Assessing Climate Change Communication Strategies And Community Perception In Selected Coastal Communities In South Volta, Ghana

Abstract

Climate change poses severe threats to Ghana's coastal communities through sea-level rise, coastal erosion, and flooding, yet the effectiveness of communication strategies in promoting adaptive behaviours remains inadequately understood. This study examined the impact of communication strategies on climate change advocacy in three coastal communities in the Volta Region: Abutiakope, Kedzikope, and Agavedzi, using a quantitative cross-sectional design with 100 respondents selected through stratified random sampling. Key findings revealed that social media dominates climate information reception while traditional channels remain underutilised, a critical language barrier exists with messages failing to incorporate local languages despite Ewe being the primary communication language, and communities exhibit strong threat perception alongside low technical understanding of climate science. Social mobilisation failures and institutional inadequacies, rather than economic constraints, emerged as primary adaptation barriers, while communication exposure showed no correlation with knowledge acquisition. The study recommends a fundamental reorientation toward local-language communication, incorporating Ewe translations, strengthening peer-to-peer networks and community-based channels, building institutional credibility through practical adaptation support rather than generic messaging, developing context-specific actionable guidance addressing community-specific vulnerabilities, and engaging trusted scientific voices to bridge the credibility gap between institutional communicators and community trust patterns.