MUNTAKA CHASANT
PEOPLE & STORIES

Climate Change in Ghana Victims of Climate Change

Victims of Climate Change: Scenes From Southeast Ghana

Victims of climate change are already here — but shunned to fight their own battles. The future of towns and villages in southeast Ghana hangs in the balance in a time of climate crisis. Deeply distressed due to their traps and fishing nets catching dead and rotten crabs and fish, the men in the photographs below have taken matters into their own hands.

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Agbogbloshie Urban poverty

Agbogbloshie Demolition: The End of An Era or An Injustice?

Emerging consequences of the Agbogbloshie demolition, betrayals, recounts of events, and a glimpse of everyday struggles in Accra and how urban marginality is experienced. Beyond the role of the State in dispossessing Accra’s urban poor, the Agbogbloshie demolition should be viewed within the context of socio-spatial entanglements.

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Wetlands and People

Wetlands and People in Distress

The tropics are in trouble. The current trend in biodiversity loss in the tropics is shaping local livelihoods.

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Climate Change Wetlands and People

Tropical Wetlands: The Life of Simon Nwi

Tropical wetlands — long seen as the reservoirs of much of the world’s biodiversity — are dangerously in decline. Anthropogenic medications and climate variability have resulted in the loss of key ecosystem services and functions. This is a quick peek into the tropical life of a rural fisherman who relies on tropical wetlands as a source of job.

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Nzulezo Tourism in Ghana

Visit Nzulezo (Nzulenzu) — But Read This

The cultural commodification of Nzulezo (Nzulenzu) challenges their traditional identity. This cultural voyeurism fuels tensions between the stilt village, the nearby Beyin town, the local traditional council, and government agencies, who all want a share of your tourist dollars.

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Hazardous child labour

Wake Me Up When the 21st Century Ends

WARNING: This post contains very graphic images.

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Atidza Densu Delta Mangroves in Ghana

Fisheries and Mangroves in Ghana: Atidza and the Densu Delta Ecosystems

Tidal river fishermen have degraded the mangrove forest cover around the Densu Delta — a Ramsar-designated wetland — for traditional fish traps. Only around 16 red mangrove trees (Rhizophora species) are left standing, having all been cut down for the traps, fuelwood, and timber. But mangrove biomass is critical for fish assemblages, which the fishers depend on. This habitat degradation has led to a loss of biodiversity in the area — leading to a decline in fish stocks in the Densu intertidal zone. The video below explores this problem.

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Cape Three Points Null Island

Cape Three Points — Nearest Land To Null Island (0°N 0°E)

Aerial view of Cape Three Points, the southernmost tip of Ghana and the nearest land to Null Island (at zero degrees latitude and longitude)

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Climate Change Livelihoods

Fisheries and Climate Change in Ghana: Impacts, Causes and Solutions

In a classic Tragedy of The Commons scenario, industrial fishing vessels in Ghana are dredging up small pelagics reserved for the artisanal sector — having already depleted higher trophic species. The vessels tip overboard the unwanted (bycatch). In response, Ghana’s artisanal canoe fishers are resorting to destructive fishing methods, including using bombs to send a shock wave through the water to maximize their catch and light to attract shoals of fish. The canoe fishers say they will stop when the Government stops the trawlers. Climate change is magnifying these vulnerabilities to the extent that fishermen no longer go to the sea because 'there is no fish in the ocean'. Is the future already here?

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Ghana Korle Lagoon Livelihoods Society

Man Fishes In The Korle Lagoon Due To Plastic Pollution At Sea

The eastern tropical Atlantic ocean is filled with so much plastic debris that a poor Ghanaian fisherman had no choice but to remain ashore to fish in one of the most polluted water bodies on earth instead.