The year 2020 was one of the three warmest years since temperature records began and characterized by extreme weather. This is confirmed by the WMO Climate Report 2020. What does this mean for our project regions?

The year 2020 was one of the three warmest years since temperature records began and characterized by extreme weather. This is confirmed by the WMO Climate Report 2020, and Nansoni, our project site in northeastern Ghana, was also affected. We can still make a difference to help the local people. But we must act now.

Climate change will not stop in the Corona Year 2020. This is the finding of the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) climate report of April 19, 2021. CO₂ levels in the atmosphere as well as sea level and ocean temperatures reached new record levels. Arctic sea ice had shrunk during the summer to the second smallest area ever recorded. And with global implications.

The report states at the beginning:

„Disruptions to the agriculture sector by COVID-19 exacerbated weather impacts along the entire food supply chain, elevating levels of food insecurity.“
(WMO 2021 – Highlights)

This means that in 2020, the Corona pandemic greatly intensified existing impacts of climate-related food insecurity in many places. And, the report also notes, it is primarily people in developing countries who suffer. According to the report, 50 million people suffered twice in 2020 as a result of climate-related natural disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, as crops were destroyed and food aid deliveries could not be made. In total, around 690 million people were affected by malnutrition in 2020, and 750 million people were also affected by food insecurity. That is still 19% of the world’s population.

We can still make a difference

The flood of numbers and findings surrounding climate change can quickly leave us helpless. But one thing is certain: we can change something. First, we in the so-called industrialized countries must be aware that our actions have a global impact. The climate debate is not a prosperity debate about whether more electric cars should be driven or whether we should use the good old diesel. It is about the fact that our actions are causing existential hardship for people in other parts of the world.

For us, this is often just a marginal note in the media, but for the farmers in our projects it is the brutal reality of their everyday lives. For example, a flash flood in September 2020 inundated the village of Nansoni and destroyed most of the huts and some fields. These damages are not absorbed. They mean existential hardship and hunger for those affected.

Second, we can act. In addition to actively reducing our CO2 emissions, we can actively help people sustain their livelihoods despite climate-related changes. To this end, we have launched the Chereponi Farming Project in Ghana. We are supporting 400 farmers in regenerating their soils through organic measures so that they can continue to make a living from their work in the future.

But all this takes time, perseverance and money. We need to start improving the lives of people in the affected areas yesterday rather than today. And our Chereponi Farming Project is one option for action. Please support us in this.