basu et al., 2015; Long et al., 2013; Obiri et al., 2006). Proximity 2016, 39 percent came from ASG miners, up from 12 percent in 2004
to gold mining sites has been linked with contaminated soil and (MoF, 2018). ASGM production has increased substantially since
irrigation water (Adomako et al., 2010). Analysis of sediment cores 2010 (Figure 8.3), both in overall volume and as a share of total
from Lake Amponsah, Western Region, showed increasing arsenic, gold production. This increase was a response to high gold prices,
copper, cadmium, and lead contamination over time, consistent with high unemployment, and a slump in agricultural production. Looking
acid mine drainage (the outflow of acidic water from mines) (Hogarh at Bonsa, Western Region, Bansah et al. (2018) note that informal
et al., 2016). mining is the major source of livelihood for the community, employing
3,000, especially youth—80 percent of those aged 15-35 are directly
Mercury. Mercury used in galamsey activities contaminates land, engaged in illegal mining.
water, and the atmosphere (Figure 8.2). Illegal miners use it as an
inexpensive way to separate gold from impurities, mixing the two Mining accounts for about one percent of Ghana’s total labor force
together to form an amalgam, then burning off the mercury to leave employment77, of which 90 percent is in gold mining, and three-
behind a gold nugget. Mercury vapor inhalation is the primary route quarters is in the informal sector.78 National galamsey employment
of occupational exposure, though mercury can also be absorbed numbers, though unknown, are likely quite high. Figures range from
through the skin. Galamseyers have exhibited hair and urine mercury 500,000 to 1.1 million workers, including direct and indirect jobs (e.g.
levels exceeding guideline values with those handling the substance Hilson et al., 2007; McQuilken and Hilson, 2016). This implies that
during amalgamation showing the highest urine levels (Basu et al., the entire informal mining economy may employ the equivalent of
2015; Paruchuri et al., 2010). Levels of mercury have been comparable four to eight percent of the workforce. Though eight out of every 10
between miners and villagers, signaling migration of pollution away Ghanaian miners are male, galamsey creates associated jobs often
from the mine area and into the broader community. When gold occupied by women, such as food preparation and market activities.
amalgamation occurs at home, women and children are exposed If galamsey indeed accounts for 1.1 million jobs, economic benefits
to toxic mercury fumes, leading to serious long-term health conse- may accrue to an additional 4.4 million dependents (UNECA, 2011).
quences (Teschner, 2012). There are indications that diet may be
another exposure pathway: fish near ASGM sites have been found

77. Ghana’s labor force is 14,011,888 (2018 figures) according to WDI 78. Statistics quoted by Professor Baah Boateng, see: https://unctad.org/
database. ” meetings/en/Presentation/GCF2018_BaahBoateng_23042018.pdf

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) 80

 FIGURE 8.2: Mercury (Hg) cycle in a typical artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) process (Rajaee et al.,
2015).

Numbers represent key steps in the ASGM process: 1—

excavation, 2—crushing and grinding, 3—sifting/shanking,
4—washing/sluicing, 5—amalgamation, and 6—burning.
Letters represent key steps in the mercury cycle: A—residual
mercury from amalgamation may be discarded in local soil
and water, B—volatilization of elemental mercury into
the atmosphere, C—oxidation of elemental mercury, D—
deposition onto local terrestrial systems, E—deposition onto
local aquatic systems, F—methylation of inorganic mercury
to methylmercury (MeHg)

Illegal mining provides an array of income and market opportuni- illustrates how galamsey injects dynamism into communities by cre-
ties for individuals, households, and communities, with a range of ating demand for local products and ancillary services. Boadi et al.
employment options from low to higher-skilled work (Figure 8.4) (2016) estimate that 70 percent of workers at galamsey sites are
(Banchirigah, 2008). Galamseyers earn between US$2.90-22.90 per directly involved in mining and 30 percent are involved in activities
day.This includes women who carry up to 100 loads of heavy rock like tool repair or food preparation.
and sand for US$5-10/day (these wages are 60 percent lower than
those of males performing the same task) (Andrews, 2015; Dinye Women’s estimated participation in artisanal mining-related activities
and Erdiaw-Kwasie, 2012; Teschner, 2012). Owners of capital goods may be as high as half of the workforce (McQuilken and Hilson, 2016).
like grinding machines can bring home US$1,300/week. The influx Though they do not typically work in the pits, and few are mine own-
of gold-related income and increased purchasing power seems to ers or managers, they do serve as panners, carriers, and processors,
have local multiplier effects, creating microeconomies that develop transporting heavy loads of ore on their heads to washing sluices,
within communities to support the informal ASGM sector. Bush (2009) or are otherwise involved in providing ancillary services. Many work
with babies on their backs (Andrews, 2015).

FIGURE 8.3: Gold Production and ASM Share (MLNR, 2017).

5 ,000,000 45%
4,500,000 40%
4,000,000 35%
Share of total production
3,500,000
30%
Ounces produced

3,000,000
25%
2,500,000
20%
2,000,000
15%
1,500,000
1,000,000 10%

5 00,000 5%

0 0%
1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016

Total gold production ASGM production (right axis)

81
Some of galamsey’s costs can be quantified. The total annual cost communities are forced to dig new wells. The destruction occasioned
attributed to ASGM-related mercury exposure is estimated at US$240 by earthmoving machinery and gold processing leaves land recla-
million, or 0.4 percent of 2017 GDP.79,80 .The GoG estimates that mation costly. Mantey et al. (2016) estimate that US$250 million is
US$2.3 billion left the country via illegal ASGM, escaping taxation required for the Western Region alone to restore lands and water
by the Ghana Revenue Authority81.The cost of water provision rises bodies destroyed by galamsey (Box 8.1).
as water treatment plant maintenance becomes more expensive and

Box 8.1: Estimating impacts and repair costs in galamsey-affected areas

Ghana may not yet have a full inventory of areas affected by ASGM, but the MLNR, commissioned a baseline study in four Forest
Districts (as preparation for investment from the Forest Investment Program82). Undertaken by Accra-based environmental special-
ists at the Traffic and Environmental Network (TEN), the study found that for the districts surveyed, the total mine-degraded area
was about 18,737 ha.

The study also identified locations for potential

Forest Known illegal Estimated Total rehabilita-
pilot projects to rehabilitate degraded lands back district sites (ha) volume of void tion cost (US$)
to their near-original state. The first step would (m3)
be rehabilitation. The second step would restore
biodiversity to the rehabilitated lands. Using a Bibiani 88.86 5,030,400 244,365.00
unit cost estimate for rehabilitation from the NGO
AROCHA of US$2,750/ha on the basis of approxi- Tarkwa 1204.69 68,623,900 3,312,897.50
mately 1,080 ha of identified pilot sites in four
forest districts, the study estimates a total cost Begoro 1436.99 83,608,400 3,951,722.50
of US$2,969,402. The amount is calculated to
cover restoration of: (1) forest reserves and their Kade 77.73 7,559,200 213,757.50
fringes (109 ha), (2) river courses (249 ha), and (3)
outskirts of communities and farmlands (721 ha). Total 2808.27 164,821,900 7,722,742.50
Restoration costs for the currently known illegal
mining area in these forest districts is higher, at US$7.7 million, although given the number of illegal hectares currently classified
as unvalidated, it is sure to rise significantly upon a final comprehensive inventory of galamsey sites. Even without counting those
additional hectares, the amount of earth disrupted and turned into open pits, nearly 165 million cubic meters, is staggering.

Source: MLNR Consultant Report prepared by TEN, 2018

79. Assumptions are based on a total of 5.5 million affected people (1.1 Ghanaian women. Regardless, Basu et al. (2015) advise that future
million ASGM workers and their dependents, assumed to be four studies must be treated cautiously, because while hair is a preferred
individuals, on average) (Hilson et al., 2007; Wilson et al., 2015). This biomarker of methylmercury exposure, positive results may be
includes all those involved in any step of the gold mining process derived, exogenously, from adsorbed inorganic mercury. Thus, this
who have either direct or indirect contact with mercury—workers report does not conduct such analysis due to lack of proper data.
and millers mixing ore with mercury, smelters conducting the
amalgamation process, as well as refiners (also called gold dealers
81. MLNR presentation “Sanitization of Illicit Mining Activities in Ghana,”
or gold shop workers).
made at Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 May 2017

80. Poulin et al. (2008) provide a methodology to estimate health

82. https://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/country/ghana
effects of organic mercury pollution using mercury levels contained
in the hair of mothers. However, no studies to date have analyzed

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) 82

 8.3 Policies and Institutions FIGURE 8.4: The galamsey ‘employment engine’ (From
Hilson and Banchirigah, 2008; Banchirigah, 2008).
Mineral rights are governed under the 1992 Constitution. Chapter
257(6) states “Every mineral in its natural state . . . shall be vested
in the President on behalf of, and in trust for the people of Ghana.” Ore Washers
Bookkeepers
Mining companies are required by law to pay mineral royalties (3-6 Diggers
Accoutants
percent of the value of gold mined) to the state. Eighty percent is Haulers
Drivers
placed in the general Government budget and, as of 2016, 20 per- Machine
Mechanics
Operators
cent is put into a Minerals Development Fund. Chapter 267(6) of
the Constitution outlines a benefits sharing formula the Office of Skilled Labour Illegal General Labour
the Administrator of Stool Lands (OASL)83 implements to disburse Mining
funds: 10 percent to OASL to cover administrative expenses, with the (galamsey)
Finance Markets
remaining revenue disbursed as 25 percent “to the stool through the
traditional authority for the maintenance of the stool in keeping with Hawkers
Financiers Permanent Traders
its status,” 20 percent to the traditional authority, and 55 percent to Equipment Suppliers (selling everything
the District Assembly (DA) where the stool lands are situated. Gold Buyers from clothing to food)
Restauranteers Prostitutes
Narcotics Dealers
The 1986 Minerals and Mining Law (PNDCL 153) and subsequent
amendments regulate Ghana’s mining sector. Designed to attract
foreign capital into the sector, the law explains that Government District Mining Committee—there are 38—that helps monitor and
alone bears the responsibility to grant mineral rights to third parties. develop mining operations.
Additional laws passed in 1989 sought to regulate the artisanal and
small-scale gold mining sector. The Small-Scale Mining Law, since The Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), which supersedes the
repealed, which legalized small-scale mining and allowed small- Small-Scale Mining Law, governs small-scale mining in mostly the
scale miners to apply for mineral rights, was written to placate local same manner as the PNDCL 153, but does not include the phrase
communities excluded by a policy framework that they felt deprived “artisanal mining.” Small-scale mining is exclusive to Ghanaian nation-
them of mineral rights over their own lands (Afriyie et al., 2016). The als who must register their concessions—defined as roughly 25 acres
1989 Mercury Law lifted a ban on the use of mercury, in place since or less—and obtain a license before undertaking operations. Activities
the colonial era, permitting licensed miners to purchase reasonable are overseen by the MC through the district offices and approval must
amounts of mercury from authorized dealers. The Precious Minerals be sought from EPA and FC (Hogarh et al., 2016). The Minerals and
Marketing Company (PMMC) Ltd. was established in the 1960s and Mining (Amendment) Act, 2015 (Act 900) amends Act 703 to stiffen
mandated to purchase and market Ghana’s diamonds as a state- fines and sentences for both Ghanaian and foreign offenders (those
owned enterprise. In 1989, PNDCL 219 gave PMMC the functions purchasing or selling minerals without license), and to provide for
of purchasing and selling gold through appointed buying agents confiscation of equipment.
from licensed small-scale miners. Since 2016 it has also been the
Government’s gold assayer, testing all gold leaving the country. The 2014 Minerals and Mining Policy dedicates a section to promoting
efficient ASM operations. Recognizing that ASG miners need technical
The Minerals Commission Act 1993 (Act 450) established the Minerals and material support, the policy enumerates measures to promote
Commission (MC), making it responsible for “the regulation and man- efficient small-scale mining.
agement of the utilization of the mineral resources of Ghana and
the coordination and implementation of policies relating to mining.” To improve sharing mineral revenue with mining communities,
Ghana’s main regulatory body, the MC, ensures legal and regulatory Ghana’s Parliament passed the Minerals Development Fund (2016) Act
compliance through effective monitoring.84 PNDCL 218 directed the 912. The act codified a Fund created through executive fiat in 1992,
MC to establish District Small-Scale Gold Mining Centres staffed by channeling 20 percent of the mineral royalties collected by the Ghana
District Officers who supervise and provide extension services to Revenue Authority to a Minerals Development Fund (MDF). The MDF
legally registered ASG miners. Each District Centre has an associated is dedicated to redressing the negative effects of mining, promoting

83. Customary lands owned communally are referred to as stool or skin 84. http://mlnr.gov.gh/index.php/minerals-commission/
lands. In Ghana the stool, which is akin to a throne, symbolically
represents the spirit of the people, living and dead, who belong to
that community.

83
local development and alternative livelihood projects specifically To tackle the recent spate of illegal ASGM, the GoG initiated the
in mining host communities, strengthening research and human Multilateral Mining Integration Project (MMIP) in 2017 (Box 8.2). The
capacity in the sector, promoting Ghanaian mining, and supporting MMIP is planned as a five-year project, ending in 2022, presided
policy planning and M&E. The Act authorizes the creation of Mining over by the MLNR. It proposes a holistic framework to tackle illegal
Community Development Schemes (CDS), the objective of which mining based on a Legislations Enforcement Civil Integration and
is socioeconomic development in mining communities, and Local Technical Approach, which has three elements: legal reform, law
Management Committees to oversee the execution of the schemes. enforcement, and use of new technologies to ensure transparency
and sustainability in the mining sector.
Ghana is an adherent to the 2013 Minamata Convention on mercury
pollution, becoming a signatory in 2014 and ratifying it in 2017. The As a precursor to the MMIP, the GoG implemented a moratorium on
Convention’s Article 7 is dedicated to ASGM and requires signatories all types of small-scale mining (licensed and unlicensed; alluvial and
to develop environmental and public health strategies for affected hard rock) in April 2017 that was extended several times until ending
communities and vulnerable populations. It binds countries to pro- in January 2019. The Government deployed a military-style task force
mote mercury risk outreach, education, and capacity building, and to carry out the moratorium, which reflected the national mood of
to collect data on baseline mercury quantities. Ghana has already crisis surrounding galamsey. Some criticized the ban (e.g., Hilson,
begun preparation for the Convention’s implementation with the 2017) for failing to consider the impact of depriving ASGM miners
drafting of its Initial Assessment—through a project funded by the GEF and their households of income. The GoG has acknowledged that
and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme a military operation is not a sustainable solution and some donor-
(UNDP)—that establishes a baseline of mercury use, supply, and funded projects are hoping to derive alternate solutions (Table 8.1).
trade. Next steps are a National Implementation Plan to ensure that
the Convention’s commitments are enforced and a National Action
Plan to reduce mercury emissions (as per Article 8 of the Convention).

Box 8.2: Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP)

In parallel with the moratorium, the Government has been devel- ● Capacity building of ASM, regulator,s and project
oping the Multilateral Mining Integrated Project (MMIP). The management ($20 million).
MMIP, a US$200 million program intended to begin at the end
of the moratorium, takes a multi-stakeholder, holistic approach These include some ambitious targets, notably:
based on the following five elements:
● Engage over 500,000 miners from small-scale mining
● Review and enforce the legal regulatory regime ($10 communities;
million);
● Alternative livelihoods program – in particular, establish
● Reclaim degraded lands, dredge silted estuaries, and 20,000 ha of oil palm plantations;
free lands for agribusiness ($100 million);
● Train 1,000 miners in mining and processing;
● Implement social interventions to facilitate livelihoods in
● Reclaim 2,380 km2 of mined out lands; and
mining communities ($50 million);
● Reduce ASM license acquisition time by 40 percent.
● Adapt technology to ensure efficient mining, processing,
environmental and monitoring activities ($20 million); and Source: Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, 2016

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) 84

 Table 8.1: Selected projects combating illegal artisanal and small-scale gold mining

Development partners;
Project title, location (duration) Activity
Government partners

Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining The objective of this US$47.8 million project is to create World Bank; MLNR/MC
Formalization (nationwide; 2020 – 2025) enabling conditions for the orderly, safe, sustainable,
and environmentally sound development of ASM for the
benefit of Ghanaians and Ghana. The project addresses
illegal mining’s threat by supporting ASM formalization,
strengthening the Government’s capacity for support and
monitoring of ASM operations, promoting responsible
entrepreneurship for ASM development, and support-
ing sustainable livelihood alternatives in galamsey com-
munities. Project activities focus on: (1) improving the
enabling environment for ASM legalization, formalization;
(2) strengthening institutional capacity to manage ASM;
(3) promoting sustainable ASM practice.

Additional Financing to Ghana’s FIP (Brong- An extension to the existing Forest Investment Program’s World Bank; MLNR/FC
Ahafo, Western, Ashanti, Eastern Regions; Enhancing Natural Forest and Agroforest Landscapes
2019-2023) project, the grant portion of this project—US$9.89 mil-
lion—is dedicated to reducing forest loss and degrada-
tion and demonstrating rehabilitation of mined-out sites
through pilot programs in selected landscapes of Ghana's
High Forest Zone.

8.3.1 Gaps and Challenges

Service delivery. The agencies within MLNR and MESTI, most nota- ● Decentralization: The ASM moratorium highlighted the need
bly EPA and MC, but also LC, PMMC, and GSD, have been unable to for local solutions in resource governance, such as enhanc-
provide services effectively; district-level government institutions ing district-level public sector capacity to license applicants
designed to tackle environmental and mining issues have been and track ASGM operations. However, district authorities are
equally constrained. Contributory factors include: neither sufficiently empowered to assist small-scale mining
entrepreneurs, nor sufficiently resourced to work with commu-
● Resources: Inadequacies in personnel, logistics, and training
nities to stem galamsey. Although the Government instituted
are a major impediment to enforcement of laws/regulations
a program of local consultation in environmental and mining
and implementation of activities. EPA and WRC need additional
policymaking in the 1990s, the venues intended to discuss
resources to deal with galamsey’s damage, but budgetary
and resolve ASGM-related issues—District Environmental
provisioning has been unequal to the magnitude of the task.
Management Committees (DEMCs), District Small-Scale
● Citizen access: The current ASM framework poses a cumber- Gold Mining Centres, District Committees on Illegal Mining
some compliance burden and perversely incentivizes illegality. (DCIMs)—are underfunded and unable to attain their mandate.
Galamseyers cite bottlenecks in registration and licensing—i.e.
● Community participation: Policies, laws and regulations, and
time commitment of going to Accra to obtain the permit—high
alternative livelihood efforts have failed to curb galamsey thus
cost of fees, and bureaucracy (including bribery and corrup-
far in part because they have not sufficiently accounted for
tion) (Banchirigah, 2008).
community dynamics and long-term objectives (Afriyie et al.,
2016).

85
Transparency. The absence of transparency in implementation and while some chiefs have used them to pay for personal expenditures
enforcement of laws and regulations continues to hamstring recovery. (Quarshie, 2015; Taabazuing et al., 2012).
Citizens decry complicity of officials either directly financing galam-
sey or indirectly undermining the rule of law, e.g. pressuring police 8.4 Recommendations to Help Halt Illegal Gold Mining
to release certain illegal miners from prison. Convoluted licensing
processes may facilitate rent extraction. The lack of a chain of cus- 8.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years)
tody mechanism facilitates the purchase of illegal gold by accredited
● Clarify/codify roles and responsibilities in the fight against
private and public sector buying agents. A political economy analysis
galamsey; assign EPA formal authority over uncontrolled
of the issue notes that galamsey persists due to “political leniency
hazardous waste sites; provide sufficient staffing and resources
and law enforcement corruption.” It argues that tacit acceptance
for monitoring, regulatory enforcement, and community inter-
of the practice during electoral periods may serve as a reelection
action (Cabinet, Parliament, MESTI/EPA, MoF)
strategy for the incumbent party (Abdulai, 2017).
● Strengthen environmental regulations pertaining to mining,
Benefits sharing. The proceeds of Ghana’s mineral wealth are not especially enforcement provisions (Parliament, MESTI, MLNR)
being shared proportionately with the custodians of those resources,
● Strengthen coordination between the key agencies in mining
the rural poor, an assertion noted in the 2007 CEA. Parliament passed
regulation (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC/MC)
the MDF Act because it was unclear how much money was being
distributed to affected communities. The Constitution and MDF Act ● Foster reciprocity in the public sector-mining community rela-
outline a benefit sharing agreement that apportions mineral rev- tionship, visiting areas vulnerable to galamsey and raising
enues to the GoG and beneficiaries. Royalties are the main source awareness about negative impacts; ease community access
of revenue for communities to repair the environment and invest in to officials to ask questions, receive advice, report concerns
physical assets and human capital. Yet mining communities receive (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC/MC)
only four percent of the rent; Government and traditional authorities ● Train agencies in use of technologies (e.g. drones, remote
receive higher shares than the communities (Figure 8.5). Citizen sensing) to identify, screen, and target ASGM interventions
participation in budgeting the royalties is weak to nonexistent. (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/FC/MC, MSWR/WRC)
Without regulatory guidelines, MMDAs and traditional authorities
have too much discretion in the use of funds and money may be
diverted to activities unrelated to environmental rehabilitation or
economic development in mining-affected areas. Although the MDF
Act stipulates that Fund beneficiaries are to be mining communities,
some MMDAs have distributed funds to non-mining-affected areas,

FIGURE 8.5: MDF allocation as per Minerals Development Fund Act 912 and Chapter 267 of Ghana's Constitution
(Authors’ figure).

