The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with WaterAid Ghana has engaged stakeholders on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) climate vulnerability assessment and adaptation plans at Kessena Nankana West District in the Upper East Region. The engagement, led by the Foresight Planners, a consultancy firm, brought together youth groups, religious leaders, students, and staff of the District Assembly, among others, to share ideas on WASH vulnerabilities in the district. It formed part of a data gathering process to support climate resilient and investment decisions in Bongo, Nabdam, Bawku West, and Kessena Nankana West Districts and the Kassena Nankana Municipality in the region, spearheaded by WaterAid Ghana. To update stakeholders on climate change challenges and progress made so far, the stakeholders were presented with the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) and together with the consultation team visited some communities in the district to conduct risk assessments. It aimed at identifying and assessing the vulnerability of WASH services to climate change, to inform the development of national adaptation plans for sustainable WASH services in the district and the country. The project also sought to develop a NAP process that would produce a cost-effective adaptation plan for Ghana and provide the tools, mechanisms, system, and information and to replicate the NAP process at regular intervals and to mainstream the adaptation plan into sector and district development plans. Mr Benjamin Edusah, a Lead Consultant and WASH Expert at Foresight Planners, noted that planning for climate change adaptation required knowledge of climate impacts both now and in the future, and a good understanding of the associated risks, vulnerabilities, and capacity levels of those exposed to identify risk and vulnerability was crucial. He emphasised that climate impact was place-specific, and as Ghana's NAP process progressed, it became critical that adaptation planning was driven by an understanding and appreciation of place-specific impact and vulnerability. 'We are engaging the stakeholders to get their views to be incorporated into the national adaptation plan, and this has become necessary because WASH is crucial for our survival, and given the impact of climate change, it is important that these strategies are incorporated into our plans to address the challenges of climate change we are confronted with', he added. Mr Edusah said the lack of a national strategy that guides the WASH sector was a contributory factor to WASH challenges, and the quest for a national strategy or adaptation plan was key in guiding the sector in terms of the implementation of WASH projects. Mr Gerard Ataogye, the District Chief Executive of the Kessena Nankana West, said the impact of climate change had affected the rain pattern, leading to a decline in food production in recent years. He said the Assembly was committed to providing the necessary support for the documentation of ideas of all stakeholders involved as part of efforts to shape the NAP to offer guidance for the effective implementation of WASH projects in the district and the country at large. Source: Ghana News Agency