Ghana has long been one of the most peaceful countries on the African continent (Institute for Economics and Peace 2022). Strong government institutions, a tradition in the peaceful transfer of power, a vibrant civil society, and strong economic growth are significant factors contributing to this peace.

However, recent climate impacts have exacerbated existing, yet mostly latent, conflict drivers such as governance and corruption accusations, farmer-herder conflict, power struggles among customary chiefs, land disputes, and the political and economic exclusion of young people, primarily through migration and resource competition pathways to conflict. Given the country’s strong institutions that promote social cohesion and an existing regulatory framework for climate adaptation, Ghana is well positioned to address climate impacts and conflict together if the co-benefits of climate and conflict prevention are carefully considered. In fact,

Ghana is poised to be a forerunner on the African continent by combining climate change and conflict prevention interventions. This policy paper investigates existing climate-conflict linkages in Ghana as well as capacities for climate resilience and social cohesion. It builds on a country visit organized in October 2022 by Chemonics International and the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a resultant policy paper, which was further substantiated through a two-day workshop on climate and conflict linkages in Ghana, as well as additional literature reviews