Mineral revenues 100%

Consolidated Fund 80% MDF 20%

MLNR Traditional Authorities MMDA Community Research &

6.4% 4.05% 4.95% (via CDS) 4% training 0.6%

OASL 1% MC 2.6% GSD 2% Supplemental mining Stool land 2.25%

operations 0.8%
Traditional landowners 1.8%

General expenses 1.6%

Research & training 0.4%

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) 86

 ● Deploy interagency teams to identify, assess, and monitor ● Expand the MMIP to include job skills training initiatives that
potential threats that galamsey sites pose to health and envi- teach environmental handling skills, e.g., soil/water testing,
ronment; classify sites according to a hazard ranking system handling of toxic chemicals, sanitation, operation of dump
(like AKOBEN), and use the rankings to develop a list of prior- trucks/heavy equipment; build human capital in environ-
ity cleanup sites; make information publicly available with mental management and transition this workforce to other
signage (MESTI/EPA, MLNR/MC/FC, MSWR/WRC) hazardous waste management projects nationwide, e.g. solid
waste management/sanitation in urban areas, rehabilitation
● Accelerate implementation of Minamata Convention commit-
of e-waste sites, work with industrial enterprises (MESTI/EPA,
ments, including Ghana’s National Action Plan; raise aware-
MLNR)
ness of hazards linked to mercury; regulate mercury at its
source (entry into country; wholesale/retail sale) as opposed to
end-user level; introduce and promote mercury-free process-
8.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)
ing technologies in legal ASGM (MESTI/EPA; MLNR/MC)

● Operationalize MDF guidelines to improve benefits shar-

● Use MDF proceeds to expedite clean-up and remediation and
ing, public participation, transparency; author provisions that
prepare the path for rehabilitation and redevelopment; engage
ensure MDF funds are spent on mining communities, e.g.
with local stakeholders to foster high levels of citizen partici-
commit a percentage of royalties to local infrastructure or
pation; encourage partnerships with the private sector (MESTI,
other capital expenditures; prevent MMDAs from diverting MDF
MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR)
money to communities not affected by mining; hold obligatory
stakeholder consultations/Assembly Meetings open to public ● Reclaim galamsey brownfields and turn them into economi-
comment (Parliament, MLGRD/MMDAs, MoF/GRA) cally productive assets available for community revitalization
(MESTI, MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR, MWH)

● Engage communities to ensure long-term stewardship

8.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)
over areas vulnerable to illegal mining: write Community
Engagement Action Plans to delineate the expectations and
● Establish a comprehensive mining permitting and monitoring roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in preventing illegal
system, with rigorous checks and field inspections (MESTI/EPA, ASGM, enhance District offices' engagement with local commu-
MLNR/FC, MLNR/MC, MSWR/WRC) nities and other relevant parties, facilitate inclusive participa-
tion in decision-making on land rehabilitation and hazardous
● Undertake monitoring of MDF activities to ensure that, espe-
substance management (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA, MLGRD/MMDAs,
cially in the case of the CDS, projects have public backing and
MLNR/FC/MC)
activities target ASGM-affected areas; prepare/publish guide-
lines for the Fund Administrator to clarify responsibilities to the ● Empower institutions to perform watchdog roles in the over-
citizenry and Government (Cabinet, MLGRD/MMDAs, MLNR, sight of funding spent, including by customary authorities, to
MoF/GRA) guarantee efficient and wise implementation of development
projects (Quarshie, 2015) (MoF, MLNR/OASL)
● Establish a galamsey environmental trust fund (TF) to restore
Ghana’s environment and rural mining areas: replenish ● Establish a series of performance indicators to create a score-
initially via taxes/royalties collected from large-scale miners card to judge social, environmental, and economic progress in
by dedicating a percentage of the Consolidated Fund for a rehabilitating contaminated public spaces (MESTI/EPA)
finite period or having both the Consolidated Fund and the
● Implement an ongoing performance monitoring and evalua-
MDF contribute a percentage of their royalties to the new TF
tion scheme to follow redevelopment and analyze long-term
(Cabinet, Parliament, MoF/GRA)
stewardship and find ways to continue financial and technical
● Institute legal guidelines that allow judicial remedies for recov- support (MESTI, MLNR, MWH)
ery of cleanup costs from those parties responsible for the
damages, e.g. use proceeds from the auctioning of confiscated
galamsey equipment to replenish the environmental TF (MoJ)

87
 Aerial view of the waterfront, Accra.
aroundtheworld.photography / Alamy Stock Photo

8. Illegal Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (Galamsey) 88

 9
89 
9. Coastal Ecosystem
9.1 The Coastal Zone and its Resources

Ghana’s coastal zone, representing (Trionyx triunguis). In addition to its importance for biodiversity, the
around 6 percent of the country’s Ghanaian coast is marked by important historical monuments, three
land area, is a high energy envi- of which, at Cape Coast and Elmina, are designated as UNESCO86
ronment with flood-prone lowlands World Heritage sites. These sites are significant for both domestic
(MLNR et al., 2015). The zone spans and international tourism due to their rich and significant history.
four regions—Greater Accra, Volta,
Central, and Western—and hosts Ghana’s coast faces several challenges, including coastal erosion and
over a quarter of the nation’s popu- flooding, overexploitation of natural resources, marine and coastal
lation. It has 550 km of coastline, a pollution, illegal sand mining, loss of biodiversity and ecosystem
20,900 km2 continental shelf, and services, severe weather, and rapid urbanization and unsustain-
218,100 km2 of exclusive economic able land use. These challenges degrade the coast, endanger eco-
AYA (“water fern”): zone, the fifth largest in West Africa systems, put human livelihoods and well-being at risk, undermine
endurance in (MESTI, 2019). One-tenth of a percent economic potential, and increase vulnerability to natural disasters
the face of uncertainty of Ghana’s territorial waters are clas- (Table 9.1). The threats posed by these challenges will further increase
sified as marine protected areas. due to rapid population growth and the impacts of climate change.
Between 1990 and 2010, built-up area (i.e. land with development
Along the coast there are about 90 lagoon systems. Several areas on it) between the shoreline and a line 10 km inland doubled at a
along the coast have been designated as wetlands of international rate of 3.6 percent/year.
importance (Ramsar sites85), with the Anlo-Keta Lagoon Complex
as the largest at 1,278 km². These wetlands are rich in biodiversity Ghana loses about 2.7 million m2 of its shore every year,87 with 80
because they serve as nursery grounds for many marine fish and percent of the shoreline actively eroding (Appeaning Addo et al.,
crustacean species, harbor important bird life, both resident and 2008). Erosion rates range from 4-12 m/year, with the sandy beaches
migratory, and serve as nesting grounds for five species of globally on the East Coast receding at about 8 m/year. Hotspots include the
endangered [as classified by the International Union for Conservation narrow beaches around Tema and the Keta dike with its artificial
of Nature (IUCN)] marine turtles: leatherback (Dermochelys coricea), lagoon outlet (Figure 9.1). Coastal erosion is particularly serious in
loggerhead (Caretta caretta), olive ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), and near Accra where sea-level rise has increased erosion intensity
hawksbill (Eretomychelys imbricata), and green turtle (Chelonia and inundation of vulnerable areas. Nearly 80 percent of the Greater
mydas). Mangroves in Ghana occupy a very narrow, non-continuous Accra Metropolitan Area’s (GAMA) 225 km shoreline is threatened
coastal area, occurring along the lagoons and extending from east by erosion. By 2100, the coastline is expected to retreat by between
to west. The mangroves provide habitat to the threatened West 189-202 meters.
African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) and the soft-skinned turtle

85. Article 2.1 of the Convention on Wetlands (held in Ramsar, Iran in 86. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
1971), establishes a List of Wetlands of International Importance,
populated by signatory nations using wetlands within their territory
87. MESTI minister quoted in www.modernghana.com/news/697008/
selected “on account of their international significance in terms
ghana-marks-world-oceans-day.html
of ecology, botany, zoology, limnology or hydrology.” Wetlands
included in the List are recognized by the international community
as being of significant value for all humankind (https://www.ramsar.
org/sites/default/files/documents/library/sitelist.pdf).

9. Coastal Ecosystem  90
 Table 9.1: Coastal zone indicators (World Bank WDI database).

Indicator Measurement 2010 figures

Land area where elevation is below 5 % of total land area (sq.- km) 0.56
meters
Of which, urban 0.06 (128.21 km2)
Of which, rural 0.5 (1170.14 km2)
Population living in areas where eleva- % of total population 2.6
tion is below 5 meters
Of which, urban 1.8
Of which, rural 0.8

Erosion has devastated communities, destroyed houses, businesses, of basin surfaces—i.e. the maximum amount of water that can enter
and infrastructure, threatened cultural heritage, and undermined tour- the soil before runoff occurs—have been dramatically reduced. Urban
ism. In Accra, Appeaning Addo et al. (2011) foresee 650,000 people, planning and infrastructure issues—especially hydraulic, solid waste
900+ buildings, and a total area of about 0.80 km2 of land vulnerable management, and transport infrastructure—exacerbate Ghana’s vul-
to permanent inundation by the year 2100. Loss of coastal land is also nerability to flooding. For example, Greater Accra’s hydraulic infra-
contributing to displacement and migration. The erosion of natural structure, namely drainage and coastal zone management, is highly
fish landing sites has resulted in fishers migrating physically--to other vulnerable, with design flaws in transport infrastructure contributing
communities within and outside of Ghana in search of better fish to its failure, e.g. improper installation of concrete cover slabs on
stocks—and economically—to alternative livelihoods such as illegal roadside drains that break and block water flow, or improper assess-
beach sand mining (Appeaning Addo and Appeaning Addo, 2016). ment of runoff patterns and flow regimes during road infrastructure
design (World Bank, 2017). Flooding in coastal areas is compounded
Uncontrolled urban and peri-urban development, including building by inadequate solid waste management, sea-level rise, tidal waves,
in waterways, has contributed to flooding of coastal communities and storm surges, with downstream effects on cultural heritage, bio-
with severe consequences. Weak enforcement of planning stan- diversity, and livelihoods, among others. With no active management,
dards and building codes has resulted in incompatible land uses sea-level rise alone could contribute to the movement of Ghana’s
and buildings dangerously encroaching the banks of streams and eastern shoreline approximately 50-250m landward over the next
drains. Due to unplanned expansion of the city, infiltration capacities 50 years in different locations (Boateng, 2012).

Figure 9.1: Coastal erosion hotspots (Angnuureng et al., 2013).

EROSION SEVERITY
Low Under protection/being protected TOGO
Moderate
Direction of Littoral Drift
High
CÔTE D'IVOIRE

GHANA
Ke
t
a
Dz
Ad ngo
Ol pra
Pr

ito
dN m

a
am
Te ngu

i
m a
Nu adi

a Te
La RA
b
AC tiano ite u
Bo kro Bre

C r
r b k
Ko ya
Se

sh
ie
n
Ta
nt
u am
Elm end
Ko a
Sh fu

in a
m
g

am l K
Am ua

a
an

ce Axim

Ad ve
am

an
n

Di chi
ow

j
Es

xc
’s T

Ak

a 0 50 Kilometers
um
et

ne
e
in

Gui
Pr

G u l f o f IBRD 44986 | APRIL 2020

91
 Kids play in boats in Jamestown Fishing
Village in Accra.
Dominic Chavez/World Bank

Accra is particularly susceptible to flooding, with a flood occurrence Figure 9.3: Flood-prone areas and types of floods in
rate of 17-20 percent in any given year (Figure 9.2) (Asumadu-Sarkodie Greater Accra Plains (Kagblor, 2010 cited in Amaoko
et al., 2015). Rapid urbanization specifically has negatively impacted and Frimpong Boamah, 2016)
the infiltration capacity of Accra’s natural drainage basin system.
Owing to poor solid waste management, drains are commonly used FLOOD RISK
FLOOD PRONE AREA
Ga East Adenta
to dispose of garbage and sewerage, leaving drainage channels FREQUENT FLOODING
NATURAL FLOOD AREA
choked up and reducing their discharge capacity. Blockage of free Ga
MAJOR ROADS West Accra
Metropolis Ledzokuku/
flow streams and drains makes low-lying neighborhoods—often the DISTRICT BOUNDARIES
Krowor
poorest in the city—vulnerable to flooding during heavy precipita- Ga Central Municipal

tion. Silting in lagoon outlets makes flooding a perennial threat in La Dade Kotopon
GAMA (Figure 9.3) (World Bank, 2017). In 2015, Accra experienced ACCRA
an unprecedented flood coupled with an explosion at a fuel and gas Ga South

station that killed more than 152 people. The flood was attributed
to inadequate waste management, structural settlement, and poor
Gulf of Guinea
hydraulic performance of the basins in the city.
0 1 2 Kilometers
IBRD 44990 | APRIL 2020

Figure 9.2: Flood risk map of Accra Metropolitan Area Pollution in the coastal areas is not only a serious threat to the
(City of Accra) (Centre for Remote Sensing and GIS coastal ecosystem but also to residents who depend on the coastal
(CERSGIS), University of Ghana, Accra, July–August environment. Marine pollution is an increasing cause for concern
2013, cited in Amoako and Frimpong Boamah, 2015). in Ghana, especially due to the high economic dependence on
coastal industries such as fisheries and tourism. The sources of
such marine pollution are seemingly due to poor management of
FLOOD RISK
Ga East Adenta
VERY LOW
solid, liquid, mining, and industrial waste. Accra generates nearly
LOW
MEDIUM 900,000 metric tons of solid waste per year, with a generation rate
Ga
HIGH
West of approximately 0.5 kg/person/day (Samwine, 2017). The city does
VERY HIGH
Ledzokuku/ not have the infrastructure capacity to manage this waste and it is
Ga Central
MAJORMunicipal
ROADS Krowor
DISTRICT BOUNDARIES estimated that only 75 percent of all generated trash is collected
Accra Metropolis daily. The rest is dumped in open spaces, surface drains, and bodies
La Dade Kotopon
of water, much of which flows into the Korle Lagoon, with its direct
ACCRA
outlet to the Gulf of Guinea. The lagoon is a major run-off water
receptacle through which uncontrolled discharges of domestic and
Ga South industrial waste and untreated sewage and wastewater end up in
Gulf of Guinea
0 1 2 Kilometers
IBRD 44989 | APRIL 2020

9. Coastal Ecosystem  92
 the sea. The lagoon is also surrounded by a digital waste dumpsite in the parts of the coastal zone situated below an elevation of 20 m,
Agbogbloshie, resulting in significantly high accumulations of heavy about half of whom live below 10 m. This exposure is projected to
metals in the adjacent soils (Benedicta et al., 2017). The lagoon, which increase 67 percent by 2050 and the coastal economy and ecosys-
is the primary point source of pollution into the Gulf of Guinea, has tems are expected to suffer from degradation. World Bank (2017)
high values of biochemical oxygen demand (270-1000 mgl-1) and reports that drift from rural to urban centers, the industrialization of
suspended solids levels (varying between 80-260 mgl-1), indicating coastal districts as well as a high urban population growth rate of
runoff and discharges of raw sewage, domestic waste, and industrial 3 percent, will place increasing stress on the coastal ecosystems,
effluents. High levels of mercury in the Pra River due to unchecked producing more coastal erosion and impacting more people during
artisanal mining upstream are also a big source of pollution from flooding. Climate change aggravates this situation with projected
Ghana flowing into the Gulf of Guinea. sea level rise.

Conversion of mangroves into other land uses, notably agriculture, Figure 9.4: Annual cost of coastal degradation
salt ponds, and roads, and use of wood for construction material has (Compiled by authors based on World Bank, 2017a).
accelerated their destruction. Preservation and restoration of these
$1,800
natural features of Ghana’s coast are necessary to help manage ero- $26

$1,600
sion, reduce the risk of flooding in coastal communities, and enrich $1,400

and enhance the productivity of fisheries. $1,200

$17

Millions (US$)
$1,000

$800 $1,639

$600

9.2 Economics of Coastal Degradation $400

$20
$957

$200 $27

$0
Vital to Ghana’s economy, the coast is home to Ghana’s main urban 2015 2050 2100

Er osion Flooding
centers and fastest growing areas. It is also where 70 percent of its
industries and businesses lie (World Bank, 2010). Rapid urbanization
drives national economic growth, provides livelihoods, and continu-
ously increases the population living in the coastal corridor. The rich The total annual economic impact of coastal erosion and flooding was
resources of the coast provide important economic benefits to the estimated at US$47 million in 2015, corresponding to the equivalent
entire country, both as directly exploitable resources (e.g., wood, fish, of >0.1 percent of Ghana’s 2017 GDP. However, it is 1.5 percent of
salt) and for resource-based economic development such as tourism GDP in the coastal area. Fifty-seven percent of these impacts can be
(World Bank, 2017a). Almost 60 percent of coastal zone residents live attributed to coastal erosion. Due to climate change the impact, most
on the East Coast. The cities of Elmina and Accra are at the center of which will be attributed to soil erosion, is expected to increase to
of the most densely populated areas, with Accra growing the most US$1.6 billion by the year 2100 (Figure 9.4).
(World Bank, 2017b). The coastal belt houses five large cities, tour-
ism sites, industries, major ports (such as in Tema and Takoradi), and 9.3 Coastal Management Governance Framework and
fishery landing sites. Some of the country’s major infrastructure is Analysis
concentrated along the coast, including an international airport in
Accra. The urban centers are separated by rural areas and connected Key institutions involved in the planning and management of
by roads crucial for the local and national economy. Several extractive coastal zones include MESTI (LUSPA and EPA), MoFAD (Fisheries
coastal activities are significant for the national economy, including Commission), MWH (Hydrological Services Department (HSD)), NDPC,
oil and gas production, cement production, aluminum smelting, sand MLGRD (MMDAs, RCCs), Ghana Maritime Authority, Ghana Navy,
stone mining, thermal electricity generation, coastal agriculture, and Ministry of the Interior (MoI) (National Disaster Management
hydroelectricity generation, and fishing and salt production. The Organization). Additionally, following the discovery of oil in 2007 and
areas around Takoradi and Ningo are also important agricultural commercial production in 2010/2011, there has been significant oil
zones for commercial crops. The role of the coast in Ghana’s economy and gas infrastructure development in coastal areas. Other actors
is expanding—expectations are high that exploitation of recently now include the Ghana Gas Company and West African Gas Pipeline
discovered offshore oil and gas deposits will increase prosperity Company which own and manage major gas infrastructure at the
along the coast. coast. In addition, academia (Department of Marine Sciences at the
University of Ghana-Legon, and Department of Fisheries and Aquatic
The exposure to coastal floods and soil erosion is estimated at 1.8 Sciences/Centre for Coastal Management at the University of Cape
million people (2010 estimates) (USAID, 2014). These people live in

93
Coast), NGOs, civil society organizations, as well as bilateral and The GoG recently passed the Coastal Development Authority Act,
multilateral donors. 2017 (Act 963), which creates a Coastal Development Authority under
the Ministry of Special Development Initiatives (MSDI), and which is
LUSPA, under MESTI, is in charge of planning, management and in charge of socioeconomic development in Greater Accra, Central,
promotion of growth and development of cities, towns, and villages; Western, and Volta Regions. This includes a mandate to develop
it plays a key role in coastal protection given the need of steward- the coastal areas of said Regions. The country also has the Marine
ing the growth of coastal human settlements and protecting them. Pollution Act (Act 932), 2017 to address regulations to prevent pol-
At the regional level it works with RCCs and MMDAs to materialize lution by oil, noxious liquid substances in bulk, harmful substances
the NDPC’s strategic planning vision. Protection, management, and carried by the sea, sewage, and garbage and air pollution from ships.
development of drainage and coastal zone infrastructure is arranged As part of Ghana’s commitment to international efforts, the nation
and executed by MMDAs through their Medium-Term Development recently ratified the London Convention (1972), which aims to control
Plans. The HSD, an agency under MSWR, has the responsibility of all manner of marine pollution and to take all practicable steps to
programming and coordination of coastal protection works, the prevent pollution of the sea by dumping of wastes and other matter.
construction and maintenance of storm drains and the monitoring Other relevant laws are contained in Table 9.2.
and evaluation of surface water bodies in respect of floods. The
Lands Commission plays a role regarding potential relocations due 9.3.1 Gaps and Challenges
to coastal flooding. It produces maps of coastal areas and monitors
sea level rise. The LC’s Geological Survey Department (GSD) gener- Coastal zone governance needs reinforcement. For coastal eco-
ates and disseminates geoscientific data and information includ- systems to continue to support economic growth, there is a need to
ing coastal sensitivity maps. To deal with disaster risk, generally, strengthen environmental governance through the development of
including coastal areas, there is the National Disaster Management coastal management. Integrated coastal management policy and
Organisation (NADMO). practice is not yet well established. Furthermore, challenges related
to the number of agencies involved have resulted in weak coordina-
There are three major areas of policies in the sector: (i) integrated tion, planning, and enforcement of coastal management policies and
coastal zone management and sustainable development; (ii) marine regulations; this is on top of low institutional capacity and insufficient
environmental protection; and (iii) sustainable use and conservation financial resources (especially in disaster risk management agencies
of biological marine resources. Important plans under these policy like NADMO) (World Bank, 2017). The absence of a forum/platform
areas include: Coastal Zone Management Indicative Plan (1990), for coastal issues and investment projects can be discussed in an
National Environmental Action Plan (1994), Integrated Coastal Zone inclusive manner is another weak point. Lack of inclusiveness in
Plan (1998), Coastal Zone Profile of Ghana (1998), National Oil Spill coastal zone management has led to poor awareness among local
Contingency Plan—with specific reference to the marine environment residents as to the increased risks of flooding posed by poor solid
(2002), and Environmental Sensitivity Map of the Coastal Areas of waste management, unregulated sand mining, and application of
Ghana (1999 and 2004). construction setbacks (distance from the coast within which it is

Table 9.2: Legislation pertaining to the coastal zone of Ghana

Wildlife conservation Wildlife Conservation Regulations, 1971 revised 1999 (L.I. 685); Wildlife Reserves Regulations, 1971
(L.I. 710); Wildlife Conservation Policy, 1974; Forest and Wildlife Policy adopted in 1994; Forestry
Commission Act, 1999; Wild Animals Preservation Act of 1961
Fisheries resources protection Fisheries Law 1991 (PNDCL 256); Fisheries Commission Act 1993 (Act 457); Fisheries Development
and Management Bill, 1996; Fisheries Decree, 1972 (amended 1977, 1984)
Oil and gas development Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law, 1984 (PNDCL 84); Minerals (Oil and Gas) Regulations
1963 (L.I. 258); Oil in Navigable Waters Act, 1964 (Act 233)
Environmental management Beaches Obstruction Ordinance 1897 (Cap 240); Draft Coastal Zone Management Law; Environ-
mental Protection Agency Act, 1994 (Act 490); Environmental Assessment Regulations 1999 (L.I.
1652); Land Planning and Soil Conservation Ordinance, 1953 (No. 32); Water Resources Act, 1997;
Water Resources Commission Act, 1996 (Act 522); National Land Policy, 1999; Wetland Manage-
ment (Ramsar Sites) Regulations, 1999 (L.I. 1659)

9. Coastal Ecosystem  94
 prohibited to build), as well as an overall lack of buy-in to coordinated necessary to help preserve the zone. Critically missing data includes
action against coastal degradation. beach profiles and crest elevation to determine how natural hazards
affect the coast, as well as local demographic and economic data
Issues of data. As is the case in many environmental management to estimate potential damage and evaluate options to reduce risk.
subsectors in Ghana, coastal zone data collection, standardization Research must also be diversified geographically, i.e. channeled from
(across sectors), analysis and dissemination to decision makers is not known hotspots where research inquiries have already been con-
being routinely undertaken or effectively accomplished. The knowl- ducted and towards areas that have been heretofore neglected. This
edge base on causes and consequences of coastal environmental will require resources and commitment, though national universities
degradation in Ghana needs to be broadened and integrated to com- are already engaged in studying these issues and can the necessary
prehensively monitor the coastline and generate the real-time data technical knowhow.

