290km of Ghana’s coastline needs protection against erosion - Ghana Hydrological Authority

Yiadom Boakye Akoto, the Head of the Coastal Engineering Division of the Ghana Hydrological Authority (GHA), says 290 kilometres of Ghana’s coastline require some protection against erosion to protect lives and property.

Ghana has seen a series of coastal erosions along the coast over the years, causing lots of destruction to lives and property at hotspots, affecting the economy and fishing activities of the communities.

Mr Akoto noted that Ghana’s 550km approximate coastline is at various levels of vulnerability to such erosions, noting however that one-third of the coastline (180km) is stable with low vulnerability.

The remaining 370km of the coastline was at risk and required coastal protection, he said, and that “out of the 370km at risk, approximately 80km of coastline is protected, leaving 290km requiring protection.”

“Places like Aboadze, Shama, and Anlo and the coastal stretch from Winneba in the Central Region, Mumford, and places in the Greater Accra like Kokrobite, Dansoman, Tema Newtown, La, Regional Maritime University, and Ningo Prampram, and the eastern stretch from the Lower Volta Delta to Aflao are all in critical areas falling within the 370km,” he said. 

Mr Akoto revealed this during a Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) media forum and called for urgent steps to be taken, noting that the rising nature of high sea level and coastal erosion was due to climate change.

He said that coastal erosion threats were both natural and man-made, mentioning that sand winning was one of the major causes, which had a dire impact on coastal communities in Ghana. 

“The daily winning of sand at the shores erodes the natural protection of the coast, which is the sand,” he said, adding that having enough sediment along the shore gave the right slope for the wave to break calmly, but the absence of the sand led to erosion.

Mr Akoto stressed the need for effective collaboration among stakeholders in addressing the challenges and curbing the menace and called for increased funding for investment in coastal protection.

“As it stands, the chance of losing a whole community, holiday resorts, and properties along the coastal area will impose economic hardship on the inhabitants,” he said.

He called for an increase in public-private partnerships with developers as the Government could leverage expertise, resources, and funding to implement effective measures. 

He mentioned that his outfit was concentrating on protecting the remaining 290 kilometres out of the 370 kilometres of coastline under stress, which need urgent attention, and called on the local authorities to enact bye-laws to protect the coast and cautioned the public to desist from practices that endangered the coastlines.

The Ghana Hydrological Authority is responsible for the planning, designing, execution, operation, and maintenance of flood control mechanisms, coastal engineering works, drainage improvement works, and operational and applied hydrology in the country.