Kofi Adu Domfeh: Radio’s commanding power in climate change mitigation and adaptation

A severe storm strikes, bringing with it torrential rains, deafening thunder, and blinding lightning. The downpour is wreaking havoc on the community, with roofs being ripped off houses, streets transforming into rivers, and worst of all, people losing their lives in the raging floodwaters.

 

Yet another day, the sunrise brings a fleeting sense of serenity, offering a brief respite from the sweltering heat. However, this tranquility is short-lived, as the sun's intense rays soon begin to scorch the skin, penetrating deep beneath the surface.

 

This is the climate reality.

 

In Ghana today, the rains are coming at unexpected periods, the sun hits harder than it should have; the least of the rains causes flooding and livelihoods are impacted in diverse ways.

 

This situation cannot be different from other parts of the world.

 

People are experiencing changing times for real, and indeed everybody seems to be talking about the severity of the change in weather patterns.

 

Yet the climate change agenda is not a top priority in the media – reports are often limited to government policy papers and other scientific stuff.

 

But the media, especially radio, can play a central role in the global drive to mitigate climate change as well as support adaptation mechanisms.

 

Radio and Climate Change

 

Radio is a powerful broadcast medium in impacting farming practices of the local people, through the production of climate-related programs.

 

By broadcasting in the local language, for instance, a radio station is helping the communities to be weather-aware, while managing problems with sea erosion, soil management, crop diversification and best adaptation mechanisms.

 

Access to radio can reduce the farmer-extension service ratio and enhance agricultural practices.

 

It is therefore heartwarming that 2025 World Radio Day is dedicated to “Radio and Climate Change” to support radio stations in their journalistic coverage of this issue.

 

Proper communication of climate events is becoming increasingly important in the wake of the continuous increase of negative climatic effects that plague the planet, such as the confirmation that 2024 has been the warmest year on record.

 

Broadcasters are expected to prioritize the quality and diversity of information sources, as they play a critical role in addressing climate-related issues. “This includes dismantling climate skeptics' arguments, investigating greenwashing, understanding ecological economics, and reporting on climate activism and barriers to solutions”.

 

Radio aids in climate adaptation

 

Climate mitigation has taken centre stage at the national and global levels. According to the Paris Agreement, greenhouse gas emissions need to ease in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

 

But at the community level, what is required most is adaptation. The ordinary person on the street relies on radio to access public information on the changing seasons.

 

Increasing access to information and use of knowledge on climate change adaptation is important to improve the livelihoods of people in local communities. The rural farmer is hardest hit when information on the changing climate is not adequately disseminated.

 

A number of institutions are currently engaged in climate change-related activities across Africa. However, communicating issues on the unexpected changing weather to reach the mass of vulnerable communities remain challenging.

 

All over the world, in socio-political, economic and environmental circles, talk of climate change is top of agenda and there are several initiatives geared towards mitigating the impact of climate change.

 

But attitude towards the environment – forests, water bodies, waste management and land degradation through resource exploitation – remains largely pathetic.

 

The media is expected to lead the dissemination of information on what to do and what not to do in environmental protection.

 

Climate change and environment reporting can be made interesting to the audience if journalists and media houses can change their approach and explore diverse areas of coverage including land use and water management, forest conservation, sustainable development and wealth creation.

 

Radio, as a powerful tool, will continue to play a critical role in weather information mediation, climate change communication, and environmental protection and promotion.

 

Kofi Adu Domfeh is a journalist and Climate Reality Leader; adomfeh@gmail.com

 

Why journalists must be concerned about the impact of climate change on agriculture

Humanity can still stop the worst consequences of climate change, says scientists in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

 

But time, it argues, is running out.

 

“Mainstreaming effective and equitable climate action will not only reduce losses and damages for nature and people, it will also provide wider benefits,” said IPCC Chair Hoesung Lee. “This Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all.”

 

And given the need for urgent action before that time runs out – transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis is the focus of the 2030 Research and Innovation Strategy of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the world’s largest research partnership for agriculture and food security.

 

Under the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, journalists and communicators have been identified as critical allies in telling the story of how agriculture can help deliver a more resilient, climate-smart future in Africa.

 

In a step towards enhancing the climate change narrative, the AICCRA Spring School on Climate Change and Agriculture in Africa was held in Cape Town, South Africa, in partnership with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

 

The workshop was to help make the case for prioritizing and investing in transformative innovations in agriculture, and the climate services that support them.

 

“We can make climate-smart agriculture one of the hottest talking points at global climate summits, shifting perceptions, encouraging commitments, holding leaders accountable,” said Rhys Bucknall-Williams, Global Communications and Knowledge Manager at AICCRA.

 

Why food and agriculture?

 

Around 250 million small-scale African farmers produce 70 percent of the continent’s food supply, on plots smaller than one hectare. They will need to produce enough nutritious food for a fast-growing continental population set to reach 2.5 billion by 2050.