Box 9.1: Using Mangroves and Sea Dikes as First Line of Coastal Defense in Vietnam

As part of an integrated climate resilience and sustainable liveli- Although natural mangroves play an important role in ecosys-
hoods project, Vietnam and the World Bank are implementing tem productivity and in protecting coastal communities from
an infrastructure project that utilizes mangroves and sea dikes storm surges, flooding, and coastal erosion the usual method
to protect coastal communities in the Mekong Delta from flood- employed to protect Vietnam’s coastline consists of construct-
ing and erosion. The Mekong Delta is densely populated and ing sea dikes, often reinforced with rocks or concrete. The
home to 22 percent of Vietnam’s population, most of whom mangroves have rapidly declined over time, and so have the
are near-poor households living in rural coastal areas, highly ecosystem defense services they provide, primarily due to
dependent upon rice or shrimp farming for their livelihoods. poorly planned and unregulated shrimp farming and urban
Recent urbanization and intensification of agriculture and aqua- development, as well as an absence of regulations and institu-
culture production are among the rapid changes occurring that tions that oversee integrated coastal management. Increased
are increasing economic growth while simultaneously creating fragmentation of mangroves has reduced their capacity to with-
unsustainable land and water resource use issues. Furthermore, stand coastal processes, such as wave actions, coastal currents,
the region is facing increased saline intrusion, erosion, and and wind at exposed and semi-exposed coastline locations.
flooding from land subsidence and sea-level rise, with effects
on the livelihoods of Mekong Delta communities, as well as dis- Enter the MD-ICRSL, which supports a “green-gray” infrastruc-
ruptions to the Delta’s natural sedimentation process because ture approach—a combination of nature-based and manmade
of upstream hydropower development. solutions—for coastal protection The project is establishing
a mangrove belt outside the sea dike to serve as a first line
In 2016, the Government of Vietnam and World Bank developed of defense, followed by new sea dikes (where appropriate),
the Mekong Delta Integrated Climate Resilience and Sustainable and then a more extensive inland mangrove belt. Additional
Livelihoods (MD-ICRSL) Project to strengthen integrated climate- subprojects include construction of coasta defenses made from
resilient management and development across different sectors compacted earth embankments interspersed among coastal
and institutional levels in the Mekong Delta. The MD-ICRSL mangrove belts. At the same time, the project is encouraging
consists of a host of measures in different hydro-ecological coastal shrimp farmers to shift from intensive shrimp farming—a
subregions and requires a complex coordination and imple- risk-prone business due to concerns such as shrimp disease
mentation arrangement spanning ministries, provinces, com- and storms—to a mixed shrimp-mangrove system. Converting
munities, research agencies, and development partners. The to the mangrove-based system creates opportunities for shrimp
International Development Association, the Global Environment farmers to become internationally certified in sustainable sea-
Facility Adaptation Fund, and the Government of Vietnam are food production, from which they obtain a premium market
financing the US$387 million MD-ICRSL project. The project’s price (and hence increased household revenue). Less intensive,
components primarily help address coastal flooding and ero- more natural shrimp cultivation also reduces shrimp disease,
sion, as well as salinity intrusion and impacts on aquaculture thus providing a safeguard against a potential shock to income
and mangrove systems to improve livelihoods of communities generation. A shift into certified organic mangroves was esti-
living in the coastal areas. mated to generate annual net benefits of $992 per hectare per
year compared to current practices.

Source: Browder et al., 2019.

95
9.4 Recommendations to Protect Ghana’s Coastline 9.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)

9.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years)

● Improve drainage and flood control infrastructure and manage-
ment systems by: i) mapping/demarcating the floodplains and
● Use gap analysis in policy/regulatory frameworks, enforce- buffer zones of all drainage-ways and enforcing regulations;
ment, and coastal zone master plan to identify weaknesses ii) improving coordination between MDAs and MMDAs; iii)
and explore additional soft measures for improved coastal increasing annual operation and maintenance budgets for
management, planning (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA; MoFAD; MLGRD/ drainage systems and hydraulic infrastructure (MESTI/EPA;
MMDAs/RCCs; MWH/HSD) MLGRD/MMDAs; MLNR/LC; MoF; MSWR; MWH/HSD)

● Support the nascent Coastal Development Authority (CDA) as ● Invest in and manage spatial planning of terrestrial and marine
a coordination mechanism for coastal resilience, protection, coastal areas through: i) urban planning (including where cities
planning, investment; hold a series of coastal zone develop- can/cannot be built); ii) marine planning (including off-shore
ment workshops to map stakeholders and build a forum for activities, e.g. extractives, fishing); iii) delineation of setback
coastal issues (MLGRD/MMDAs; MoF; MSDI88) lines and enforcement of regulations to prevent high-risk
construction, development; iv) drafting a coastal zone master
● Enhance use of geographic information systems and satellite
plan, (highlighting areas needing urgent management); v) a
imagery for coastal zone management (MESTI/EPA; MLGRD/
strategy for constructing green and grey infrastructure (MESTI/
MMDAs; MWH)
EPA/LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs; MLNR/FC/LC/MC; MoEP; MoFAD;
● Identify the most vulnerable coastal settlements/communi- MSDI/CDA; MWH; NDPC)
ties—on the basis of socioeconomic status and environmen-
● Identify and secure areas to increase retention capacity and
tal risk criteria—and create a national priority list for hazard
reduce runoff; zone green areas on floodplains for develop-
management and resilience (MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/MMDAs)
ment (MESTI/EPA; MLGRD/MMDAs; MWH/HSD; MSWR/WRC)
● Continue pursuit of a regional approach to coastal manage-
● Analyze contribution of pollution from off-shore extractive and
ment through political and technical dialogue to maximize
on-shore mining industries and determine appropriate regula-
the value and impact of existing initiatives; collaborate with
tions (MESTI/EPA; MoEP; MLNR/MC)
regional institutions such as the West African Economic and
Monetary Union, ECOWAS, Abidjan Convention89, and West
Africa Coastal Observatory90; participate in coastal observation
in coordination with neighboring countries (as per commit-
ments to the West Africa Coastal Observatory) (MESTI/EPA)

88. MSDI = Ministry of Special Development Initiatives marine area of 14,000 km from Mauritania to South Africa, providing
an overarching legal framework for marine-related programs.
89. According to UNEP, the Convention for Cooperation in the
Protection, Management and Development of the Marine and 90. The West Africa Coastal Observatory is a joint initiative between the
Coastal Environment of the Atlantic Coast of the West, Central and Government of France and the World Bank.
Southern Africa Region (Abidjan Convention, in short), covers a

9. Coastal Ecosystem  96
 9.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)

● Construct public works combining nature-based solutions

(green) and manmade (gray) infrastructure for shoreline
protection: (green) coastal mangrove protection/management;
planting of trees; mangroves, sea grass, other dune vegeta-
tion; salt marsh protection; beach nourishment and cleaning;
(gray) increase sea dikes; build/reinforce river dikes to protect
ports and harbors (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs;
MoF; MSWR/WRC; MWH/HSD)

● Accommodate a changing coastline through measures such

as: flood-proof building construction; avoidance of areas
subject to liquefaction during earthquakes; resettlement of
populations located in vulnerable peri-urban slums; implica-
tion of communities in planning, implementation (MESTI/EPA/
LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs; MSWR/WRC; MWH/HSD)

● Establish a multi-sectoral program—leveraging Ghana’s blue

economy for development—that provides direct financial
support to coastal management and marshals resources
for investments, technical assistance, data collection, and
regional integration (MSDI/CDA; MDAs)

● Modernize hydromet/early warning services for end-to-end

connectivity between service providers and users (MoC/GMet)

● Lend support to the national observatory on coastal issues

(Centre for Coastal Management at University of Cape Coast)
to: nurture coordinated research (specifically, to understand
river/coastal sediment transport and management options);
standardize, share, provide access to information; create link-
ages with hydromet agencies; network with regional observa-
tories (MESTI/EPA)

● Improve waste management in coastal urban areas to protect

ecosystems (MLGRD/MMDAs; MSWR)

● Design new oil and gas development and related infrastructure

and plan regional development in the oil-producing Western
Region with climate change adaptation in mind (MESTI; MoEP;
MWH)

97
 A fisherman prepares his fishing nets in
Jamestown Fishing Village in Accra,.
Dominic Chavez / World Bank

9. Coastal Ecosystem  98
 10
99
10. Status of Fisheries Resources
10.1 Features of Ghana’s Fisheries and Aquaculture
Sector

From the Gulf of Guinea and the species—mainly anchovies, chub mackerel, and sardinellas, which
Keta Lagoon to the Volta Lake and are referred to as “the people’s fish” because of their importance
the Black and White rivers that feed to local economies and diets--decreased 86 percent, from 138,955
it, fishing is a traditional source of to 19,608 MT (MoFAD, 2018). For the past ten-plus years, over half
livelihood for many Ghanaians. The the fish consumed in Ghana has come from imports (Figure 10.2). In
fishing industry contributes signifi- 2017 around two-thirds of imports (of whole frozen fish) were from
cantly to food security and nutrition, other African countries, including Mauritania (35 percent), Morocco
FUNTUNFUNEFU employment and household income, (17 percent), and Angola (9.7 percent)91.
(“two-headed crocodile and foreign exchange earnings.
sharing one stomach”):
Small-scale, canoe fishing is critical Ghana’s marine fisheries exhibit classic signs of overexploitation:
unity and oneness in
to millions of individuals, families, declining catch rates and changes in the composition of key species
purpose
and communities. that are caught, including a prevalence of small fish. Since fishing
fleets look to capture similar pelagic and demersal fish stocks working
And yet, some predict the imminent collapse of Ghana’s capture fishing in the same areas has often led to conflict among fishermen. Several
sector. There are indicators to support the sense of unease. A com- converging factors explain this prototypical “tragedy of the commons”
bination of low fishing catch yield and increasing human population (Box 10.1). Proximate causes include a dearth of job opportunities in
has increased fish imports. Fish consumption per capita has declined other sectors, coupled with an open-access regime, where the right
steadily over the past decade and is down twenty percent to 21 kg to harvest fish is open to all. Direct causes of fisheries decline are
(2016) (Figure 10.1). Between 1996-2016 landings of small pelagic fleet overcapacity, illegal fishing, and climate change.

Figure 10.1: Fish consumption in Ghana (2006-2016) The first direct factor, fleet overcapacity, has led to overexploitation
(FAO29database). and depleted stocks, especially in the marine subsector. Ghana's
marine fisheries sector includes three main fleets: artisanal canoes,
27
inshore and semi-industrial boats (wooden boats no greater than 30
25 m long, powered by inboard marine engines of 90-400 horsepower),
Kilograms, per capita

and industrial vessels such as trawlers and tuna fishing vessels.

23
The evidence shows fluctuating, but overall increasing numbers of
21 industrial and semi-industrial (inshore) vessels, and artisanal canoes.
Industrial vessels (excluding tuna vessels and shrimpers) contribute
19
about one-third of total industrial landings. The large number of
17 trawlers operating in Ghanaian waters suggests that fish stocks are
15 biologically overfished, which could lead to an eventual collapse if
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 they are not significantly reduced.

91. Data comes from the MIT Observatory of Economic Complexity

database: https://oec.world/en/profile/country/gha/.

10. Status of Fisheries Resources  100

 Figure 10.2: Origin of fish consumed, by proportion (MoFAD, 2017).

100%

90%

80% 42% 42% 41% 38% 41% 41%

45% 43% 44% 44%
48%
70%
Origin of fish consumed

60%

50% Domesti c
Net import
40%

30% 58% 58% 59% 62% 59% 59%

55% 57% 56% 56%
52%
20%

10%

0%
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Box 10.1: Extract from an interview conducted at Dixcove

“There are not many fish in our waters to be caught by the fishermen. Nowadays when the fishermen go to sea they hardly get many
fish to sell. They stay at sea for about three or four days only to return with a small quantity of fish that are only worth GHS1,000
[US$311 at the time], enough to cover only expenses.”

Source: Freduah et al., 2017.

Due to their sheer numbers most of the marine catch is from artisanal Figure 10.3: Reported fish landings by the various
fisherman. This catch has seen a precipitous decrease, of more than fleets in the marine sector (Data obtained from
one-third, since the turn of the century (Figure 10.3). Excessive num- MoFAD).
bers of boats and fishermen currently operating in the artisanal fleet 300,000

have led to overfishing. Catch per unit effort has gradually declined
with the catch per boat decreasing from 35.44 to 15.52 MT/year, 250,000

and the catch per fisherman also declined from 3.2 to 1.7 MT/year
between 1992 and 2016 (Figure 10.4). 200,000
Landings (MT)

The second factor is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. 150,000

Both the marine and inland capture sectors are under threat due
to IUU, which damages marine ecological systems and diminishes 100,000

socioeconomic benefits. IUU fishing is an umbrella term that encom-

passes activities undermining fisheries management and conserva-
50,000

tion. Among artisanal fishermen these activities include use of illegal

0

fishing nets (e.g. very fine mesh), dynamite, poison, and light aggre- 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Industrial
2006 2007

Semi-industrial
2008 2009

Artisanal
2010 2011

Tuna
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

gation equipment, while trawlers target juvenile stocks, underreport

catches (including through use of transshipment at sea), and discard
large volumes of less desirable “trash fish”. More than 90 percent of threatening future stocks (Akpalu, 2008). In Central Region, one of
artisanal fishermen along the coast use nets with mesh sizes smaller every two artisanal fishermen surveyed admitted to using lights to
than the legally-approved 25 mm, which capture juvenile fish, thus aggregate and catch more fish; anecdotal evidence indicates that
dynamite is often employment in combination with light (Akpalu,

101
2011). Semi-industrial vessels that operate as purse seiners may In 2016 and 2017 the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen92 undertook fish surveys
employ light fishing (Bannerman and Quartey, 2004). It is believed in support of the West Africa Regional Fisheries Program (WARFP) that
that most industrial trawlers are involved in IUU fishing in Ghana, looked at total pelagic and demersal biomass93 (Box 10.2). Abundance
with many catching juvenile fish using illegal gear. estimates show declining biomass of small and medium pelagic
species since 2007. The recorded biomass of small pelagics was
While IUU fishing is largely perpetrated by local fishing fleets, this estimated to be 8.4 percent of that needed to maintain sustainable
includes Ghana-flagged, but effectively Chinese-owned, industrial exploitation of the stock (Lazar et al., 2018). In the 2017 survey, ancho-
fishing vessels. The illegal catch, locally called saiko, is disguised vies were more abundant than sardinellas, contrary to usual trends at
as by-catch and transferred to artisanal boats for retail at landing that time of the year. The most abundant demersal species assessed
beaches. A typical saiko boat carries more than 2,000 slabs of saiko in the surveys changed over the 17-year period (Table 10.1). Only a few
fish and could earn a profit of GH¢7.00-13.60/slab. The Environmental valuable demersal species consistently appeared among the top 10
Justice Foundation (2018) reported that saiko canoes landed, in 2017, species over the period, while non-valuable jellyfish became more
about 100,000 MT of fish with a market value of US$26-41 million, prominent in the catches. These changes could be due to changes
landings neither recorded nor included in official catch statistics. in the physico-chemical properties of coastal waters or the effects of
excessive pressure on selected species (Koranteng, 2001)

Figure 10.4: Annual catch per canoe and catch per fisherman in artisanal marine capture fisheries (Authors
estimates from MoFAD data).

40 3.5

3.0
35

2.5
30

2.0
Metric tons

Metric tons
25
1.5

20
1.0

15
0.5

10 0.0
1998

2008
198 6
198 7

198 9
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997

1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007

2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
198 8

Catch per Canoe Catch per Fishermen (right axis)

Linear (Catch per Canoe) Linear (Catch per Fishermen (right axis))

92. With assistance from the FAO, surveys are carried out by foreign 93. “Demersal” applies to species that live on, or close to, the bottom of
research vessels (R/V), the most important of which is the Norwegian- the sea and are caught mainly with bottom trawl nets or bottom set
owned, UN-flagged R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen. The vessel has carried nets. “Pelagic” refers to species living and feeding away from the
out acoustic and bottom trawl surveys for pelagic and demersal bottom and caught mainly with mid-water trawls, or purse seines.
resources in Ghanaian waters since 1981. The last survey in 2017
covered only pelagic resources.

10. Status of Fisheries Resources  102

 Table 10.1: Top 10 demersal species off coast of Ghana (Data from selected surveys of the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen).

Species Survey year and rank

1999 2004 2010 2016
Bigeye grunt (Brachydeuterus auratus) 1 1 5 2
Cunene horse mackerel (Trachurus trecae) 2 4 1 6
Atlantic bumper (Chloroscombrus chrysurus) 3 10 - 7
Red pandora (Pagellus bellottii) 4 3 14 5
Common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) 5 11 7 8
Atlantic bigeye (Priacanthus arenatus) 6 2 4 -
African moonfish (Selene dorsalis) 7 5 - 16
Congo dentex (Dentex congoensis) 8 9 2 3
Lesser African threadfin (Galeoides decadactylus) 9 - - 15
Angolan dentex (Dentex angolensis) 10 - 8 -

Figure 10.5: Annual mean temperature coastal sea surface (at Tema) (MoFAD, 2018).

