Climate Change Awareness and Risk Perception in Ghana: A Case Study of Communities around the Muni-Pomadze Ramsar Site

Abstract

This study investigated the level of awareness and knowledge of climate change, factors influencing risk perception pertaining to climate change and variability, and factors influencing the adoption of adaptation strategies in three communities around the Muni-Pomadze Ramsar site. Primary data were collected through a questionnaire survey, FGDs and in-depth interviews. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were employed to assess the level of knowledge and awareness about climate change. The binary logit model was employed to assess both the factors influencing the risk perception and adoption of adaptation strategies. The result shows that 100% of the respondents were aware of the changes in the climate over time. However, they gave different responses regarding changes observed in the various climatic variables. Parameter estimates of the binary logit model for the risk perception revealed that educational level of respondents and rainfall perception were statistically significant. It was noted that as individuals attain a higher educational level, the probability of the individual undertaking a critical analysis to ascertain how risky an activity is, increases; and as rainfall is perceived to be decreasing, the probability of an individual seeing his/her activity to be risky increases. Parameter estimates of the binary logit model for adoption of adaptation strategies also revealed that risk perception level, gender and alternative livelihood activities were statistically significant. The study recommends that the mass media should intensify its function as an educational tool to disseminate climate change information. Keywords: Awareness, Knowledge, Climate Change, Binary Logit Model