Ghana's Biggest Slum at a Crossroads Due to Flooding
On a regular night during the month of June, Afishetu Al Hassan wakes up to the sound of splashing.
She instinctively reaches for the bucket she keeps at arm’s length and, still half-asleep, begins the tedious process of scooping water up from the floor of her bedroom before it damages the food and utilities she needs to sell the next morning.
Her home in the Old Fadama slum of Ghana’s capital is one of the many marked with a red “X” by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly as evidence of its imminent demolition. Like so many others close to the Korle Lagoon, it is susceptible to flooding with even the lightest rainfall.
Perennial floods have been a continuous problem in Accra for decades, but, according to Senior Fellow at the Center for Climate and Security, Shiloh Fetzek, a more vigorous hydrological cycle due to climate change is resulting in unprecedented levels of rainfall season after season.
World Bank Photo Collection/Dominic Chavez