The third direct factor is climate change. Alterations to marine eco- the harmful effects of higher temperatures on fish production in Ghana
system conditions—ocean currents, temperature, upwelling, biogeo- (Akpalu et al., 2015; IPCC, 2014).
chemistry, water salinity—affect fish production. Ocean temperatures
have risen, especially in tropical countries, as has ocean acidification, Upwelling. The Gulf’s coastal hydrography affects the biology and
negatively affecting global fish catch rates (Cooley and Doney, 2009; status of marine fish, in particular through the intensity of its major
Sumaila et al., 2011). In the Gulf of Guinea, the location of Ghana’s upwelling period (July to September)—where nutrient-rich, colder
territorial waters, oceanographic conditions necessary for sustainable water rises up from the deep, increasing biological productivity in
fisheries are trending in unfavorable directions, notably temperature surface waters. The major upwelling is the main fishing season in
and upwelling. Ghana, being when most fish spawning takes place; it is critical to
artisanal fishermen who rely on the proliferation of sardinellas in
Temperature. Over the past three decades, sea surface tempera- inshore waters (Houghton and Mensah, 1978; Mensah, 1974). The
ture (SST) in Ghanaian waters has steadily increased (Figure 10.5). major upwelling index has exhibited subtle weakening since 1998
Increasing SST contributes to a decline in the biomass of zooplankton, (Figure 10.6).
a key component of the aquatic ecosystem. Studies have documented

Figure 10.6: Annual major upwelling index (at Tema) (MoFAD, 2018)

103
The combination of rising SST, less productive coastal upwelling, and in Ghana’s fisheries, and has been developing rapidly. Lake Volta is
decline in zooplankton paint a worrying picture for fish resources, the main site for fish cage farming. Tilapia is the predominant spe-
particularly small pelagics. Changes to productivity dynamics make cies for intensive culture, but other farmed species include catfish
disappearance of certain marine fish species a possibility (Barange (Clarias gariepinus), bonytongue (Heterotis niloticus), and tiger shrimp
and Perry, 2009). (Penaeus monodon). The rapid increase in production of farmed fish
is due to the tilapia harvest, which more than quadrupled between
The inland water resources of Ghana include Lake Volta (which in 2010 and 2017 (Figure 10.7)
itself totals four percent of Ghana’s surface area), several large rivers,
and lagoons. Inland catches, predominantly from Lake Volta, are both Figure 10.7: Aquaculture and capture fish production
smaller in size and in decline, indications of dwindling fish stocks. in Lake Volta (Data obtained from MoFAD).
According to the Fisheries Commission, except for Lake Volta and
120,000
coastal lagoons, fisheries in other inland water bodies (e.g. reservoirs,
100,000
rivers) are not well monitored. Freshwater fishing mainly uses arti-
sanal dugout canoes. Different kinds of fishing equipment are used

Metric tons ('000s)

80,000

in the lake, including illegal beach and purse seine nets. Estimated 60,000

fish catch from the lake has been between 80,000 and 100,000 MT
40,000
for a decade, but as there is no official catch assessment survey
20,000
program for lake fisheries this is an approximation (MoFAD, 2016).
-
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Notwithstanding the discouraging news in the marine and fresh-
Volta Lake Fish Aquaculture
water capture subsectors, the aquaculture sector is a bright spot

Box 10.2: Fish species of commercial importance in Ghanaian waters

● Small/medium pelagics: Round sardinella (Sardinella aurita), flat sardinella (Sardinella maderensis), chub mackerel (Scomber
colia), anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), scad mackerel (Decapterus rhonchus)

● Large pelagics: Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

● Demersals: Sea breams (Pagellus bellottii, Sparus caeruleostictus, Dentex canariensis), grunts (Pomadasys incisus,
Pomadasys jubelini, Brachydeuterus auritus), croakers (Pseudotolitus spp., Umbrina spp.), snappers (Lutjanus fulgens,
Lutjanus agennes), goatfishes (Pseudupeneus prayensis), groupers (Epinephelus spp.), shrimps (Penaeus notialis,
Parapenaeopsis atlantica, Parapenaeus longirostris), cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis)

10.2 Economics of the Fisheries Sector earnings. Between 2014 and 2016, the average annual export revenue
exceeded US$14 million (based on data from MoFAD).
Over the last decade, marine and inland capture fishing accounted for
a significant portion of agricultural GDP. The contribution was more Fisheries are a critical component of employment. From 1950 to
than eight percent in 2006 but has declined steadily to nearly six per- 2010 total employment in the industry rose 35 percent (Nunoo et
cent since 2014. The sector’s contribution to total GDP declined from al., 2014). Estimating an employment rate of 20 percent of the active
about 2.4 percent in 2006 to 1.4 percent in 2016 though these figures labor force, almost three million people work in the fisheries sector,
would be higher if all segments of the value chain were captured, like of which 150,000 are canoe fishers, 30,000 are fish processors, and
fish processing and retail. In addition to making a significant contribu- 2.7 million are involved in trade, transport, and sale (Atta-Mills et al.,
tion to GDP, fishing generates more than half of non-traditional export 2004; MoFAD, 2018). 300,000 are engaged in fishing activities on

10. Status of Fisheries Resources  104

 Lake Volta.94 Collapse of the small pelagics fishery would possibly equipment. Studies have found a multiplier of 2.5 for fishing revenue
threaten the livelihoods of up to 500,000 people involved (MoFAD, that accrues to women as the main intermediaries (Chimatiro, 2010).
2018).
Estimates suggest that increases to the size of Ghana’s fishing fleet
Gender dynamics play a role in the fisheries economy. Women could further economic losses (on top of stock losses) in the sector.
primarily manage fish processing and distribution. In most coastal For renewable natural resources such as fish, the rate of extraction
communities, women are forbidden from physically catching fish, must not exceed the rate at which the stock replenishes itself, other-
but they can own fishing gear, finance expeditions, and engage in wise known as the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY).95 Similarly, the
wholesale and retail commerce. In some communities in the Central Maximum Economic Yield (MEY) is the sustainable catch quantity that
and Western Regions, the head of the fish traders, known as the fish generates the highest rents, given total revenues and costs. Using
queen, unilaterally sets the daily beach price for fish, hence indirectly MSY and MEY it is possible to derive the number of vessels needed
influencing catch decisions of fishermen. Thus, a successful fish to reach those maxima96; knowing MEY also permits calculation of
trade has earned some women prestigious status in the fishing com- the difference between optimal and actual rent extraction.97
munity, giving them the financial muscle to own and control fishing

Figure 10.8: Lost rents due to overfishing in Ghana’s marine fisheries (Authors based on Akpalu and Okyere, 2018).

$300 60%
Maximum yearly profit (i.e.
MEY)

Percentage of maximum rents foregone

$250 Actual annual profi t, 2012- 50%
2016
Annual lost rents (%) (right
Profits (US$ millions)

$200 axis) 40%

$150 30%
52.2%

$100 38.4% 20%

37.3%

$50 18.9% 10%

$- 0%
Artisanal Tuna Industrial Semi-Industrial

● Artisanal vessels: The estimated MSY for the artisanal fish- ● Inshore/semi-industrial vessels: MSY is estimated at 10,659 MT
ing fleet is 211,678 MT, which translates to a ceiling of 12,041 with a corresponding number of vessels of 276. This is lower
canoes. The highest fleet capacity of about 12,728 canoes than the number of boats in operation between 2012-2016 but
recorded in 2013 exceeds the effort that could generate the higher than more recent figures. All else being equal, a fleet of
maximum annual catch (Table 10.2). Actual profits derived over 250 would maximize rents.
the period 2012-2016, on average, were 37 percent lower than
● Industrial trawlers: MSY is an estimated 28,944 MT with a maxi-
MEY (Figure 10.8). The cumulative five-year loss in rents due to
mum number of vessels at 54. This is approximately half the
excessive artisanal fleet size totaled half a billion dollars.
current size of the fleet. Only 50 trawlers would be required

94. Data from FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, updated 2016, revenue information was obtained from FSSD, but average cost
http://www.fao.org/fishery/facp/GHA/en#CountrySector-Statistics. figures were collected from vessel owners and members of fisheries
associations.
95. Calculation of MSY includes the level of effort (number of fishing
vessels) for each of the four marine fishing fleets (artisanal, inshore, 96. The sustainable number of vessels was computed using information
industrial trawlers, tuna), annual catch volume, and the number of on operational cost per vessel and price (average revenue) per MT
vessels spanning different time periods. MSY calculations from data of fish.
(ending 2016) obtained through direct discussion with the Fisheries
Commission, primarily the Marine Fisheries Management Division
97. This CEA used data on actual profits in the marine fisheries sub-
and Fisheries Scientific Survey Division (FSSD). For MEY, price/
sectors (artisanal, semi-industrial, industrial, tuna) from 2012 to 2016.

105
 to maximize economic benefits, hence the industry is losing The total annual cost of marine overfishing in Ghana is estimated
annual rents of more than 50 percent of profits, equivalent to at US$233 million—the sum of lost fishing rents—equivalent to 0.4
US$206 million during the period studied due to overcapital- percent of 2017 GDP. Akpalu and Okyere (2018) caution that cli-
ization and overfishing. mate change impacts to marine ecosystems may alter calculations
in economic models.

Table 10.2: Top 10 demersal species off coast of Ghana (Data from selected surveys of the R/V Dr. Fridtjof Nansen).

Semi-industrial Tuna (baitboats &

Year Industrial Artisanal (canoes)
(inshore) purse seiners)
Maximum number of vessels at MSY
54 276 31 12,041
Actual number of vessels in the ocean and inland water bodies
2006 76 153 31 11,550
2007 76 273 35 11,718
2008 74 339 42 11,886
2009 53 264 44 12,055
2010 71 288 48 12,223
2011 83 221 42 12,391
2012 87 288 40 12,560
2013 89 360 41 12,728
2014 103 360 55 12,346
2015 93 204 44 11,965
2016 98 190 44 11,583
*Red cell denotes figure over the MSY ceiling; underline is highest number of vessels recorded in the sub-sector during the period in question

10.3 Fisheries Governance Framework and Analysis is to monitor fuel distribution and sale to avoid leakage and ensure
appropriate use of funds.
MoFAD has primary responsibility to formulate the policies and pro-
grams necessary to develop and manage the sector. The Ministry The fishing and aquaculture sector is regulated by the Fisheries Act,
has two agencies, the Fisheries Commission and the National 2002 (Act 625), Fisheries Regulations, 2010 (L.I. 1968), Fisheries
Premix Secretariat (which serves the National Premix Committee). (Amendment) Act, 2014 (Act 880), and Fisheries (Amendment)
The Fisheries Commission, with a Board of Commissioners, is the Regulations, 2015 (L.I. 2217). The Fisheries Act (2002) established
implementing agency of the Ministry and is mandated by the Fisheries the Fisheries Enforcement Unit (FEU), which is responsible for moni-
Act to regulate and manage exploitation of fisheries resources in toring, control, and surveillance of fishing operations within Ghana’s
accordance with policies and regulations formulated by MoFAD. waters, and enforcement of regulations. The FEU includes personnel
It has five operational Divisions—Marine Fisheries Management; from the Ghana Navy, Ghana Air Force, and the Fisheries Commission,
Inland Fisheries Management; Fisheries Scientific Survey; Monitoring, and it is assigned an attorney from the Ministry of Justice.
Control, and Surveillance; Operations and Administration—and four
units—Fish Health; Monitoring and Evaluation; Post-Harvest; Projects. Private organizations are also involved in fisheries governance. The
The NPC administers distribution of premix fuel for fishing vessels, National Fisheries Association of Ghana (NAFAG) is an umbrella asso-
which the GoG lends significant fiscal support to in the form of a ciation with membership from all the marine and inland sectors as well
US$48.9 million/year subsidy (Tobey et al., 2016). The NPC uses as fish processors and traders. NAFAG has two representatives on the
Landing Beach Committees to permit fishermen to run local premix Fisheries Commission Board. There is also the Ghana Aquaculture
fuel stations; proceeds from premix fuel sale are aimed at develop- Association, an advocacy group for fish farmers, as well as NGOs.
ment of surrounding fishing communities. Part of the NPC’s mandate

10. Status of Fisheries Resources  106

 The GoG adopted the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy production are likely underestimated because of weak data collec-
in 2008 to ensure that the sector would contribute significantly tion. The Fisheries Commission’s Fisheries Scientific Survey Division
to achieving the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture (FSSD) has not had its own research vessel since 1997. Inadequate
Development Program targets. It also adopted the Ghana Fisheries data on stocks, legal and illegal landings, fleets, number and dura-
and Aquaculture Sector Development Plan (2011-2016) to imple- tion of fishing trips, operational cost of vessels, fees and taxes, etc.,
ment the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy in the short- makes socioeconomic analysis of the sector very difficult.
term. MoFAD and the Fisheries Commission implement the Fisheries
Management Plan of Ghana (2015-2019). The goal of the plan is to Perverse incentives and sectoral transparency. Despite over-
“rebuild fish stocks to enhance the socioeconomic conditions of whelming evidence pointing to excess fleet capacity among arti-
fishing communities, create employment within national and inter- san fishermen, political expediency coupled with ignorance and
regional frameworks and standards and improve food security as misperception of the dynamics of fish stocks has seen successive
well as contribute to GDP and foreign exchange earnings” (MoFAD, governments in Ghana introduce incentives that intensify fishing. The
2015). The key objectives of the plan are to reduce excessive pressure most salient example is the subsidy for premix boat fuel. Undeniably
on fish stocks, ensure sustainable exploitation of fish stocks, ensure detrimental to fisheries and burdensome to the taxpayer, incentives
implementation of fisheries legislation, protect marine habitats and are often intensified during election years, reaffirming the notion
biodiversity, enhance export opportunities and value addition, that the subsidy’s true purpose is to gather votes from Ghana’s 3
strengthen participatory decision-making in fisheries management, million fishermen.
and meet regional and international obligations.
Though most trawl vessels are registered as Ghanaian, with Ghanaians
Under the plan, a closed season of two months for trawlers has been owning at least a 51 percent share, a disproportionate amount of their
in place since 2016 (November 2016, February-March 2017, January- profit accrues to foreigners (Harrison, 2009). There are those who
February 2018, and August-September 2019). In 2019, for the first maintain that some locals are fronting for foreigners in return for
time, a closed season was introduced for artisanal and inshore fishing small monthly bribe—quoted at around US$1,000—and by-catch fish
from May 15 to June 15. MoFAD reported that all industrial trawlers (Authors’ interviews). The hire-purchase agreement requirement of
complied with the directive with zero infractions as determined from the Fisheries Act, which gives the Ghanaian partner full ownership of
the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and that some canoe operators the vessel after five years, is not enforced because a loophole allows
reported higher fish catches thereafter. The Management Plan has a vessels to change ownership after four years and become subject to
provision to increase the number of non-fishing days for canoes from a new agreement. According to the Ghana Maritime Authority, the
one to two days per week. The Plan also offers alternate livelihood registration fee for a vessel of 300 gross registered tonnes (GRT)
activities to encourage some fishermen to exit the industry, thereby is around US$1,350 while the license fee charged by the Fisheries
alleviating pressure on fisheries. Commission for such a vessel is US$35/GRT. The licensing fee is
among the lowest of West Africa’s coastal countries, making Ghana’s
waters highly attractive to foreign investors (World Bank, 2017).
10.3.1 Gaps and Challenges

Inadequate human and institutional capacity. A major issue con-

fronting MoFAD is inadequate capacity. This is in terms of i) person-
nel numbers, particularly of those in the field, ii) expertise in key
areas; iii) data collection. For example, while most artisanal fishing
nets have mesh smaller than what is legally allowed, the Fisheries
Commission has been unable to address this chronic issue due to a
lack of manpower. The Fisheries Enforcement Unit (FEU) is usually
assigned two Police personnel to investigate and prepare dockets;
they and the State Prosecutors have other commitments, which slows
down the adjudication process for fisheries infractions. With the
support of the WARFP-Ghana, gains have been made in monitor-
ing, control, and surveillance but the enforcement capacity of the
Fisheries Commission is still inadequate considering the magnitude
and multitude of issues needing supervision. In terms of technical
expertise, there are too few fisheries experts, from fisheries econo-
mists to fishing gear specialists, even though technical knowledge is
crucial to mitigating adverse impacts. Finally, marine and inland fish

107
 Box 10.3: The West Africa Regional Fisheries Program-Ghana

Between 2012-2018, the Government of Ghana implemented the US$53.8 million World Bank-funded West Africa Regional Fisheries
Program (WARFP-Ghana) to actualize its Fisheries and Aquaculture Sector Development Plan and National Aquaculture Development
Plan. The development objective of WARFP-Ghana was to improve sustainable management of Ghana’s fish and aquatic resources
by: i) strengthening the country’s capacity to sustainably govern and manage fishing; ii) reducing illegal fishing; iii) increasing the
value and profitability generated by fish resources and their contribution to the national economy; and iv) developing aquaculture.

Key activities carried out during project implementation included:

● preparing an aquatic animal health policy;

● creating awareness about the consequences of illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) fish catches; and publicizing actions
taken by The Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Division of the Fisheries Commission that led to reduced infractions;

● organizing two canoe frame surveys in the marine sector;

● embossing registration numbers on canoes;

● assessing pelagic and demersal stocks in partnership with FAO’s EAF-Nansen Project;

● instituting closed fishing seasons;

● re-registering semi-industrial vessels, and creating a web-based digital register of canoes, inshore, and industrial vessels,
accessible through the WARFP Regional Dashboard;

● fitting industrial vessels with VMS beacons and semi-industrial with Automatic Identification System (AIS) technology, enabling
them to be monitored electronically; achieving 100 percent coverage of trawlers on fishing expeditions through the marine
fishing observer program.

It is hoped that these activities will further sustainable fishing, increase profitability, and improve fisheries’ contributions to the
national economy.

10.4 Recommendations for Sustainable Fisheries

10.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years)

● Reinforce the Fisheries Management Plan’s communication ● Sanction infractions through withdrawal of fishing licenses;
strategy to raise awareness among stakeholders about regula- ban inshore vessels, canoes caught during enforcement oper-
tory compliance (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission) ations from fishing for a predetermined period (e.g. minimum
of six months) (MoFAD/FEU)
● Emboss and license all registered canoes, and issue owners
with picture identification cards (that can also be used to ● Take detailed records of sources and quality/quantity of saiko
obtain premix fuel) (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission/NPC) landings; sanction offending vessels; use records in determin-
ing license renewal (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)
● Agree on a monthly allowable number of trawlers and an
effective enforcement mechanism with stakeholders (MoFAD/ ● Place (and communicate) a moratorium on the import of new
Fisheries Commission) industrial vessels and canoes; halt replacement of old or lost
vessels (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)
● Decrease trawling by increasing the Inshore Exclusive Zone for
artisanal fishermen from 30 to 50 meters (MoFAD) ● Support Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council efforts to
institute an additional weekly no-fishing day (MoFAD)
● Implement on-the-spot inspections of fishing gear equipment
(MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)

10. Status of Fisheries Resources  108

 10.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years) 10.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)

● Agree upon and sustain a two-month closed season for all ● Acquire: i) a research vessel to assess fish stocks and support
fleets to rebuild fish stocks (MoFAD) other critical research; ii) two dedicated patrol boats (for inland
and marine sectors); iii) a fish patrol helicopter (to support
● Draft stringent, enforceable general guidelines on future addi-
monitoring and control duties of national security agencies)
tions to the industrial fleet (MoFAD)
(Cabinet, MoFAD, MoF)
● Reduce industrial fleet by 50 percent; reduce artisanal fleet
● Design and construct new landing beaches to facilitate
size (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)
fishing vessel inspection (MESTI/LUSPA, MoFAD/Fisheries
● Revise provisions in Fisheries Act 625 to make co-manage- Commission, MWH)
ment feasible and workable (Parliament)
● Construct spaces for fish auctions to add value, improve data
● Establish co-management committees at the community, collection/documentation, and improve traceability of catches
zonal, and national levels (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission) (MESTI/LUSPA, MoFAD/Fisheries Commission, MWH)

● Develop management plans for all fisheries sub-sectors ● Train personnel, acquire logistics, and deploy officers to collect
(MoFAD) fish catch and price data at landing beaches, and conduct
regular canoe frame surveys (MoFAD/Fisheries Commission)
● Conduct new stakeholder analyses to reflect the changing
nature of the sector—identifying interest groups, reorganizing
and reinforcing associations, and strengthening NAFAG—to
help data collection along the entire fish value chain and to
champion regulatory compliance (MoFAD)

● Prepare a Marine Protected Areas report with a view to estab-

lishing MPAs in areas of fish spawning and important biodiver-
sity (MLNR, MoFAD)

A detail of fish being washed in Jamestown

Fishing Village in Accra.
Dominic Chavez/World Bank

109
 A farmer attempts to cultivate in a drought-
stricken maize field in Upper East Region.
Jake Lyell / Alamy Stock Photo

10. Status of Fisheries Resources  110

 11
111
11. Climate Change
11.1 The Impacts of a Changing Climate on Ghana

The climate of Ghana is tropical, and tem- 19 significant floods of various magnitudes, with the major flooding
peratures and precipitation vary with geo- event occurring between April-July 2017 (Table 11.1). Flood events
graphical location, season—characterized have affected nearly four million people over the last 40 years, both in
by wet and dry periods—and elevation. rural areas—riverine flooding, mainly in the Volta River System—and
The northern part of Ghana is marked by in he urban areas, notably the Greater Accra Region. In recent years,
a single wet season, occurring between flooding in the North has been recurrent, affecting large swathes. In
DƐNKYƐM: May and November. The northern regions the southern regions, the extent of floods has been limited to the cit-
(“crocodile”) receive on average about 150 - 250 mm ies and is driven by rapid urbanization, poor hydraulic infrastructure,
adaptability in of rainfall per month in the peak months and weak solid waste management, among other factors. A 2015
changing
circumstances of the wet season (July - September). flash flood in Accra caused an estimated US$55 million in damages
The southern regions benefit from two to the housing, water, and transport sectors, though losses were
wet seasons: a major one from March to likely substantially higher (MESTI, 2016).
July, and a minor one from September to November. Annual rainfall
ranges from about 1,100 mm in the North to 2,100 mm in the Southeast. Climate change is expected to have substantial impacts on Ghana,
with the potential to alter seasonal climate patterns, temperature,
Historically, Ghana has been affected by several weather and climate- and rainfall events. This may include higher extreme rainfall peaks
related hazards, including floods, droughts, wildfires, and strong with concurrent effects of increased surface runoff and flooding.
winds (Figure 11.1). The country experiences high levels of climate In fact, the climate of Ghana is already changing. Temperature and
variability and climate-related extremes. In the 1970s and 1980s, precipitation data over the period 1960-2000 show a progressive
Ghana went through three serious droughts. While recorded dam- increase in mean temperature and a decrease in mean annual rainfall
ages from droughts have decreased in the recent years, the NSEZ in all regions. Temperature has increased about 0.2°C per decade,
remains drought prone. In the last 20 years Ghana has experienced with a more rapid increase in the northern regions (MESTI, 2013).

Canoe under trees.

Curt Carnemark / World Bank

11. Climate Change  112

 Figure 11.1: Number of significant flooding events by region (2000-2019) (Leftmost image) (EM-DAT database);
Flood and drought severity (Middle and Rightmost images).

Western

Volta

Upper West

Upper East

Northern

Greater Accra

Eastern

Central

Brong Ahafo

Ashanti

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

*Darker areas are more prone to the referenced natural disaster.

Table 11.1: Significant flood events in Ghana, 2000-2019 (EM-DAT database).

