{
  "id": 7092699,
  "title": "From the fields to national policy: How community voices are reshaping Ghana’s climate adaptation agenda",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/13/from-the-fields-to-national-policy-how-community-voices-are-reshaping",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-13T09:14:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Ghana Business News",
    "slug": "ghana-business-news",
    "url": "https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2026/09/13/from-the-fields-to-national-policy-how-community-voices-are-reshaping-ghanas-climate-adaptation-agenda/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Northern Ghana, generations of farmers have utilized their deep knowledge of seasons, soils, and landscapes to sustain their families and communities. However, climate change has brought about increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, which traditional knowledge alone cannot effectively address. Smallholder farmers, women, and young people in the region have valuable insights into climate adaptation solutions, yet their experiences have been largely overlooked in national climate policy discussions. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Secretariat, with support from the Empowerment for Life (E4L) Programme, have made a significant step forward by integrating eight out of eleven climate adaptation strategies developed by Changing Lives in Innovative Partnerships (CLIP) into Ghana’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Northern Ghana faces the most severe climate change impacts, with agriculture being the primary source of livelihoods. Climate variability has led to food insecurity and increased livelihood risks, particularly for smallholder farmers, women, and youth. For over eight years, CLIP collaborated with vulnerable communities across seventeen districts in Northern Ghana to generate evidence of effective climate adaptation practices. Through various participatory methods, CLIP documented locally tested solutions that improved agricultural resilience and climate risk management. CLIP transformed these community experiences into evidence-based policy recommendations, which were presented to the NAP Secretariat. By engaging in continuous dialogue and partnership with government institutions, CLIP successfully advocated for the inclusion of community-driven adaptation approaches in national policy. This achievement marks a crucial milestone in Ghana’s climate adaptation efforts, ensuring that the voices of those living on the frontlines of climate change are heard and respected in national policy decisions.",
  "summary": "For generations, farmers in Northern Ghana have relied on their intimate understanding of seasons, soils, and landscapes to make decisions that sustain their families and communities. However, as climate change intensifies with; unpredictable rainfall patterns, prolonged dry seasons, rising temperatures, droughts, and floods, traditional knowledge alone is no longer enough to protect livelihoods.…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}