How banning wildfires sparked (and ended) a conflict in Ghana

Bushfires are both a way of life, and threaten the way of life, in communities in northern Ghana. But one community, Shelanyili, made a bold change: they banned bushfires outright. The consequences of that ban ranged beyond their community, sparking conflicts, and forcing both themselves and their neighbours to reckon with what it means to change your lives to adapt to climate change. Meet Baba Salifu, a community elder who has watched the impacts climate change have made on his community and Ayi Abdulai, a farmer who has had to protect her community from bushfires and the people who spread from. But you’ll also hear from their neighbours in in Karaga, a community chose not to follow the bushfire ban, instead using fire to hunt and clear land — until they faced devastating consequences. Shelanyili and Karaga are two communities who could be any communities in the world right now. One changed their way of life to adapt to climate change – and had to physically defend that change, while the other strove to find ways to keep their way of life — one born out of hundreds of years of tradition — in the face of a planet that was forcing them to change. The season finale of Nature Answers asks the question: what does it take to protect nature, and in doing, protect ourselves. This episode was produced by Chris Edwards and edited by Tara Sprickerhoff.Transcripts and pictures are available at farmradio.org/ More about Nature Answers: Rural Stories from a Changing Planet at farmradio.org/natureanswersThis is a Farm Radio International podcast produced thanks to funding from the Government of Canada.