Start date End date Disaster type Region(s) Total Total

Deaths Affected
18-Oct-19 18-Oct-19 Flood Upper East 28 5,159
4-Jun-19 4-Jun-19 Flash Flood Greater Accra, Western 13 0
31-Aug-18 2-Oct-18 Flood Upper East 34 100,000
1-Apr-17 21-Jul-17 Flood Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Western 0 1,000,000
19-Mar-17 19-Mar-17 Convective Storm Brong Ahafo 20 12
10-Jun-16 14-Jun-16 Flood Greater Accra 10 0
2-Jun-15 15-Jun-15 Flood Greater Accra 25 5,000
3-Mar-13 30-Apr-13 Riverine flood Northern, Volta 5 25,000
10-Jun-12 12-Jun-12 Riverine flood Ashanti, Greater Accra 4 2,000
26-Oct-11 29-Oct-11 Riverine flood Eastern, Greater Accra, Volta 14 81,473
22-Jul-11 29-Jul-11 Riverine flood Eastern 6 12,571
Sep-10 Oct-10 Riverine flood Brong Ahafo, Eastern, Northern, Upper East, Upper West, 18 9,674
Western
20-Jun-10 5-Jul-10 Riverine flood Central, Greater Accra, Volta 45 7,500
17-Sep-09 21-Sep-09 Riverine flood Northern 24 139,790
6-Jun-09 8-Jul-09 Riverine flood Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Volta, Western 16 19,755
Jul-08 Aug-08 Riverine flood Northern 0 58,000
10-Aug-07 10-Oct-07 Riverine flood Northern, Upper East, Upper West, Western 56 332,600
8-Apr-02 8-Apr-02 Riverine flood Greater Accra 0 200
27-Jun-01 30-Jun-01 Riverine flood Greater Accra 12 144,025

113
There is no consensus model being used to predict the effects of Hydrological-hydraulic models used to understand flood risk in Accra,
climate change in either Ghana or West Africa. A review of studies, notably in the Odaw Basin, point towards climate change and urban-
conducted by the World Bank (2017b),98 identified projected impacts ization limiting the safety levels of flood management infrastructure
on temperature and rainfall for time horizons of 2030 and 2040. In by 2070, with substantial increases in the number of people affected
a low warming scenario, a countrywide warming of 1°C is projected and damage to assets (Figure 11.3) (World Bank, 2020).
by the 2030s and 2040s. In a high warming scenario, temperature
increases of 1.3°C and 1.8°C are projected for the 2030s and the Urban areas, notably the major urban centers of Accra, Kumai,
2040s respectively. The models forecast a pronounced increase Sekondi-Takoradi, and Tamale are the hubs of economic growth
in heat extremes in southern Ghana. Mean annual temperature is and are rapidly expanding. The city of Accra and the Greater Accra
projected to increase, most rapidly in the northern inland regions, Region are affected by floods, due to their low-lying location at the
1.0-3.0°C by the 2060s, and 1.5-5.2°C by the 2090s. Gulf of Guinea. Demographic growth, fueled in part by the in-migration
from Ghana’s rural areas, will contribute to rapid urbanization; associ-
Extreme droughts will primarily affect Brong Ahafo and Ashanti ated buildings and paving and sealing of surfaces will lead to more
Regions, consistently in both warming scenarios, though the ampli- and higher floods during heavy rainfall. The design capacity of the
tude of the effects is lower in the low warming scenario. Despite larger main drains, especially downstream, is no longer sufficient to safely
uncertainty, climate models tend to indicate an increase in extreme discharge excess water to the sea. Moreover, the actual capacity of
wet event conditions in the northern regions of Ghana (World Bank, the drains has decreased, due to siltation, solid waste accumulation,
2017b). Total annual rainfall is projected to decline 1.1 percent by and lack of regular maintenance. A dearth of studies anticipating the
2020, and 20.5 percent by 2080 (Figure 11.2). twin issues of demographic growth and climate change are wholly
missing, making it difficult to prepare for the future.
Predicting the potential impacts of climate change on floods is dif-
ficult due to the large number of variables that must be considered.

Figure 11.2: Projected change in monthly temperature (left) and precipitation (right) for 2020-2039 (World Bank
Climate Change Knowledge Portal).

98. The study is based on analysis of the 5th Coupled Model

Intercomparison Project assessed in the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report.

11. Climate Change  114

 11.2 The Economics of Climate Change in Ghana in agricultural value-addition for the three regions may decrease
by 17 percent, likely leading to increase in poverty incidence and
Changing weather patterns may severely affect economic growth and migratory outflows.
poverty eradication. Evidence already shows the impact of climate
change on the national economy, including clear signs that the coastal In the industry sector, the climate will affect electricity, which is cur-
zone, agriculture, and water resources are all negatively affected rently one of the fastest growing subsectors. Climate-related factors
with attendant impacts on poverty, health, and women’s livelihoods significantly influence Ghana’s energy generation options, which rely
(MESTI, 2017). By 2030, an estimated 400,000 additional people on water availability for cooling (thermal power plants) and production
are projected to live below the poverty line as a consequence of (hydropower, which generates 64 percent of Ghana’s electricity). Heat
climate change (World Bank, 2017b). By 2050, the reduction in GDP and dry extremes could further accentuate the vulnerability of the
per capita is estimated to be, in the median case, in the range of 6.5 electricity production and distribution system. Flooding events and
(low warming scenario) to 11.4 percent (high warming scenario). In storms could also affect electricity distribution and transmission. On
the most extreme case, the decrease in GDP per capita could be as the demand side, increasing temperature will also increase electric-
high as 35.5 percent (low scenario) to 46.2 percent (high) (Baarsch ity demand for cooling, putting an additional pressure on capacity.
et al., 2020). Hydropower water sources are concentrated in Brong Ahafo and
Northern Regions, and three hydroelectric plants are there as well.
One of Ghana’s main vulnerabilities is its reliance on sectors that are Estimates see between 9 and 11 percent decrease in growth for the
especially sensitive to climate change, such as agriculture, forestry two regions.
and energy production. With the mounting effects of climate change
on temperature and precipitation patterns, a number of studies have In terms of the services sector, erosion, waterlogging, and flooding
projected that economic outputs could be adversely affected (e.g. may curtail transportation and trade activities, while access to clean
Burke et al., 2015). drinking water and sewage and sanitation, and associated health
risks, may reduce the ability of economically-active population to
Figure 11.3: Estimated increased water levels in the engage in productive activities. Losses in value-added growth in
Odaw Basin (Accra) for different climate change models services in the Upper East and Upper West Regions, could reach as
and urbanization trends (World Bank, 2020). high as a 13 percent. This risk is mainly connected to the severity
of temperature increase. If climate-induced economic crisis causes
poverty to deepen in areas like the NSEZ, then it is likely to exacerbate
rural exodus, an ongoing trend. Rural-to-urban migration has already
accelerated beyond the absorptive capacities of major municipalities.
Cities whose economies rely on services and industry—Accra, Tema,
Takoradi, Kumasi—will face challenges in continuing to generate
economic opportunities. As available space is limited and expensive,
informal settlements arise on marginal lands, which are often vulner-
able to flooding. This growth of informal settlements could acceler-
ate, with attendant impacts on health, poverty, and social stability.

The cost of inland flooding is currently estimated at US$115 mil-

lion/year, equivalent to 0.2 percent of GDP. Climate change may
Note: Figure shows the “hydraulic objective” for the T10 flood risk migration invest-
ment plan in Greater Accra–That is, the difference between (a) the water level from increase the recurrence of flooding events, and with the value of
a 1-in-10-year (T10) flood in 2015, and (b) the project water level under various future assets increasing due to economic growth there is a concurrent
climate and urbanization scenarios. The “effective rainfall” under each scenario is
the estimated millimeters (mm) of rainfall per 24 hours during a T10 rainfall event. increase in risk for higher flood damages.

Heavy dependence on climate-sensitive commercial crops will likely Finally, there are the costs of Ghana’s CO2 emissions to the global
lead to erratic earnings. A reduction in cocoa yields, would nega- community. Ghana’s GHG emissions and short-lived climate pollut-
tively affect national output, reduce overall agricultural capacity, and ants inventory shows total national GHG emissions in 2016 were
threaten livelihoods. Decreasing and erratic cocoa production may approximately 42.15 million MtCO2e, which was 66 and seven per-
affect the whole cash crop value chain (transportation, trading, trans- cent higher than the levels reported in 1990 and 2012, respectively.
formation, etc.), while lowered exports would reduce government The rising trend in GHG emissions, over two percent a year over
revenues and affect macroeconomic stability. The agriculture sector the period 1990-2016, can be attributed to demographic and eco-
will be the most seriously affected with economic losses concen- nomic growth. The most recent data indicate the AFOLU sector as
trated in the Northern, Brong Ahafo, and Ashanti Regions. Growth the largest source of emissions, especially land use change that

115
Figure 11.4: GHG emissions by sector (MESTI, 2018). Figure 11.5: Total GHG emissions (% change from
1990) (World Bank WDI database).
2.44%

Cote d'Ivoire

7.54% Kyrgyz Republic

Myanmar

AFOLU Cameroon

Energy Kenya

Waste
Nicaragua
35.64% 54.37% IPPU
Mauritania

Ghana

-100% -50% 0% 50% 100% 150% 2 00% 2 50% 300%

converts forest into grazing and cropland. The energy sector is the Ghana has been praised for its well-developed National Climate
second largest contributor to national emissions, half of which comes Change Policy (NCCP) and its Action Program for Implementation:
from fuel combustion in the road transport sector, and a third from 2015-2020 and a National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy to
thermal electricity generation. The third and fourth contributors are tackle climate change and disaster risks in the country. Framed by
the manufacturing, industry, and construction sector, and the waste the country’s sustainable development priorities, the NCCP provides
treatment and disposal sector, respectively (Figure 11.4) (MESTI, strategic direction and the institutional framework for climate change
2018). Under a different methodology99 that allows for comparison and disaster risk management, emphasizing commitment, prepared-
between countries, Ghana’s total emissions change between 1990 ness, and the resolve to lessen climate-related hardships, and it looks
and 2012 far outpaced any of its structural peers, nearly tripling over forward to a green economy. The NCCP identifies ten focus areas
the period (Figure 11.5). with specific programs for addressing Ghana’s climate change chal-
lenges and opportunities: develop climate-resilient agriculture and
The cost of Ghana’s GHG emissions to the global community is, on food security systems; build climate-resilient infrastructure; increase
average US$2.3 billion each year (though the estimated range is US$1.5 resilience of vulnerable communities to climate-related risks; increase
to 3.2 billion), equivalent to just under four percent of Ghana’s GDP. carbon sinks; improve management and resilience of terrestrial,
aquatic and marine ecosystems; address impacts of climate change
on human health; minimize impacts of climate change on access
to water and sanitation; address gender issues in climate change;
11.3 Governance Framework and Analysis for Climate address climate change and migration; minimize GHG emissions
Change (MESTI, 2013).

Ghana's strategy to tackle climate change is articulated in several Ghana also has a Plan of Action on Disaster Risk Reduction and
policies and strategies including the National Climate Change Policy, Climate Change Adaptation (2012), which oriented the approach
which focuses on low-carbon growth, adaptation and social develop- of the national agenda from disaster response to disaster preven-
ment. Ghana ratified the Paris Agreement in September 2016, and tion and risk reduction. Mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction
the associated NDC, which is anchored in the 40-year long-term and climate change adaptation into MMDA development planning
development plan, the GSGDA II, the National Climate Change Policy, and programs was the key axis of implementation. The National
as well as the Low Carbon Development Strategy. Other policies and Disaster Management Act, 2016 (Act 927), effectively codifies this
strategies include the National Energy Policy, National LPG Promotion prevention-first approach. Act 927 emphasizes prevention, early
Policy, Strategic National Energy Plan and National Gas Master Plan, warning and preparedness, and building codes, and establishes a
Renewable Energy Act, Energy Efficiency Regulation, Environmental National Disaster Management Fund.
Fiscal Reforms, Forest and Wildfire Policy and the National REDD+
Strategy.

99. These emissions calculations are based on the European https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.GHGO.

Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC)/Netherlands Environmental ZG?locations=GH and edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu.
Assessment Agency (PBL) Emission Database for Global
Atmospheric Research (EDGAR). For additional information, see

11. Climate Change  116

 The Ghana National Climate Change Master Plan Action Programs improve their livelihood. At the national level NADMO is made up of
for Implementation: 2015-2020 identifies key institutions in com- the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) and technical
bating climate change and conducting disaster management. advisory subcommittees; it also includes an Emergency Operations
These include MESTI and EPA, MSWR and WRC, MoH, MWH and Centre operating 24 hours/day, 7 days/week that is manned by per-
HSD, MLGRD and MMDAs, the Ministry of Communications’ Ghana sonnel from the Urban Search and Rescue Unit. It also has over 900
Meteorological Agency (GMet), and MoI and the National Disaster zonal offices throughout the country. At the subnational level are
Management Organisation (NADMO). GMet is Ghana’s primary source Regional and District Disaster Management Committees (RRMCs,
of climate data. It is responsible for the provision of efficient and DRMCs), as well as 900 zonal offices throughout the country. Each
reliable meteorological data/information, while the Hydrological DRMC is required to formulate a disaster management plan as part of
Services Department (HSD) is responsible for operational hydrology its planning process. NADMO is largely response-oriented organiza-
(MESTI, 2017). NADMO was established under the National Disaster tion, though it has shifted towards better understanding disaster risk
Management Organisation Act, 1996 (Act 517) to manage national and flood, coastal erosion, and drought management.
disasters and emergencies. NADMO, which falls under MoI to enable
it to coordinate relevant civil authorities at the national and subna- Selected projects/investments being carried out by the Government
tional levels, is mandated to manage disasters through coordination of Ghana to prepare for and adapt to climate change ramifications
of government institutions and non-governmental agencies, and to are presented in Table 11.2.
develop communities’ capacity to respond effectively to disasters and

Table 11.2: Selected projects focused on climate change in Ghana

Project title, location (duration) Activity Development Partners; Implementing

Agencies
Ghana Climate Innovation Center Project, This US$17.2 million project supports entre- World Bank; Ashesi University College
(2016-2020) preneurs and small and medium enterprises
involved in developing profitable and locally
appropriate solutions to climate change and
increasing business activity in the climate
technology sector.
Increased Resilience to Climate Change in The US$8.3 million project seeks to en- UN Development Programme; MESTI
Northern Ghana through the Management hance the resilience and adaptive capacity
of Water Resources and Diversification of of rural livelihoods to climate impacts and
Livelihoods, Upper East, Upper West, and risks on water resources. Results center on
Northern Regions (2016-2020) improved water access, as well as increased
institutional capacity and coordination.
Program on Affirmative Finance Action for The objective of this US$20 million project African Development Bank, Green Climate
Women in Africa (AFAWA): Financing Climate (of which US$18.5 is loan) is to empower Fund; MoF, MoFA
Resilient Agricultural Practices in Ghana, women groups in the climate-vulnerable
NSEZ (2019-2024) NSEZ to participate in low-emission climate
resilient agricultural practices. The project
provides concessional loans and technical
assistance to women-led enterprises and
farmer-based associations.

11.3.1 Gaps and Challenges

Climate leadership and coordination. Although Ghana has a fight climate change effects, it largely did so in a piecemeal manner,
National Climate Change Committee and a Climate Change Unit missing a holistic perspective. As a consequence, there is inadequate
within EPA, there is no overarching coordinating entity to guide the funding in the national budget for climate change activities (fund-
country’s response to the warming earth. For example, while the ing is largely donor driven and project-based), many MDAs have
Ghana National Climate Change Master Plan Action Programs for inadequate access to resources to meet their prioritized financial,
Implementation: 2015-2020 identified the key institutions tasked to technical and capacity needs, and there is duplication of activities

117
and funding (weak institutional coordination within government, 11.4.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)
among donors). Funding is especially significant as Ghana’s NDCs
propose investment needs of US$22.6 billion (9.8 billion for mitigation
● Develop a comprehensive Climate-Related Disaster Risk
and 12.8 billion for adaptation), of which Ghana intends to mobilize
Management Plan, either standalone, or as a subsection of a
one-quarter domestically and the rest from international resources
National Disaster Risk Management Master Plan, with clearly
(UNFCCC, 2015).
defined actions to prepare for and mitigate the effects of
climate-related disasters (MoC/GMet, MESTI/EPA, MLGRD/
Data/data infrastructure issues. Accurate weather and climate data
MMDAs, MoH/GHS, MoI/NADMO, MSWR/WRC)
are essential for the prevention of loss to life, livelihoods, and assets,
and for the sustainable design of climate-sensitive economic activi- ● Link disaster and climate risk assessments to master planning
ties and infrastructure. While Ghana has made progress in providing exercises (MESTI/EPA/LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs; NDPC;
hydro-meteorological (hydromet) services, observation infrastructure, MWH/HSD)
data processing, and forecasting services remain weak. Currently,
● Undertake detailed multi-hazard risk assessments in MMDAs;
only a small part of the country is covered by these services. HSD and
develop and implement climate change/disaster risk manage-
GMet lack accurate consistent historical data from weather stations,
ment plans; build capacity to ensure that cities, towns, and
which are often ill-equipped.
villages have contingency plans and effective standard oper-
ating procedures in place to address climate-related risks
Managing residual risks. At the subnational level NADMO faces
(MESTI/EPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs; MoC/GMet; MoI/NADMO;
staffing and resources challenges that impede effective and timely
MSWR/WRC; MWH/HSD)
response to disaster. A recent contingency planning and simulation
exercise carried out across different regions and districts in Ghana ● Install nature-based and localized solutions for adaptation to
highlighted the absence of operationally implemented and updated climate change: maintain and create green and open urban
contingency plans (UNDP, 2017). While standard operating procedures space to improve air quality and reduce heat impacts; iden-
exist for different regions and districts, these are often not current tify and secure areas to increase water retention capacity and
or regularly used. reduce runoff through planting of trees; develop green areas
on floodplains (MESTI/LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs; MWH/
HSD; NDPC)
11.4 Recommendations to Plan for and Make Ghana
Resilient to Climate Change 11.4.3 Long-term (5+ years)

11.4.1 Short-term (1-2 years)

● Identify vulnerable settlements/communities, especially in
densely populated urban areas; formulate a comprehensive
● Obtain better understanding of the potential impacts of climate- slum upgrading and redevelopment strategy addressing criti-
related risks, especially at the MMDA level, to support decision cal vulnerabilities of poor/informal settlements (e.g. housing,
makers and city planners in management of climate resilient access to basic services) (World Bank, 2017) (MESTI/EPA/
urban growth and development (MLGRD/MMDAs; MESTI/TCPD) LUSPA; MLGRD/MMDAs/RCCs; MWH; NDPC)

● Reinforce collaboration between entities responsible for moni- ● Improve, extend, and support hydromet services and early
toring and issuing forecasts related to hydromet, and those warning systems: allocate adequate operational budget; build
dealing with disaster preparedness and prevention (MESTI/ human capacity in numerical weather forecasting, seasonal
EPA; MoC/GMet; MoI/NADMO; MSWR/WRC; MWH/HSD) climate outlooks, and information provision to targeted sectors
(agriculture, hydropower, transport); supply routine hydrologi-
● Enhance enforcement of environmental regulations, specifi-
cal and meteorological forecasts based on a sound concept of
cally for spatial development, sanitation, and flood and storm-
operations using state-of-the-art technologies to disseminate
water management (MESTI/EPA; MLGRD/MMDAs; MSWR)
actionable information on climate risk; construct and equip
● Identify immediate actions for improved climate-related disas- observation stations, with higher-quality infrastructure and
ter response and preparedness (MoI/NADMO; MLGRD/MMDAs/ in more parts of the country, to allow for effective monitoring
RCCs; MWH/HSD) and accurate and quality data at the national and subnational
levels (MESTI/EPA; MoC/GMet; MoF; MoI/NADMO; MSWR/WRC;
● Develop climate change and disaster risk preparedness aware-
MWH/HSD)
ness campaigns for citizens and schools (MESTI/EPA; MLGRD/
MMDAs; MoE/GES; MoI/NADMO; NCCE)

11. Climate Change  118

 ● Enhance emergency coordination and disaster risk manage-
ment operations capacity to ensure that all parts of the coun-
try are accounted for under the emergency operations center
(MoC/GMet, MoI/NADMO, MLGRD/MMDAs, MSWR/WRC, MWH/
HSD)

● Construct, repair, and strengthen flood management and

drainage systems that retain water upstream, promote local-
ized storm water management, are adequately designed
and consider social and environmental constraints; resource
sufficiently to allow for effective operation and maintenance
(MLGRD/MMDAs; MWH/HSD)

● Bolster the solid waste management sector by: i) promoting

private sector involvement in the solid waste management
sector (to prevent pollution from inhibiting drainage infrastruc-
ture); ii) supporting community-based solid waste manage-
ment; iii) investing in engineered, appropriately operated
waste transfer and disposal infrastructure (MLGRD/MMDAs/
RCCs; MSWR)

● Establish a disaster and climate fund to support climate risk

mitigation measures (MESTI; MoF)

Torrential rains flood the streets of Ghana's

second largest city Kumasi (Ashanti Region).
Zute Lightfoot / Alamy Stock Photo

119
 Independence Square and Black Star Gate, Accra.
jbdodane / Alamy Stock Photo

11. Climate Change  120

 12
121
12. Policies and Institutions
12.1 Environmental Management Policies and Laws