 

Climate change, however, threatens the drive to protect the interest of smallholder farmers.

 

“It’s critical for Africa’s broader development that its agriculture sectors adapt to become more resilient and productive under climate change,” observed Rhys. “This is a strategic priority for African leaders - through the Malabo Declaration and the African Union’s new climate change strategy.”

 

AICCRA is a programme implemented in 6 African countries – Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia – and works to deliver a climate-smart African future driven by science and innovation in agriculture.

 

Role of media and communication professionals

 

“Journalists are first humans and are not superhuman; all human livelihoods are dependent on the earth and its components, hence the need to take lead in campaigns on climate change and agricultural productivity,” observed Kenyan journalist Agnes Oloo who attended the AICCRA Spring School.

 

The media are among the world’s most influential institutions, and how they shape the climate change narrative remains vitally important.

 

Research, however, indicates top news media are failing to identify climate change as a contributor to some of the world’s biggest crises, including migration, food insecurity and conflict.

 

Awareness of how climate change threatens food security will help offer better support for policies and investments that can pre-empt future crises.

 

To accelerate climate action, it's vital that African media leaders and influencers understand the impact of climate change on African agriculture, and how to amplify key messages by partners and stakeholder networks to scale climate-smart agriculture for a more resilient future for African smallholder farmers.

 

The media have the power to shape the global conversation on climate change. Such conversations are critical to help millions of smallholder farmers in Africa adapt to climate change in time.

 

The AICCRA Spring School explored the impact of climate change on African agriculture and food systems and how to transform African agriculture and food systems for a more sustainable and climate-resilient future.

 

Sabrina Trautman moderated sessions to unpack climate smart agriculture and climate change reporting by exploring the root causes of the phenomenon.

 

In an interview, she described journalists as change makers on the continent, emphasising the need for journalists to tell stories that connect to the bigger narrative.

 

“Journalists need to move from being reactive to being proactive by looking at the root causes and creating investigative stories to get policy action.

 

“At the moment a lot of African journalism is very reactive to the climate impact, but there is a lot more we can be writing about to be proactive in solutions and innovations, and change some of the language we are using in our journalism,” she said.

 

Sabrina also called for the sharing of knowledge and the amplification of cross-country dialogue as countries on the African continent share similar experiences in climate impact.

 

According to the IPCC, “the solution lies in climate resilient development. This involves integrating measures to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce or avoid greenhouse gas emissions in ways that provide wider benefits.

 

“Climate resilient development becomes progressively more challenging with every increment of warming. This is why the choices made in the next few years will play a critical role in deciding our future and that of generations to come”.

 

The media cannot sit aloof and the AICCRA Spring School on Climate Change and Agriculture has offered an insightful learning experience and the impetus for journalists to develop rich storytelling skills and built networks to amplify the climate and agriculture narrative.

 

By Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Peace, democratic governance and chequebook journalism

The National Peace Council is exploring avenues to partner Ghanaian media houses to roll out programmes to enhance professional reporting in conflict sensitivities.
 

As the media provide and facilitate the flow of information, the Council acknowledges that they constitute an important component of the political process in democracies.

Chairman of the National Peace Council, Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, however says the media must be encouraged to discourage political insults, lies and invectives and facilitate debates on issues bothering on national interest.

“Reporting on conflicts and elections in a way that promotes peace in the country is critical to Ghana’s democratic governance,” he said.

The Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have initiated a consultative platform to promote dialogue and build consensus on national policy response to systematic governance issues.

The “Multi-stakeholder Consultative Platform for Peace and Democratic Governance” seeks to build consensus towards developing pragmatic and workable interventions to deal with critical issues of peace and governance in Ghana.

One of the outcomes to be achieved on this platform is to conduct advocacy campaigns to empower citizens with information and knowledge to promote peaceful coexistence and social cohesion.

Among activities is engagement with media editors and reporters to negotiate their partnership for supporting the peace campaign using their various media channels. They will also be educated on conflict sensitive reporting and peacebuilding,

UNDP’s Peace and Governance Analyst, Melody Azinim, says the UNDP will continue to support the different peace actors to ensure that Ghana continues to advance its enviable record as an oasis of peace in Africa.

Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante said “the media’s positive contribution should not blind us to the dangers inherent in mass communication, especially where effective control may be in the hands of a very few, usually powerful individuals who are motivated by pecuniary and political interests”.

He observed media personnel may face moral problems over conflict of interest that might affect their objectivity, neutrality and ability to report accurately and justly.

“Chequebook journalism and gutter press and media can visit chaos upon our democratic good,” he said. “For the sake of national cohesion, we must encourage the media to be fair, responsible and objective in their coverage and reportage of issues”.

‘Chequebook’ journalism is the practice where the journalist buys stories and is in danger of creating much ado about nothing, while pandering to the greed, vulnerability and undiscerning gullibility of people.

These acts undermine the sanctity of the media, said the Chairman of the National Peace Council.