Towards promoting climate change communication for improved adaptation in Africa: A Ghanaian perspective

Abstract

Climate change has become a crucial global threat because of its impacts on the environment and human existence. Consequently, there have been various international platforms to discuss actions that combat climate change in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 13. Effective communication of climate issues remains one of the trusted ways of combating this menace, yet the incorporation of climate information to promote adaptation has been problematic especially in Africa due to ineffective strategies. This paper explored strategies for promoting climate change communication in Ghana. The diffusion of innovation theory and the theory of panned behavior informed this study within a quantitative paradigm that surveyed 327 Ghanaians. Using percentages, means, standard deviations, independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA as analytical framework, the study discovered that respondents were generally dissatisfied with how climate change issues were communicated in Ghana. Respondents perceived climate change communication as a vital issue, which needs to be a critical part of Ghana’s development agenda. The study found that incorporating more community mobilization and behavioral change techniques into climate change communication, empowering citizens, and adequately resourcing institutions mandated to deal with climate change are key to achieving climate change adaptation in the country. The study thus concluded that Ghana requires more climate change communication research and a clear national climate change communication policy which is anchored on participatory communication, indigenous communication techniques and modern technologies.