Ghana has a broad range of poli- Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs) have been used
cies that affect environmental and to address environmental concerns at all levels. The GoG began
natural resource management. The undertaking SEAs in 2002, starting with the Ghana Poverty Reduction
foremost environmental law is the Strategy (GPRS), and since then it has carried out more than 20
1992 Constitution, which enshrines SEAs. A 2009 review of overall SEA practices concluded that Ghana
commitment to a sound environment. was ready to consolidate lessons learned and mainstream applica-
Chapter Six, “Directive Principles of tion of SEAs as well as identify best practices to ensure quality in
State Policy,” ascribes the responsi- future SEAs. The EPA has prepared an Implementation Framework
HWƐ MU DUA bility of ensuring sustainable use of for Operationalizing SEA Practice in Ghana, which defines the orga-
(“measuring stick”):
Examination,
Ghana’s natural resources to both nizational and regulatory framework for standardization in MDAs
assessment, Government and citizens. Article (MESTI, 2016).
quality assurance 36(9) proclaims that “the State shall
take appropriate steps needed to 12.2 Institutional Framework for Environmental and
protect and safeguard the national Natural Resources Management
environment for posterity; and shall seek cooperation with other
states and bodies for purposes of protecting the wider international The 1991 National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) proposed an
environment for mankind.” The first explicit environment-related environmental resource management system under which the EPA
policies developed in Ghana were the Forest Policy in 1948 and has since been operating. At the Presidential Cabinet level, apex
the Wildlife Policy of 1974. The first comprehensive policy was the authorities take national decisions on environmental and natural
National Environment Policy that was adopted in 1991 to provide a resource management policy and planning. Just below that level, by
broad framework to implement the National Environmental Action its mandate the EPA provides an inter-sectoral forum to discuss envi-
Plan (NEAP). ronmental issues prior to making recommendations to be considered
at the national level. Sectoral agencies have responsibility to prepare
Establishment of the Environmental Protection Council, now and implement sectoral development plans. The EPA also serves as a
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in 1974 brought regula- technical secretariat, interfacing with sectoral agencies and acts as
tion of environmental issues under one body and implemented a clearinghouse through a number of inter-sectoral networks. At the
the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The Environmental base of the system are DAs and community authorities which together
Protection Agency Act, 1994 (Act 490) is the primary law on environ- manage environmental resources through mechanisms that facilitate
mental management. It is supported by the Hazardous and Electronic community participation and are underpinned by local by-laws.
Waste Control and Management Act, 2016 (Act 917) and subsidiary
laws such as the Environmental Assessment Regulations, L.I. 1652, 12.2.1 Ministry level
and the Hazardous, Electronic and other Wastes (Classification,
Control and Management) Regulations, 2016 (L.I. 2250). The EPA MESTI is at the top of the hierarchy for environmental and natural
Act assigns 19 functions to the Agency and provides for creation of resource management. MESTI formulates and directs policy under
regulations to effectively implement the Act. EIA regulations are at a mission “to ensure accelerated socioeconomic development of
the heart of environmental protection in Ghana. Ghana through the formulation of sound policies and a regulatory

12. Policies and Institutions  122

 framework to promote the use of science and technology that is mechanism scaled-up after a 4-year pilot phase in the mining and
not harmful to the environment.” The Ministry’s main functions are manufacturing sectors. AKOBEN aims to increase compliance with
protection of the environment through policy formulation; economic, environmental regulations and incentivize companies to invest in
scientific, and technological interventions to mitigate harmful impacts pollution control measures. AKOBEN rated environmental perfor-
caused by development activities; and standard setting and regula- mance by colors (gold, green, blue, orange, red). Gold was given for
tory activities to apply science and technology to manage the envi- excellent performance and red for poor performance. The initiative
ronment for sustainable development. raised the EPA’s profile for accountability, transparency (results are
published in newspapers), and good governance, especially in the
In May 2010, as part of the Natural Resource and Environmental mining sector. AKOBEN was not backed by law, however, and since
Governance (NREG) program, a sector budget support initiative, the 2015 there have been no ratings disclosures due to funding issues.
GoG established an inter-ministerial body, the Environmental and The Agency has also implemented a Grievance Redress Mechanism
Natural Resources Advisory Council (ENRAC). With 11 members and that registers public concerns and ensures their resolution in a timely,
chaired by the Vice President, ENRAC itself receives support from efficient, and transparent manner.
a five-member inter-agency technical committee with experts from
EPA, as well as the Forestry and Minerals Commissions. ENRAC was MMDAs are the apex political authority at the local level. As such, they
designed as a platform to discuss cross-sectoral issues and promote are responsible for “the development, improvement and manage-
policy coordination, with a goal to facilitate the Environment and ment of human settlements and the environment in the district” as
Natural Resources Management (ENRM) policy reforms and function decreed in Section 10(3)(e) of the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act
as an oversight mechanism. ENRAC has not been efficient at achiev- 462) and the National Decentralization Policy Framework, 2015–2019.
ing its goal, mainly because of its ad-hoc nature and lack of budget. This responsibility is subject to policy directives, guidance, plan-
ning evaluation, and monitoring responsibilities of national level
12.2.2 EPA and other institutions ENRM sector MDAs. Oversight is exercised by Regional Coordinating
Committees (RCCs) as political institutions, and Regional MDA offices
The EPA is MESTI’s implementing agency, interfacing with other MDAs as bureaucratic/technical institutions. The EPA currently has 12 dis-
and the private sector. According to its mandate, the EPA is Ghana’s trict zonal offices (Accra East, Accra West, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti,
main agency for environmental governance and management. Core Central Eastern, Upper East, Northern, Upper West, Western, Volta,
functions include formulating environmental policy; promoting envi- and Tarkwa), that liaise with MMDAs and communities. While this
ronmentally-conscious planning; coordinating and collaborating with regional network is well-established, district-level statutory arrange-
domestic and international agencies/institutions as well as decen- ments—the creation of ENRM departments as per Section 38(1) of
tralized offices on environmental governance issues; developing Act 462—have not yet been established.
standards and guidelines related to pollution including discharge of
waste and control of toxic substances; issuing environmental permits 12.2.3 Gaps and Challenges
and compliance enforcement; conducting investigations and research
focused on environmental protection; raising awareness for environ- Policy and law implementation.
mental education; and developing a comprehensive environmental
● Inefficient leadership and coordination. The inability to provide
database for public use. To execute its mandate the EPA partners
effective leadership and coordination has fostered inter-agency
with stakeholders from all branches of Government and society.
conflict and functional overlap. First, the protocol for a national
response to emerging environmental issues is unclear. One of
The EPA’s capacity has increased its personnel and their quality over
the challenges is that many institutions are not equipped with
the years, an accomplishment that has been borne out in innovative
the legal capacity to monitor and enforce actions. Second is
and transparent practices. Currently, EPA has 404 employees, of
an absence of national strategic policy direction and limited
which 170 are technical experts plus 234 administrative staff. As the
policy dialogue and oversight. For example, the SEA of the
lead agency responsible for administering and enforcing EIA regu-
2002 GPRS found that policies promoting irrigated agriculture
lations, the Agency has spearheaded efforts over the past decade
and an anti-malaria program prohibiting standing water were
that include decentralizing, automating, and making the EIA system
in direct contradiction. Third, although Ministries have the
more efficient. As a result, in 2016 the EPA issued 3,844 permits out
responsibility for policies, they may find themselves stymied in
of 4,623 (83 percent) applications received. In 2010, it launched
the execution of this role due to competition with the depart-
AKOBEN, an environmental performance rating and public disclosure
ments and agencies they supervise. Illegal small-scale mining

123
 (galamsey) is a case in point for the failure of clear, well-delin- EPA. The EPA suffers from institutional weaknesses, which include: a
eated environmental leadership. weak policy environment; weak enforcement and compliance system;
declining budget and resources for program implementation; limited
● Unequal benefits sharing. Law enforcement has proved inef-
decentralization and low budget allocations to local levels, as well
fective because natural resource laws emphasize control over
as poor accountability of resources by departments and field offices
planning and are not management-oriented. Not enough is
in terms of performance (results, outputs, and outcomes); poor staff
done to help local populations to manage resources and the
remuneration and performance management, inadequate planning,
populations benefit little from resource revenues. By the time
monitoring and evaluation, and knowledge management systems;
that revenue trickles to ministries in charge of environmental
suboptimal coordination with partner organizations; and poor client
issues and the localities from which that revenue is generated,
service orientation. The 2008 Ghana Environmental Sector Study
it is already mightily diminished. This disincentivizes respect for
concluded that these weaknesses led to inadequate service delivery,
the rule of law, as illustrated by illegal gold mining.
underperformance of the permitting and certification system, low
levels of mainstreaming environment across sectors, low staff morale
Institutional inefficiencies. Ghana has a high number of institutions to and high turnover, among others. To address these issues, the EPA
deal with environmental management, yet the institutional framework Five-Year Strategic Plan (2011-2015) proposed a number of activi-
for environmental management is incomplete. Strategic policy direc- ties covering policies, institutions, legal reforms, and environmental
tion is missing for environmental resource management issues. MLNR assessment and legal compliance, all of which helped to reduce the
and MEST (2010) reported the combination of potentially conflicting magnitude of the challenges but did not fully alleviate them. A few of
mandates within single institutions—policy coordination, regulation, the more pressing institutional challenges encountered by the EPA
and management—as impeding improvements to the country’s envi- are: i) non-compliance with EIAs, ii) lack of coordination, iii) poor
ronmental governance system. They also view the Constitution’s knowledge management.
wording as ambiguous in defining the relationship between sector
agencies and parent ministries. In their view, the agencies need Non-compliance with EIAs. The high degree of non-compliance with
stronger policy direction from parent ministries to operate efficiently EIA regulations signals major systemic issues. To ensure compli-
within the national policy framework. The environmental resource ance and enforcement with L.I. 1652, in 2016 the EPA undertook a
management system is weak at all levels, especially at the decision- nationwide monitoring exercise of 5,068 facilities and determined
making and policy and district levels. that 4,585 (91 percent) were operating without environmental per-
mits. Decentralization of the EIA system has led to non-standardized
MESTI. Weak technical capacity in creating environmental policies practices. There are long turnaround times for processing applica-
has diminished MESTI’s ability to provide effective direction on envi- tions—in 2018 to early 2019 turnaround time in Accra was 2-44 days
ronmental management issues. The Ministry gives disproportionate while in Ashanti Region it was 2-156 days. To address long wait times,
attention to science and technology issues to the neglect of environ- EPA instituted an expedited review process whereby applicants pay
mental aspects. The Ministry’s coordination function is also under- higher fees for faster service, however, this approach raises equity
utilized, with poor alignment of environmental sector stakeholders, issues as those unable to pay suffer undue delays.
partly because the framework delineating stakeholder roles and
responsibilities lacks clarity, thus there is limited mainstreaming of EPA has delayed issuing certificates to cover environmental manage-
environmental concerns across MDAs. ment plans submitted by most mining companies, with one company
operating without a certificate since 2011 after expiration of its initial
Information and knowledge management both within MESTI and with permit. In effect, companies operating without valid certificates are
stakeholders is poor and most departments operate in “compartmen- doing so illegally. Delays experienced in processing applications have
talized” units without sharing information. The low level of knowledge resulted in other regulatory agencies disregarding or marginalizing
and public awareness of environmental issues can be attributed to EIA permit requirements. Despite significant progress, a 2005 assess-
lack of a coordinated environment program, and often policies are ment of EIA system performance, a 2013 review by Appiah-Opoku
not properly disseminated or communicated to inform decisions at and Bryan (which identified challenges in EA follow-up), and a 2018
the local level. MESTI suffers from budgetary issues that adversely study commissioned by the Ghana Wildlife Society—reviewing 124
affect program implementation (See Section on PEER). Monitoring pieces of legislation and 28 policies—show that EIA implementation
and evaluation (M&E) of environmental indicators, both internal and still faces multiple constraints and challenges (Table 12.1).
externally, is weak with no comprehensive database available to
track inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts.

12. Policies and Institutions  124

 Table 12.1: Challenges in EIA implementation (Various authors).

2005 Assessment 2019 GWS 2013 Appiah-Opoku & Bryan (EIA follow-up)

Value of EIA not appreciated, Lack of standard procedures Lack of clarity in roles/respon- Lack of public participa-
seen as time wasted sibilities in decision-making, tion and availability of EA
implementation documentation

EIA conducted at too late a stage, Reliance on applicants to imple- Lack of experience and expertise Lack of application of the
applications to EPA not made in ment and monitor their own mitigation hierarchy
timely fashion impact mitigation measures

Limited consultant capacity to Insufficient monitoring due to Little clarity on triggers, thresh- Quality control
carry out EIA inadequate logistics, manpower olds that initiate EIAs

Lack of guidelines Lack of scientific rigor, baseline Lack of screening/scoping Insufficient link to sectoral
information, and quality in reports requests and opinions, including regulations
alternatives

Limited resources for compliance, Ambiguity around what is Insufficient arrange-

enforcement, public awareness, considered part of the impact ments for compliance and
capacity building assessment enforcement

Lack of coordination. Absence of coordination and collaboration Absence of land use planning. Absence of a framework for land-use
mechanisms is a significant handicap. Currently, the MC allocates planning is a glaring omission in Ghana’s environmental resource
mining concessions without regard to current land use (such as agri- management system. Four decades ago the 1979 Land Use Planning
culture), and settlements pay compensation and relocate communi- Committee Report (MLNR) reported that exploitation and use of
ties. The situation applies to other commissions established under these resources frequently creates conflicts, and that successful
the Constitution which act without prior regard to the environmental resource use in one area can cause problems in other areas. Resource
implications of their actions. At the establishment of the EPA, pro- appraisal must be viewed in comprehensive terms based on a clear
grams were carried out through committees. With implementation of understanding of the physical, environmental, and economic relation-
NEAP, however, it was done through inter-sectoral networks that were ships between the different resources. Until this missing feature is
institutionalized in EPA’s organizational structure. This consultative rectified, environmental and natural resource management will be
mechanism between EPA and the sector agencies was discontinued problematic.
due to the high cost of supporting participation by stakeholders.
EPA has realized the value of the networks and intends to reinstate Limited citizen participation. Environmental resource management
them according to a revised organogram. Such interactions led to expertise does not reside solely in public institutions, but also in
establishment of the WRC. the private sector and civil society. There is, however, little public
awareness and lack of involvement by local communities in decision-
Poor knowledge management. Ghana’s environmental institutions making. A study on the impact of environmental policy on livelihoods
lack comprehensive monitoring, evaluation, and knowledge manage- of forest fringe communities found out that policymaking is mainly
ment systems. Lack of information is a constraint for environmental centralized. Communities are not involved in the policies that affect
resource management because resource inventories are not current. their livelihood as resource users, so the policies are ineffective at
For example, an internal EPA audit in 2018 found that EPA is not achieving intended objectives.
able to renew expired permits because it lacks a database to trigger
follow-up on expired permits. Other challenges abound.

125
12.3 Recommendations to Strengthen Policies and
Institutions

12.3.1 Short-term (1-2 years)

Update the EIA and its regulatory framework. As the keystone to Delegation of responsibility. The EPA cannot be solely responsible for
environmental management in Ghana, the EIA should be an adap- environmental laws throughout Ghana. Responsibility to implement
tive, accessible, and authoritative tool used to guide development certain environmental policies and regulations can be delegated
decision-making. To ensure that the EIA is responsive to modern envi- to other MDAs and to MMDAs. The EPA could then assume a role
ronmental challenges and the fast-changing development context in in providing technical support to other agencies for enforcement
Ghana the GoG can first review the role and impact of the EIA system as well as training other institutions in environmental management
on modalities of development planning and activity implementation. procedures. EPA can potentially subcontract certain activities by
Reforms to the EIA system need also consider the evolving nature of entering into partnership agreements for independent review to
environmental challenge: issues like galamsey and e-waste did not assure credibility and transparency, monitoring, public hearings, etc.
exist during the previous iteration of the legislative instrument, L.I.
1652, governing environmental impact assessments. The Social and 12.3.2 Medium-term (2-5 years)
Health Assessment sections of the Assessment may be revised to bet-
ter highlight the tradeoffs that Ghanaian individuals and communities Strengthen EPA and domestic capacity. Continuous professional
absorb in the name of economic growth. A gap analysis, to discover development programs can be developed for different levels of EPA
limitations in the EIA’s present configuration and to reinforce areas of technical staff in addition to capacity building for other stakehold-
success, would be critical to any reform program. The regulations may ers. Environmental management skills of EPA staff can be improved
also be amended to mandate Strategic Environmental Assessments through internships by forging links with external agencies such as
in all sectors, the effect of which would be to address environmental the Netherlands EIA Commission and the UK Environment Agency,
externalities transparently and upfront and make sustainability an which currently assist the EPA. Such links can be extended to develop-
intrinsic part of sectoral development strategies. ing country agencies that have comparative advantage from which
the EPA can benefit through South-South knowledge arrangements.
The EPA can author additional guidelines to strengthen execution of Even though there is domestic capacity for the conduct of EIAs, large-
the EIAs. For one, it can provide guidance on the role of stakeholder scale consultancy services are mostly undertaken by foreign firms
consultations and can make reporting compulsory, which would lead with local experts playing a support role. A national registration and
to greater transparency and would reduce the possibility of future accreditation system can be developed that tests and licenses local
discontent. For another, it could assist other MDAs with adopting consultants to undertake EIAs in Ghana. This will help raise the quality
sector-specific guidelines, recognizing that certain sectors have of EA reports and deliverables and discourage fraudulent practices.
disproportionate effects on environmental outcomes than others. Foreign consultants may be accredited by the same process.
Finally, EPA could provide benchmarks for preparing, undertaking,
and finalizing EIAs, which could be eventually be managed using an Data and information management. EPA can develop a database
automated database (see below). management system with paper-based procedures replaced by auto-
mation and deployment of technology for administrative procedures
Intra-governmental coordination. Coordination is the key to improv- and monitoring and evaluation. Expediting development of an online
ing natural resource and environmental management given that EIA application system would simplify processes. Publicly accessible
multiple institutions are involved. A coordination mechanism may be parts of the system would allow dissemination of environmental
set up at the ministerial level by reactivating ENRAC to deal with the permitting information to a wider audience as the current means of
types of cross-sectoral issues that individual agencies alone cannot gazetting permits is insufficient to notify the public.
provide, e.g., galamsey. It can also provide strategic direction for
natural resource management as well as oversight and policy dia-
logue. At the agency level, EPA can help reestablish inter-sectoral net-
works that facilitate dialogues on issues of cross-cutting importance.
These cross-sectoral issues can then be forwarded onto ENRAC and
ultimately the Presidential Cabinet for clear decision and direction.

12. Policies and Institutions  126

 12.3.3 Long-term (5+ years) environmental management. Districts can be enabled to develop
natural resource management plans with guidelines issued from the
Undertake national environmental policy planning. A national national level. An environment and natural resource management
planning process can be instituted to produce action plans cover- department can be set up within MMDAs to coordinate activities at
ing 10-year cycles based on experience from the first NEAP (initiated the district and community levels. EPA and resource-oriented sector
in 1988). This includes participation by all stakeholders, especially departments can provide technical support to these new depart-
civil society and private sectors. New issues such as climate change, ments. The districts will conduct overall planning of environmental
e-waste management, environmental crime, and environmental activities and act as link between communities and national level
management practices must be considered in existing policies. An institutions. Effective environmental planning requires free and active
annual environmental policy review can be held each year to evaluate input by communities. Decentralization of natural resource manage-
implementation progress and assess the effectiveness of proposed ment can be tied to promotion of public participation.
actions in the plan.

Empower district-level environmental planning and management.

For effective environmental management in Ghana, service delivery 12.4 Public Environment Expenditure Review (PEER)
must at the district level. Although district assemblies are respon-
sible for development and management of human settlements and A Public Environmental Expenditure Review (PEER) analyzes
their environment, they lack appropriate authority and capacity in Government resource allocations for environmental and natural
resource management. Public environmental expenditure looks at
all environmental and natural resource clusters relevant to environ-
Figure 12.1: Environment expenditure as percentage mental management objectives, including those at the national and
of GDP (left), and as percentage of total government sub-national levels. These include pollution abatement and control
expenditure (right), 2012-2017 (CAGD audited annual costs, protection of biodiversity and landscapes, and research and
reports). development in environmental management, among others. Swanson
Budgeted Actual spend
and Lundethors (2003) suggest a definition of public environmental
expenditures as “expenditures by public institutions for purposeful
0.4

activities aimed directly at the prevention, reduction and elimination

0.37
Spending as % of Ghana's GDP

of pollution or any other degradation of the environment resulting

0.32
0.31
0.3

from human activity, as well as natural resource management activi-

0.24

0.21

ties not aimed at resource exploitation or production.”

0.2

0.19
0.17
0.15

0.15

The purpose of the Ghana PEER is to ascertain how much the GoG
commits to the environment sector through it budget. Analyses
are made of budgetary allocations and compared with actual dis-
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
bursements, and discernible trends are assessed for implications
Budgeted Actual spend on sustainable environmental management. Sustainable environ-
4.16

mental management is necessary to improve the quality of life of

3.58

all Ghanaians, but especially those in extreme poverty. Addressing

environmental and natural resource management challenges through
% of total expenditure

2.48
2.6

appropriate resource allocations at all levels in the budget process

2.43

2.43
2.18

2.09
1.95

is critical to ensure environmental quality and promote sustain-

1.86
1.58

able development. This PEER is based exclusively on expenditures

1.18

financed by the GoG. 100

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

100. It is important to note that GoG funding is complemented by other

sources including internally generated funds, the Multilateral Debt
Relief Initiative, and donor support. These funds usually cover non-
wage expenditures such as services and investment. Internally
generated funds, however, include administrative expenditures.

127
 Box 12.1: Overview and methodology for the Ghana PEER

Ghana adopted the United Nations Classification of Functions of Government (COFOG) to improve government accounting and
ensure transparency in its operations, including compilation and presentation of fiscal statistics. COFOG’s standard classification of
expenditures is (1) compensation of employees; (2) goods and services; (3) consumption of fixed capital, interest, subsidies, grants,
social benefits, other expenses; and (4) non-financial assets or capital expenditure.

The annual national budget is prepared by sector ministries, departments, and agencies, consolidated by the Ministry of Finance,
and subsequently submitted to Parliament for approval. The Ghana PEER covers the years 2012-2017. The public expenditure esti-
mate methodology delves into projected and actual budget provisions to Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that have
responsibilities in environment and natural resources protection, conservation, and management. The data were retrieved from the
audited annual reports of Ghana’s Controller and Accountant General’s Department (CAGD)101. Public environmental expenditure
data for the this 6-year period were screened, classified, and analyzed to get an estimate of public environmental expenditures.

Overall Government environmental spending includes expenditures in the spending units of the various MDAs with specific mandates
for environmental and natural resource management, particularly MESTI and MLNR. It also includes spending units in other MDAs
but with responsibility for environmental and natural resources management. Those ministries included MOFAD, Ministry of Local
Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources (MSWR), and MOFA. The specific depart-
ments and agencies identified for this PEER are included in the table below.

