In Ghana, Changing Behaviors through Increased Climate Change Reporting
Participants and facilitators pose for a group picture at the training in Koforidua.
Ghana has a diverse and vibrant media landscape with a proliferation of several news outlets across four main channels—television, radio, print, and online—all operating within a mix of state, private, and community-owned media. Over the years, the media has been instrumental in setting the public policy agenda by shaping discourse and promoting citizen engagement through interactive platforms such as phone-ins, texts, and social media.
"We consider the media as a key stakeholder, and we believe they are well-placed to increase awareness of climate change policies and facilitate the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices by citizens."
Recognizing the media's essential role in promoting awareness and behavior change, the Feed the Future Ghana Policy LINK Activity partnered with the country’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deliver a two-day climate change reporting training for selected national and sub-national media practitioners. The training aimed to enhance the capacity of journalists to identify news value in various climate-related subjects, increase the frequency and accuracy of climate change reportage, raise awareness of climate change impacts, and promote environmentally sustainable practices.
The training for national media practitioners took place from April 21 to 22, 2023. A second training for sub-national practitioners took place from June 21 to 22, 2023. About 80 news editors and senior reporters from both public and influential private media outlets, including community radio stations, participated in the sessions. Among these were the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Ghana News Agency (GNA), United Television (UTV), Multimedia Ghana, Media General, Citi FM, and Daily Guide.
The program focused on developing the media's expertise in climate-related themes, including biodiversity and conservation, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land restoration and forest management, and climate finance. Facilitators from two of Ghana's public universities led the sessions, combining presentations, group discussions, and panel discussions to deliver a dynamic and interactive learning experience.
"We consider the media as a key stakeholder, and we believe they are well-placed to increase awareness of climate change policies and facilitate the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices by citizens," said Gerald Forkuor, Ph.D., Policy LINK's Climate Change Lead.
Policy LINK collaborated with the EPA, the agency coordinating climate change activities in the country, to introduce the media to existing policies that have been developed to guide the design of appropriate interventions that will increase the resilience of the vulnerable population.
Journalists shared their experiences covering the United Nation’s Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings.
"The successful implementation of these policies requires the awareness and active participation of all actors. Frequent reportage on climate change patterns can drive the widespread behavioral change needed for Ghana to fulfill its international commitments, such as the Nationally Determined Contributions [NDCs]," Dr. Forkuor explained.
Before the training, Policy LINK worked with the GNA and GBC to assess the media practitioners' needs. The assessment helped to determine their awareness of existing climate change policies, their knowledge of various climate change themes, their specific areas of interest, and the factors that limit their ability to report on climate and environmental issues adequately.
The training's impact was evident with the journalists committing to, through various interventions, increasing awareness of and supporting advocacy efforts on climate change. Emelia Enin, a reporter with the Daily Graphic newspaper in Accra said, "I report on environmental-related issues, and I am leaving here with so many story ideas which I will certainly follow up and report on. This training has been a very rewarding experience."
From Maxx Empire in the Upper East Region, Atingo Iddrissu Kassim said the training has equipped him with the knowledge to go back and educate his community on the need to protect the forest and its biodiversity. “We have learnt that when we clear our lands for farming, we destroy the biodiversity by killing or displacing other living organisms on the land. We will talk to our chiefs, the queen mothers, the DCEs [District Chief Executives], and other opinion leaders to support the media to carry out [the] information.”
To influence national discourse and contribute to behavioral change on climate issues, Policy LINK will follow-up the training with a co-developed scheme that supports the media professionals to develop unique stories, documentaries, and articles on climate and the environment.