Ghana loses U.S. $200 million annually due to floods and droughts
By Patience Gbeze and Evelyn Anane
The Probabilistic Risk Profile of Ghana indicates that the country loses 200 million dollars every year due to floods and droughts.
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[Ms Katrina Mouakkid Soltesova, the Programme Management Officer of Risk Knowledge, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) Regional Office for Africa] said examining specific results related to floods, the agricultural sector would see a loss of 20 million dollars per year, adding that, “this is in absolute terms whereas in relative terms it is a loss of up to 0.3 per cent”.
“Still looking at flood related losses, the highest, in absolute terms, are predicted for the service sector – accounting for 35 million US dollars. It is followed closely by the housing and transportation sectors.”
She noted that some eight per cent of the population are potentially affected in the drought results under the present climate.
“In a future climate and taking into consideration socio-economic projections, the number of affected people could triple to reach 28 per cent of Ghana’s population,” Ms. Soltesova said.
She said that equated to more than 10 million persons per year affected by drought, while potential losses to crops were estimated at 1.1 per cent at present climate conditions and 1.3 per cent under future climate.
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