Ministry Departments and Agencies

• Environmental Protection Agency

MESTI
• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
• Town and Country Planning Department
• National Biosafety Authority
• Ghana Atomic Energy Commission
• Nuclear Regulatory Authority
• Forestry Commission
MLNR • Geological Survey Authority
• Minerals Commission
• Lands Commission
• Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands
MoFAD • Fisheries Commission
MLGRD • Department of Parks and Gardens
• Environmental Health and Sanitation
MSWR • Hydrological Services Department
• Water Resources Commission
MoFA • Plant Protection and Regulatory Services
• Crop Services Directorate
• Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services

101. The Financial Administrative Act, 2003 (Act 654) mandates the CAGD gratuity and monthly pension payments to retirees; release of funds
to, among other functions: (1) receive all public and trust monies to implement Government projects and development initiatives);
payable into the Consolidated Fund (done through its staff stationed (3) pay all government workers’ wages, salaries, allowances; and
in all Government departments, including those collecting revenue); (4) keep, prepare, render, and publish, monthly and annually, the
(2) make disbursements on behalf of the Government (includes Consolidated Fund’s financial statements.
monthly salaries to government employees in active service; pension

12. Policies and Institutions  128

 Analysis of Ghana’s environmental expenditures is based on classifica- Capital expenditures are those for acquisition and/or upgrades to
tion of functions of government (COFOG)102. Ghana’s total expenditures assets, including physical assets such as buildings, technology, or
during the reference period for relevant MDAs with environmental equipment. Such expenditures are useful for maintaining existing
responsibilities have been relatively low (Figure 12.1). Between 2012 properties, plants, and equipment, and investing in new technology
and 2017, average actual103 Government environmental expenditures and other assets for growth. Expenditures are critical to producing
were 1.92 percent of total Government expenditures, with a range the required impact for sustainable environmental management and
of 1.18 percent (2014) to 2.6 percent (2012). National environmental improving quality of life. Trends in Government environmental and
expenditures considered as a percentage of GDP averaged 0.20 natural resource management expenditures are based on the UN
percent and ranged from 0.15 (2012) to 0.31 percent (2014. standard of classification (Figure 12.3).

In general, national environmental expenditures have remained Environmental investment/capital/asset, goods and services, and
relatively low and stable as a proportion of the total budget, but compensation expenditures. Ghana’s investments or capital expen-
actual expenditures were consistently lower than budgeted from ditures on environmental and natural resources management have
2013 to 2017. been relatively low relative to compensation expenditures—a known
trend in Government spending, particularly in developing countries.
For all the years in review (except 2012), all environmental expendi- The analysis indicates that average compensation is about 52.2 per-
tures in the selected MDAs fell short of their respective budgets (the cent of environment expenditures, with the highest at 68.2 percent
shortfall was highest in 2015, Figure 12.2). The consistent shortfalls, in 2015 and the lowest at 28.2 percent in 2013 (Figure 12.3). From
which are interpreted as an unfavorable budget variance, presents 2013 to 2017, compensation accounted for at least 56 percent of
a worrying trend that needs attention. Although unfavorable bud- environmental expenditures and the tendency is that this trend of high
get variance could be attributed to poor forecasting or inability to compensation will increase in the future. This is because: (1) in 2018
predict future costs, consistency in the shortfalls raises questions the Government launched the Nation Builders Corps, an initiative to
of the Government’s commitment to providing adequate resources address graduate unemployment by providing employment to about
for financing, including investment in sustainable environmental 100,000 youth; (2) the Government through the Youth Employment
management. Agency also introduced the Youth in Afforestation module to employ
more than 15,000 youths to plant trees in underserved areas; and (3)
the various ministries and their departments and agencies includ-
ing the MLNR and MESTI are seeking clearance from the Ministry of
Finance to recruit personnel.

Figure 12.2: Environment expenditures as percentage of total government expenditures 2012-2017 (CAGD audited
annual reports).

5%
Percent of total government expenditure

4%

3%

2%

1%

0%

-1%

-2%

-3%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Budget Actual Variance

102. Annex to Chapter 6: Classification of the Functions of Government. 103. “Budget” represents an estimate of the Government’s planned
The COFOG standard classification of expenditures includes expenditures while “actual” represents what the Government
compensation of employees; investment, non-financial assets expends as provided in the audited reports of the CAGD.
or capital expenditure goods and services; consumption of fixed
capital, interest, subsidies, grants, and social benefits. https://www.
imf.org/external/pubs/ft/gfs/manual/pdf/ch6ann.pdf

129
Figure 12.3: Percentage of environment expenditures (COFOG standard classification), 2012-2017 (CAGD audited
annual reports).

80%
Percent of total government expenditure

70%

60%

50%

4 0%

30%

20%

10%

0%
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Compensation Goods & Servi ces Investment Interest, Social Benefit , & Other

Consistent decline in environmental and natural resource man- Ghana’s main environmental management MDAs with the great-
agement investment/capital/assets expenditures. While compen- est responsibilities, resource allocations, and spending power for
sation expenditures tend to be increasing over time, investments, environmental management are MLNR and MESTI (Figure 12.4).
including goods and services, have been relatively stable, with a Investment expenditures to these MDAs have been relatively low
tendency to even decrease. Average expenditures on goods and with high shortfall for all years. Government allocations to MLNR and
services and investment/capital as a percentage of environmental MESTI for investment/capital/asset has been less than one percent
expenditures between 2012-2017 are 28.1 percent and 18.9 percent, of overall government expenditures, and this continued to decline
respectively. It is evident that while goods and service as a percentage for MLNR since 2014, with the lowest in 2017 at 0.08 percent. The
of environmental expenditures has continued to increase since 2014, sum of all actual expenditures on investments/capital/assets and
investment/capital expenditures as percentage of environmental goods and services by MLNR and MESTI fell short of the budget for
expenditures continued to decrease from 32.8 percent in 2013 to the years 2012-2017 (lowest shortfall was in 2014 and highest in
6.7 percent in 2017 (Figure 12.3). 2015 for MLNR). The budgeted and actual investment/assets and

Figure 12.4: Environmental spending as percentage of total government expenditure, 2012-2017 (CAGD audited
annual reports).

1.8% 0.8%
1.6% 0.6%
1.4% 0.4%
1.2% 0.2%
1.0% 0.0%
0.8% -0. 2%
0.6% -0. 4%
0.4% -0. 6%
0.2% -0. 8%
0.0% -1. 0%
MESTI

MESTI

MESTI

MESTI

MESTI

MESTI
MLNR

MLNR

MLNR

MLNR

MLNR

MLNR
Others

Others

Others

Others

Others

Others

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Variance (di fference between actual and budgeted) (right axis)

Budgeted expenditures
Actual expenditures

12. Policies and Institutions  130

 Figure 12.5: MLNR and MESTI Investment/Capital Expenditures (Audited annual reports of CAGD).

Budget Actual Variance

7.1%
% of total government expenditure

4.4%

3.9%
3.7%

2.5%
2.4%

2.3%
2.1%
1.7%

1.4%

1.3%
1.1%

0.9%

0.7%
0.5%
0.3%

0.3%
0.3%

0.2%
0.1%

0.1%

0.1%
0.0%

0.0%

0.0%
-0.3%

-0.8%

-0.9%
-1.4%

-2.2%
-2.3%

-2.4%
-3.3%

-3.7%
-3.8%

-7.1%
M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R MESTI

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

employee compensation for MLNR and MESTI are presented in Figure 2018). Reducing and reversing these trends of deforestation and land
12.5 and Figure 12.6. degradation require significant Government investment, especially
capital expenditures. If left unaddressed this trend in expenditures
Since 2013, the Government has spent less than what was budgeted will hamper achievement of Ghana’s medium-term vision, which is
in overall environmental spending. Yet, as noted earlier, deforesta- underpinned by goals such as safeguarding the natural environment
tion and land degradation have been increasing since the last two and ensuring a resilient, built environment.
decades, with vegetation health decreasing since 2000 (World Bank,

Figure 12.6: MLNR and MESTI compensation or employee's remuneration (Audited annual reports of CAGD).

Budget Actual Variance

1.5%
% of total government expenditure

1.3%

1.2%
1.2%

1.1%
1.1%

1.1%
1.1%
1.0%

0.9%

0.9%
0.8%

0.8%
0.8%

0.8%

0.6%

0.7%

0.6%

0.7%
0.6%

0.6%
0.6%
0.6%
0.5%
0.4%

0.4%
0.3%

0.3%

0.0%

0.0%

-0.2%
0.0%
-0.1%

-0.1%
-0.2%

-0.2%

M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I M LN R M E S T I

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

131
 Paddling in traditional wooden canoe,
Sopotnicki / Shutterstock.

12. Policies and Institutions  132

 13
133
13. Conclusions
Ghana’s future lies in its youth, strong 13.1 Prioritize environmental considerations in
and vibrant cultural heritage, and world- development planning
renowned commodities such as cocoa
and gold. Accra is at the cutting-edge of Ghana’s environment can only thrive if Ghanaians make a conscious
Africa’s capital cities, but how will Ghana choice to do so. As stated in the Constitution, the GoG and Ghanaian
preserve its history when its monuments citizens share a dual, mutually-reinforcing duty to safeguard the
are being eaten away by rising seas? How country’s environmental resources.
will the capital attract emigrants, the dias-
SANKOFA: pora, expatriates, visitors, and investors 13.1.1 For the Government
learn from the when its air is becoming increasingly sooty
past to and its beaches polluted with plastic and Increase the ENRM sector budget. For the public sector to ensure
improve the other wastes? How can Ghanaian cocoa that public environmental goods are well tended, adequate resources
future remain one of the world’s favorite foods need to be dedicated to their management. This CEA has illustrated
when its forests are being destroyed by that the GoG has not committed sufficient resources to sustain-
deforestation and illegal mining? able stewardship of the environment. The Public Environmental
Expenditure Review showed low levels of funding to MESTI and
Ghana can no longer afford to consume its natural capital and expect MLNR. Regulatory agencies, notably EPA, but also MC, FC, and WRC,
economic growth to continue unabated. As the country advances among others, cannot provide proper oversight and corrective rem-
farther into middle-income status, increased consumption of natural edies—compliance and effects monitoring, impact management,
resources, be it timber, cocoa, fish, or gold, will exact an increasingly audit evaluation—if they lack operational budgets.
heavy toll on future growth. If current unsustainable natural resource
management remains unchanged Ghana, the country will see its Mainstream national wealth accounting. Traditional measures of
wealth destroyed over the long term, with fewer opportunities to economic growth such as GDP underestimate the importance of
sustain growth and share prosperity. natural capital to a country’s development and social, economic,
and spiritual well-being. Yet, there are other measures that tell us
Heightened vigilance of the effects of environmental change, preser- if a development path is sustainable. National wealth accounting
vation of critical and vulnerable ecosystems, planning and investment quantifies a country’s natural capital and other asset classes. It warns
in climate-smart preparedness and infrastructure, transition to a when a country experiences economic growth by liquidating natural
“green economy”—these are all ways in which Ghana can adapt to capital. Integrating accounting into national economic analysis can
an earth system in flux and prevent the sacrifice of public and ecologi- help Ghana review tradeoffs between environmental preservation
cal health on the altar of unsustainable development. Three major and resource use/extraction and help make decisions that allow it
recommendations from this report will help the Government to usher to prudently, efficiently, and sustainably manage natural capital and
in a new era of pro-growth, pro-poor, and pro-environment policies. reinvest proceeds into its people (human capital) and infrastructure
(produced capital).

13. Conclusions  134

 Act now against climate change. Strategic planning is essential to in managing localities from Regional capitals. It is imperative that
prepare for and mitigate the effects of climate change. Given that coordination and devolution of responsibility occurs to the most
the worst effects of climate disruption are projected to occur to those local level possible to monitor and responds rapidly to environmen-
who are least able to bear them, the extreme poor in Ghana may tal crises. EPA field agents can be granted stronger monitoring and
have to manage disaster risks in the Northern Savannah, the urban enforcement resources and powers, leaving headquarters to work on
slums of Accra, coastal communities, and elsewhere. national strategy and environmental mainstreaming across sectors.
Finally, decentralization without needed resources is self-defeating.
13.1.2 For the citizens
Create autonomous watchdogs. Autonomous watchdogs that are
Promote raising public awareness and proactivity. This cannot occur independent from Ministries or other entities can help ensure that
in a vacuum of information, nor in the absence of understanding. conflicts of interest, excesses, and poor governance practices within
Dissemination of information, from data indicators to legal rights, environmental management institutions are prevented. MESTI is
not only needs to be made publicly accessible, but the population meant to monitor the EPA, which raises the question—who monitors
must also be educated on how to use such knowledge. Government those doing the monitoring? As the parent ministry to EPA, impartial-
and civil society organizations have a role to play in informing the ity is not possible. An institution charged with auditing performance
public on the stakes of environmental degradation. They can spur and spending based on legislated criteria that is free from politi-
their proactivity on issues where individuals and communities can cal interference is one way to stop untoward or inefficient natural
contribute to prevention or remediation of environmental hazards. resource governance.
A publicly available scorecard showing achievements and deficien-
cies could keep the population informed and the GoG incentivized 13.3 Enforce and reinforce existing laws and advance
and accountable to meet its environmental duties. Concerned non- critical policy reforms
profits and the private sector can increase the focus on public health
problems posed by hazardous waste sites and degraded natural Enforce existing laws. Ghana generally has a robust legal frame-
ecosystems and encourage greater citizen participation in returning work for environmental management, but complications arise in
these areas to a productive state. Moreover, Ghana has a wealth of executing its laws. Regulatory agencies that ensure compliance need
brainpower from its excellent university system, yet this expertise reinforcement through recognition of their authority, proportionate
is underutilized. Politicians can convene scientists, academics, and financial and technical resources, and checks and balances that
researchers to probe environmental quandaries by asking the right prevent political interference with law enforcement.
questions. They can also work with economists, industries, and entre-
preneurs to brainstorm, pilot, and scale market-based mechanisms Bolster existing tools used to manage the environment.
to solve ecological challenges. Environmental degradation is not a fait accompli from economic
growth. Planning, monitoring, and evaluation can decouple national
13.2 Strengthen institutions for accountability, transpar- policies and local activities from unmanageable externalities. Strategic
ency in environment and natural resource management Environment Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessments
are the key instruments in actualizing this goal. For the environmental
Enhance EPA powers. Although EPA is founded under an omnibus assessment process to be effective it needs: a strong legislative base
clause—meaning it has a stake in everything that pertains to Ghana’s with clear purpose; specific requirements and prescribed responsibili-
environment—its main mechanisms, EIA, and to a lesser extent SEA— ties; dedicated financial resources; appropriate controls to ensure
are not backed up sufficiently with enforcement powers. If the EPA is scope and rigor; flexible timetables for completion; incentives for
going to be the apex institution to enforce environmental regulations, public participation; problem and decision-orientation concerned with
it needs to be granted prescriptive powers. The adaptive capacity of the issues that matter; accessibility of consequential information; and
EPA needs to be enhanced. The enactment of laws and other legal a transparent and clearly defined rationale for permit approvals and
instruments is a laborious, time-consuming process that does not condition setting. Importantly, a culture of receptivity by decision-
react fast enough to new environmental challenges such as e-waste, makers, enterprises, and communities to abide by the results of an
coastal erosion, and illegal ASGM. environmental assessment must be forged.

Accelerate decentralization. Incomplete decentralization efforts Advance other critical reforms. Policy failures lie at the root of many
leave the Districts and local institutions in limbo. Many of the most environmental issues and have led to a sense of impunity when it
challenging environmental issues are in the interior, not in Accra, comes to contaminating the environment. To rectify this situation,
and an understanding of local dynamics is a major component for Ghana can advance urgently needed reforms, including, by way of
managing them. Yet, it is virtually impossible to monitor the entire example:
country from the EPA head office in Accra, while challenges remain

135
● Benefits sharing. The allocation of natural resource revenues
to citizenry at a community level is insufficient given the lack
of infrastructure in rural areas and the recurrence of illegal
resource extraction, highlighted by the galamsey phenome-
non. MDF implementation is a good start, but GoG may want to
consider increasing the percentage of royalties and taxes that
return to communities with resources that are most in need.

● Justice sector reform. Stronger anti-corruption laws in the

ENRM sector, judges who are well versed in environment
and natural resource laws, and mandatory jail sentences for
Ghanaians who collude to despoil the environment are start-
ing points.

● Elimination of perverse incentives. Lower import duties on

newer, environmentally efficient cars will bring in vehicles that
emit less pollution, while import duties on WEEE can be raised
to discourage non-useful electronics from making their way to
Ghana’s dumpsites. Subsidies for pre-mixed fuel of the type
used by fishermen can be eliminated to reduce pressure on
Ghana’s fishing grounds.

The Adinkra symbol “Sankofa” urges us to look to the past to make a better future. The details of new environmental challenges will
change—climate change impacts along the coast, mining for bauxite in sensitive areas, air quality and sanitation in growing urban
areas—but the root of the issues will fundamentally remain the same. Is Ghana today using its renewable and non-renewable resources
wisely enough for the Ghana of tomorrow?

Kakum National Forest near Cape Coast,

Central Region.
Jonathan Ernst / World Bank

13. Conclusions  136

 14
137
14. Annex
A: Approach to the Cost of Environmental Degradation We first estimate the background mortality using countrywide back-
ground mortality figures provided in GBD (2017)104.
The study, which was based exclusively on secondary information,
estimated the COED using a variety of methods (Table A1). Data To estimate the fractions of the background mortality from these
sources included consultations with Government officials, official diseases that are attributable to ambient and indoor air pollution, we
publications, and scientific articles. Priority was given to country-level use an integrated exposure-response (IER) relative risk (RR) function
information like the Demographic and Health Survey (GSS et al., 2015) for disease outcome, k, in age-group, l, associated with exposure
and Ghana’s Third National Communication to the UNFCCC. Global to fine particulate matter pollution (PM2.5) both in the outdoor and
datasets, such as the World Bank’s Hidden Dimensions of Poverty household environments (Burnett et al, 2014):
database, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global
Burden of Disease, the World Research Institute’s Global Forest Watch,
and FAOSTAT provided complementary information.

Several data limitations affected the study, imposing the use of rough where x is the ambient concentration of PM2.5 in µg/m3 and xcf is
approximations or precluding calculation of certain cost components. a counterfactual concentration below which it is assumed that no
Examples relate to the physical quantification of damages: in some association exists (5.2 µm/m3 in this report). The function allows
cases, available publications lacked consensus on data (e.g., defor- prediction of RR over large range of PM2.5 concentrations. However,
ested area); in other cases, available data was collected based on we are able to estimate the RRs for mortality only, due to lack of
differing methodologies (e.g., ground-level monitoring vs. satellite- information on background morbidity incidence of the corresponding
derived PM2.5 concentration). Data limitations also affected monetary negative health end-points in Ghana. We apply the same IER function
valuation, e.g. valuation of damages related to forests is based on to both ambient and indoor air pollution since PM2.5 is the criteria
benefits transfer estimates obtained from other studies. Finally, limi- ambient pollutant and pollutant within each household associated
tations prevented the valuation of other impacts, notably, air pollut- with additional mortality. We then apply the RR value for each of the
ants other than PM2.5, exposure to heavy metals other than lead and above listed diseases to estimate the population attributable frac-
mercury, reduced recreational opportunities and property values tion for the population exposed to different PM2.5 concentrations,
due to water pollution, impacts at the macro level on food security, as described in (World Bank & IHME, 2016 – Figure A1) for ischemic
exports, GDP growth, etc. Therefore, the results of this study are heart disease (IHD), cerebrovascular disease (stroke), lung cancer,
conservative estimates which only partially reflect the real value of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lower respira-
the CoED in Ghana. tory infections (LRI); and as described in (Bowe et al., 2018) for
diabetes mellitus 2.

The risk functions for IHD and stroke are age-specific with five-year
Air pollution health burden estimation age intervals from 25 years of age, while singular age-group risk
functions are applied for lung cancer (≥ 25 years), COPD (≥ 25 years),
We estimate health outcomes from ischemic heart disease (IHD), Diabetes mellitus 2 and LRI in children (total population). Disease
cerebrovascular disease (stroke), lung cancer, chronic obstructive burden for IHD, lung cancer, COPD, diabetes mellitus 2 and stroke
pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes mellitus 2 and lower respiratory is estimated for three population groups starting age 25. For LRI the
infections (LRI) that may be attributed to ambient and indoor PM2.5 disease burden is estimated for all population, starting from children
air pollution in Ghana in 2017. The health burden for each disease is under 5 years of age.
expressed in terms of in terms of annual number of deaths.

104. http://ghdx.healthdata.org/gbd-results-tool

14. Annex  138

 Table A1: Summary of CoED estimation methods

Categories Impacts Valuation method

IMPACTS ON HEALTH

Impact of ambient and household air pollution

● Mortality due to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (isch- VSL for mortality
Air emic heart disease; stroke; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease;
tracheal, bronchus and lung cancer; diabetes mellitus type 2)

● Morbidity due to exposure to air pollutants Benefits transfer for morbidity

Impact of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene*

● Mortality due to water borne diseases (diarrhea; typhoid; schistoso- VSL for mortality
Water
miasis; malnutrition)

● Morbidity due to water-borne diseases Cost of illness for morbidity

Impact of toxic chemicals and heavy metals

Mining* VSL for mortality; Forgone income
● Mortality and morbidity due to lead and mercury exposure
for morbidity

IMPACTS ON NATURAL RESOURCES

Agricultural land ● Loss of yield due to soil erosion Market price

Impact of deforestation
Forests ● Losses of timber, NTFPs, watershed services Benefits transfer

Fisheries ● Loss in fisheries due to excessive fishing Market price

Inland floods ● Impact of inland floods Market price of assets
● Impact of coastal erosion and floods Market price (for assets and land) and benefits
Coastal zone
transfer (for ecosystem services)
Climate change ● Impact of carbon emissions Shadow price of carbon
Notes: VSL = Value of Statistical Life; * Refers to artisanal gold mining and other contaminated sites.

