Ghana Environment - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Environment - current issues

recurrent drought in north severely affects agricultural activities; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; poaching and habitat destruction threaten wildlife populations; water pollution; inadequate supplies of potable water

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 31.95 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 16.67 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 22.75 megatons (2020 est.)

Climate

tropical; warm and comparatively dry along southeast coast; hot and humid in southwest; hot and dry in north

Land use

agricultural land: 69.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 20.7% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 11.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 36.5% (2018 est.)

forest: 21.2% (2018 est.)

other: 9.7% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 59.2% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 3.06% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

total population growth rate v. urban population growth rate, 2000-2030

Revenue from forest resources

forest revenues: 3.51% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

coal revenues: 0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high (2020)

food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever

water contact diseases: schistosomiasis

animal contact diseases: rabies

respiratory diseases: meningococcal meningitis

note: since October 2021, there has been a yellow fever outbreak in Ghana with numerous cases, including some deaths, in the following regions: Savannah, Upper West, Bono, and Oti; the CDC recommends travelers going to Ghana should receive vaccination against yellow fever at least 10 days before travel and should take steps to prevent mosquito bites while there; those never vaccinated against yellow fever should avoid travel to Nigeria during the outbreak; there are no medications to treat or cure yellow fever

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 3,538,275 tons (2005 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Volta river mouth (shared with Burkina Faso [s]) - 1,600 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Volta (410,991 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 299.6 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

industrial: 95 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

agricultural: 1.07 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

56.2 billion cubic meters (2017 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Ghana on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Ghana 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Ghana 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.