The population attributable fraction of disease from PM2.5 exposure where Dkl is the total annual number of cases of disease, k, in age
is calculated using the following expression: group, l, and PAFkl is the attributable fraction of these cases of
disease, k, in age group, l, due to PM2.5 exposure.
where Pi is the share of the population exposed to PM2.5 concentra-
tions in the range xi-1 to xi. This population attributable fraction is
calculated for each disease outcome, k, and age group, l. The disease
burden (B) in terms of annual cases of disease outcomes due to PM2.5
exposure is then estimated by:

139
Steps to value AAP cost Steps to value HAP cost

1. Estimate population attributable fractions (PAFs) for 6 diseases 1. Household PM2.5 monitoring data from (Van Vliet, 2016)
associated with PM2.5 air pollution using ambient average moni-
toring data, relative risk from GBD2017, and GBD2017 for back- 2. Exposure for HAP for urban areas estimated from DHS (2016)
ground mortality on the national level
3. Similar approach to the health cost assessment as for AAP
2. Estimate attributed mortality by five age groups with the cor-
responding RR from GBD 2017 4. Adjustment for multiple risk is for lower respiratory illness, since
multiple rick factors affects children under 5 to cause LRI
3. Adjustment for multiple risk for lower respiratory illness, since
multiple rick factors affects children under 5 to cause LRI

4. Monetary valuation of physical impacts: For mortality end-points

valuation, applied GDP-adjusted VSL estimates from OECD coun-
tries as per Narain and Sall (2016)

5. Morbidity cost estimated as 10 percentage of mortality cost

14. Annex  140

 Figure A1. Integrated exposure-response (IER) Functions for (a) ischemic heart disease, (b) stroke, (c) lung cancer
and CoPD, and (d) lower respiratory infections

Water supply, sanitation and hygiene health burden

estimation

Prüss-Üstün et al. (2014) present an assessment of relative risk of For diarrheal morbidity household surveys on diarrheal prevalence
diarrheal, typhoid, and some other disease reduction in population among children under 5 years of age are used to estimate morbidity
that is located in different WASH tiers. These relative risks almost burden. Adult morbidity burden is approximated from the children
twice reduced compare to the old methodology, which reflects new diarrheal morbidity based on the literature. The Demographic and
understanding of health burden from unsafe WASH, supported by Health Survey 2014 (DHS 2014) provides data on diarrheal preva-
the recent epidemiological studies (Wolf et al, 2014). The population lence in children under the age of five years. It reports a diarrheal
attributable fraction of diarrheal and typhoid disease associated with prevalence (preceding two weeks) rate at 11-13 percent for urban
inadequate WASH exposure is calculated by the following expression: and rural Ghana.

Sometimes diarrheal illness requires hospitalization. There are no

readily available centralized records in Ghana that provide data on the
annual number of diarrheal hospitalizations. International experience
where Pi is the share of the population with a scenario i of WASH on the total number of intestinal disease hospitalizations was there-
(described by waste and sanitation tiers) and RRi is the relative risk at fore used, corresponding to about 0.3 percent of diarrheal cases.
the scenario i. GBD 2017 data on diarrheal, typhoid and paratyphoid
mortality in Ghana are used for background mortality. Baseline data for estimating health burden associated with inad-
equate drinking water supply and sanitation is presented in Table A2.
The duration of diarrheal illness is assumed to be 3-4 days.

141
Table A2: Baseline Data for Estimating Morbidity Cost

Baseline Source

Diarrheal 2-week Prevalence in urban children under 5 years 11-13% DHS 2014
Estimated annual diarrheal cases per child under 5 years 2.3-2.4 Estimated from DHS 2014
Estimated annual diarrheal cases per person (> 5 years) 0.3-0.7 Estimated from a combination of DHS 2014

and Egypt Survey, Colombia Survey

Hospitalization rate (% of all diarrheal cases) 0.3 % Expert estimate

Steps to measure inadequate WASH The following log-linear function is applied by Lanphear et al
(2005) to estimate IQ losses in children from elevated BLLs:
1. Risk variation for diarrhea and typhoid estimated in the range
60-64%, applying WHO methodology

2. RR for corresponding risk reduction in different WASH scenarios

are applied
Lanphear et al (2005) report a β=2.70 for concurrent measurement
3. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) estimated using RR (for- of BLL (BLL at time of IQ test). Although no BLL threshold (X0), below
mula 5) which there are no impacts on children’s IQ have been identified in
the international research literature, X0 was adopted at 2 µg/dL as
4. PAFs applied to background diarrheal and typhoid mortality from explained above.
GBD 2017 adjusted to urban and rural population
Schwartz (1994) applied a linear model that is more conservative
5. Attributed morbidity estimated from DHS 2016 and PAFs at a lower BLL levels. For the higher BLL the Lanphear et al (2005)
estimate is more conservative.
6. 50% of malnutrition health effect on children under 5 years of
age (excluding diarrhea and typhoid to avoid double counting)
is added to reflect indirect impact of WASH

7. Morbidity valued using Cost of Illness and Productivity Loss

method

Lead exposure in children burden estimation An individual’s lifetime income is related to her IQ score, as estab-
lished by Schwartz (1994) and Salkever (1995). These studies found
Following Fewtrell et al (2004), loss of IQ is estimated for children that a decline of one IQ point is associated with a 1.4-1.9 % decline
under five years of age (the population at risk is represented by each in lifetime income, respectively.105 (Attina &Trasande, 2013) estimated
one-year cohort of children under 5 years of age). This methodology lost lifetime economic productivity (LEP) using average IQ point loss
uses blood lead levels (BLL) in children as an indicator of a potential per microgram per deciliter BLL, percent lost LEP per IQ point, and
loss of IQ. total lost LEP. Lost LEP was derived based on a U.S. estimate (Grosse
et al. 2002) of decrements in LEP per IQ point loss at 2% loss in LEP–IQ
point estimate. This study assumed annual growth in productivity of
3% and a 4.5% discount rate.

105. The high bound reflects the estimated loss in income in Salkever
(1995), weighted by the labor force participation rates (0.77 in
Ghana).

14. Annex  142

 Steps to value cost of lead exposure in children Adjustment to multiple risks

1. Annual IQ loss attributed to exposure to lead, estimated using The estimates are adjusted to multiple risks for air pollution and
recent studies on blood lead level in children occupational risks as recommended in (World Bank & IHME, 2016) to
account for a combined exposure to pollutants with the same attrib-
2. The Lanphear (for the high) and Schwartz (for the low) models uted health end-point. When more than one of the environmental
are applied to convert BLL level into IQ loss for 1-year cohort of risk factors assessed in this report causes the same disease, then
exposed children in lead polluted hotspots the total disease burden from these risk factors is overestimated if
simply added up by risk factor. To avoid this double-counting the joint
3. Total IQ loss is valued as 1.4-1.9% of lifetime income, adjusted attributable fraction (AFT) formula for n risk factors can be applied to
by labor force participation and probability of survival in Ghana estimate total mortality from the specific disease (i):

Mercury exposure health burden estimation

This formula does, however, not provide the “adjusted” AFi for
Steckling et al. (2017) estimates YLD attributed to moderate cases each risk factor so that:
of CMMVI (mortality and severe cases are not included in the analy-
sis) based on the annual prevalence rate of CMMVI (24.2-29.9%)
(Steckling et al., 2017), and disability weights (DWs) for moderate
cases (DW: 0.368, UI: 0.261-0.484) and severe cases (DW: 0.588,
UI: 0.193-0.907) (Steckling et al 2015). Severe cases of CMMVI are
excluded because it is assumed that gold miners suffering from such As an approximation, the adjusted attributable fraction for each
severe health effects are no longer able to work and thus not included individual risk factor is here calculated as follows:
in the prevalence numbers. YLDs are presented with UIs basically
indicating the impact of the uncertainty of the DW.

Lost YLDs are valued at GDP per capita in 2017 to come up with the
annual health burden attributed to the artisan gold mining.
where the adjusted attributable fractions satisfy equation above.

The adjusted AFs are applied in the individual sections of this report
Steps to value cost of mercury exposure in ASGM to estimate the disease burden from each environmental risk factor.
workers

1. Total number of workers in ASGM from the literature

2. Total number of YLDs lost due to exposure to mercury from the

literature

3. Lost YLDs are valued at GDP per capita in 2017

143
Estimation of the economic value of the health burden
of pollution

In this report, we use lost welfare approach to estimate the economic Specifically, we use the formula below for benefit transfer:
cost of health burden attributed to pollution. Welfare loss is calculated
by multiplying the estimated number of premature deaths with the
value of statistical life (VSL). VSL measures “represents an aggregate
of individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for marginal reductions in
their mortality risks. It is not the value of any single person’s life or
death, nor does it represent a society’s judgment as to what that value
should be. (Narain and Sall, 2016). VSL is estimated using the stated
preference approach, whereby surveyed individuals are asked how
much they would hypothetically be willing to reduce their mortality
risk marginally. As such, VSL is not limited to the value of output
that would be lost in case of premature death but covers an array
of other values that contribute to an individual’s and the society’s
welfare. Therefore, this measure is not directly comparable with GDP.

VSL estimates are available for OECD countries. In this report, we Table A3 presents the derivation of a range of VSL for Ghana from
transfer a range of VSL estimates from OECD countries to Ghana using low-end and high-end VSL estimates in OECD countries (Narain and
the average GDP per capita differential and assumptions regarding Sall, 2016), using the above formula. This range of adjusted VSL is
the income elasticity of VSL, following the guidance in Narain and used in welfare-based CoED estimates in this report.
Sall (2016). The resulting low and high-end values, US$ 0.062 and
US$ 0.169 million are used in this report.

Table A3: Benefit transfer of VSL for Ghana (estimated by authors)

Low High
Average VSL estimates from OECD (million US$) 3.2 3.8

Country's GDP (US$ billion) in 2017 59 59

Country's GDP PPP (US$ billion) in 2017 129.8 129.8

Population (million) in 2017 29 29

GDP per capita (PPP US $) in 2017 4,476 4,476

Average GDP/capita differential 0.12 0.12

Income elasticity of VSL 1.40 1.00

PPP 2.2 2.2

VSL transferred to Ghana (million US$) 0.07 0.21

14. Annex  144

 Economic cost of overfishing

In theory the initial stock of fish (S) is assumed to grow at a net natural the unit price of effort. If the price of fish and unit price of effort are
rate (r). This rate is equal to the recruitment of young fish joining the assumed constant, then the TR curve will be inversely U-shaped and
stock plus the growth of original fish in the stock minus natural fish the TC curve will be a straight upward sloping line in relation to level
mortality. If fish catch (H) exceeds r*S then fishing could eventually of effort (Figure A2).
lead to the reduction of S.
Economic theory explains that as level of effort (E) initially increases
An inverted U-shaped relationship exists between r and level of fish- TR also increases but at a decreasing rate. Continued increase in E
ing effort E, and also between H and E. At low levels of effort, fish brings the level of TR first to the economic optimum with maximum
stock is high, causing overcrowding and slow growth. As fishing effort economic profit, or the maximum economic yield (MEY). If the fish-
rises, the stock declines and crowding is lessened, causing faster ery were run efficiently, fishing would stop at MEY where economic
growth. Finally, at higher levels of effort, there is a smaller stock to profit is at a maximum. However, with complete open-access, fishing
reproduce and growth slows again. The point at which the level of continues beyond MEY as more and more fishermen, motivated by
effort (E) yields the maximum net natural rate (r) is the maximum economic profit, enter the fishery sector. This situation first pushes the
sustainable point. At this point, the fish catch (H) is the biological level of fishing past the economic optimum to the maximum sustain-
optimum, the so-called maximum sustainable yield (MSY). able yield (MSY), which as mentioned is the biological optimum of
the fish stock. At the MSY level, positive economic profits still exist,
For marine resource planning and management purposes, economic as TR remains greater than TC. This induces further fishing until the
concerns are important, and prices of fish catch and fishing effort are open access yield (OAY) is reached. At this point, positive economic
introduced to turn the biological parameters into economic param- profit or economic rent is zero and, without any incentive to continue
eters. Total revenue (TR) is the product of fish catch (H) and the price fishing, further human predation stops.106 This approach assumes
of fish. Total cost (TC) is the product of level of fishing effort (E) and optimization of fishing efforts to achieve an optimal biomass level
corresponding to MEY or MSY.

Figure A.2: Maximum Sustainable and Economic Level of Fishing Effort (Adapted
from Israel, 1995).

106. Zero economic profit or economic rent is equivalent to a normal

financial rate of return on capital. At OAY the fishery sector is still
financially profitable but no more than other sectors.

145
Economic cost of coastal degradation Exposed assets: 31 land use categories and classes are mapped,
reflecting differences in the values at risk and vulnerabilities among
(soil erosion and coastal floods) urban, suburban, and rural categories, specific economic activities
(agriculture, industry, services, ports, transportation) and ecosystems
The risks from erosion, coastal flooding and sea level rise, are (wetlands, mangroves, etc.).
assessed by (World Bank, 2017) with a four-step methodology:
Max value at risk: The GDP per ha reflects the value of the economic
1. The hazard assessment: which describes flood and erosion activity in that location. In absence of such a detailed valuation map,
events, with a specified return period, for three (3) periods in the study maps GDP using information on land use, population density
time (2015; 2050; 2100) and GDP per capita, accounting for differences between rural and
urban areas in employment and the sector of employment (agricul-
2. The exposure assessment: the people, assets, production and ture, industry, and services), corrected for the presence of high value
ecosystem services at risk assets (schools or ports). Total value of the assets per ha is estimated
at US$762-1719. Based on literature analysis wetlands are estimated
3. The damage assessment: the victims, restoration costs, and loss at US$150 ha/year, and mangroves at US$ 3,847 ha/year. If wetland
of production and ecosystem services is populated and some productive assets are present, the wetland
is estimated at US$800 ha/year.
4. The risk assessment: aggregation of the damages for different
events, type of risks, and current and future risks Damage functions: The damage functions for floods (tangible dam-
ages) present percentage of assets and ecosystem lost due to the
The study (Colophon, 2017) assesses damages and risk per grid cell water depth during flood with short and long duration separately.
(1 ha). For a single event (e.g. one type of flood), the damage per These functions are based on the review of worldwide literature on
grid cell is calculated separately for urban and rural areas in 2015, flood damage functions in (Huizinga et al., 2017). The damage func-
2050 and 2010 as follows: tion for flood victims is estimated at 0.16 fatal cases per 1000 people
exposed. Erosion damage functions are estimated as a direct effect
Damage = (Exposed assets, people, ecosystems)*(Max value at risk) of relocation with a consequent loss of all assets and indirect effects
x (Damage function) reflecting loss of productivity due to relocation. Damage function
(25 years, 4% discount rate) is estimated at US$9-53 thousand in
Risk of erosion is estimated at 100%. Risk for floods is estimated as rural areas, US$49-659 thousand in suburban, peri-urban, and urban
areas, US$302-652 thousand for industry, transport, services and
Risk = expected damage = damage from the flood x probability of ports. The impact on ecosystem is estimated at 5% loss/year from
the flood floods, 15% loss of mangroves values and 100% loss of wetlands val-
ues due to erosion (US$ 4-14 thousand), and 50% loss of mangroves
Where, value and 75% of wetlands value loss due to sea level rise. Damage
function from water pollution is estimated as additional morbidity
● Exposed assets, people, ecosystems are estimated from
and mortality due to inadequate WASH for the exposed population.
mapping the people, assets, production and ecosystem
This component is estimated at 1.1% of GDP.
services values at risk

● Max value at risk is estimated including the estimation of the

value of the exposed assets, people (buildings, infrastructure,
etc.) ($/ha), exposed production values (US$/ha/year), and
ecosystem services (US$/ha/year)

● Damage functions from the literature for erosion, flooding and

sea level rise are utilized

● Probability of the 100-year flood at 1% is included in the analy-

sis on the national level

14. Annex  146

 The Aqueduct Global Flood Analyzer

1. Global hydrological and hydraulic modeling. Daily river runoff

and flood volumes (0.5°x0.5°) for the period 1960-1999 simu-
lated using the global hydrological model PCR-GLOBWB and
its extension for dynamic routing, DynRout. Daily precipitation,
temperature, and radiation are used to estimate river runoff, and
for each global 0.5°x0.5° cell, the resulting volume of water that
ends up either in the river channel or on the adjacent floodplain
(if flooding occurs) is estimated.

2. Extreme value statistics. From the daily flood volume time series
for 1960-1999 annual maximum flood volumes for each 0.5°x0.5°
cell on the map extracted and fitted to a Gumbel extreme value
distribution curve. This allows to calculate flood volumes for
floods of any magnitude (ranging from a 2-year flood event to
a 1000-year flood event).

3. Inundation modeling. In this step, the relatively coarse resolu-

tion (0.5°x0.5°) flood volumes conversed into high resolution
(30”x30”) flood hazard maps showing inundation depths for each
cell on the map. This is done using the GLOFRIS downscaling
module.

4 Impact modeling. Several types of “impacts” per 30”x30” cell

on the map for a variety of flood magnitudes (e.g. floods occur-
ring once in 10 years, 100 years, 1000 years) are estimated. The
impacts are then aggregated to user-selected geographic units
(countries, states, basins). The impacts included in the Aqueduct
Flood Analyzer are (1) population exposed to flooding, (2) GDP
exposed to flooding, and (3) urban damage – in U.S. dollars –
from flooding.

5. Exposed population and GDP. Exposed population and GDP

estimated using downscaled population and GDP data for 2010.
For each inundated cell on the map, the number of people and
amount of GDP in the inundated cell counted and aggregated
up to the country level.

6. Urban damage. Urban area per 5’x5’ cell on the map is estimated
and economic values to urban areas are assigned. Then a stage
damage function used to estimate the percentage of flooded
urban assets that would be damaged for different flood depths.

7. Estimation of “annual expected impacts”. Each impact – including

exposed population, exposed GDP, and urban damage – was
calculated for floods of the following magnitudes: 2-year flood,
5-year-flood, 10-, 25-, 50, 100-, 250-, 500-, and 1000-year flood.
The impact of a 2-year-flood event was always deemed to be
zero. Then “risk curves” or “exceedance probability-impact
curves” are fitted. “Annual expected impact” is calculated as
the area under the risk curve.
Source: http://floods.wri.org
147
B: Selected E-waste Contaminants and Their Effects on Health

CHEMICAL SOURCE HEALTH EFFECTS

Metal contaminants
Arsenic (As) Circuit boards, semiconductors, LCD displays, Chronic exposure can lead to skin diseases and decrease nerve conduction
computer chips velocity; lung cancer carcinogen
Cadmium (Cd) Electrical contacts, switches, solder joints, Kidney damage, bone diseases: osteomalacia and osteoporosis;
NiCd batteries, PVC, light-emitting layer in CRT, hypertension and heart disease; effects on respiratory system, including
printer inks/toners pulmonary emphysema and lung cancer; exposure to fumes causes flu-like
symptoms
Lead (Pb) Cathode ray tube (CRT) glass, lead-acid Damage to nervous, cardiovascular, reproductive systems, and kidneys;
batteries, polyvinyl chloride cable sheathing, acute effects on brain development in young children; short-term exposure
solder, printed wiring boards to high levels can cause vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, coma, and death;
toxic effects seen in animals and lead is toxic to all aquatic life
Mercury (Hg) Fluorescent lamps (that backlight LCDs, Brain and liver damage; cognitive and psychomotor damage; loss of color
alkaline batteries, mercury-wetted switches), discrimination; psychological issues: anxiety/depression; heightened
batteries, flat screen electronic displays, sensitivity in children with long-term exposure leading to nerve and brain
switches, thermostats, relays, housing damage and birth defects in newborns; in fish, blood and behavioral
abnormalities, and death
Nickel (Ni) NiCd/NiMH batteries, electron gun in CRT Dust and certain nickel compounds are carcinogenic; causes asthma
attacks, chronic bronchitis, reduced lung function; water with high amounts
of nickel causes stomach ache, effects to blood and kidneys; damage
to lungs, nasal cavity, stomach, blood, liver, kidneys, and immune and
reproductive systems, as well as development in animals
Non-metal contaminants
Polybrominated Flame retardant additive in plastics and foams, Possible carcinogen; endocrine disrupting properties lead to severe
diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) including casings of electronic equipment hormonal disorders, immune system effects; chronic exposure associated
with abnormal brain development in animals, possible long-term impacts on
memory, learning and behavior; may affect humans similarly
Polychlorinated Used in transformer oils, capacitor dielectrics, May affect endocrine systems; incidences of stunted growth, including to
biphenyls (PCBs) hydraulic fluids, plasticizers, printing inks immune system, neurological effects, delayed cognitive development and
behavioral problems; in animals: known carcinogen; effects on immune,
nervous, reproductive, and endocrine systems
Polychlorinated Formed during combustion (open burning of Carcinogenic under chronic exposure; skin lesions (e.g., chloracne); impacts
dibenzo-p-dioxins/ wires and plastics) to liver function; immune, endocrine, and reproductive system impairment;
furans (PCDD/Fs) adverse effects on developing nervous systems in fetuses/newborns
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Most widely used plastic; cooling units, Known carcinogen; inhalation causes dizziness, sleepiness, fainting, even
insulation foam death; respiratory issues; skin issues from liquid form of PVC; long-term
exposure: structural damage to liver, nerve damage, immune reactions,
problems with circulatory system; damage to sperm and testes in animals
Adapted from Brigden et al., 2008; Huang et al., 2014; WHO; CDC (ASTDR); ewaste.ee.washington.edu

14. Annex  148

 15
149
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