Problems Resulting from Akosombo and Kpong Dams

Akosombo and Kpong dams on the Volta River provide 85% of the power for Ghana and 40% of the power for the regional grid system. However, flow regulation and elimination of the natural floods has devastated downstream floodplain agriculture and resulted in massive silt accumulation and an explosion in the growth of exotic weeds that have choked off the once lucrative shell fishery. As a result, some 80,000 people have been impoverished and forced to shift income generating activities in the river basin below the dam. Bringing back the shell and fin fishery in the Lower Volta River would restore livelihoods in these regions that have been impoverished by their loss.


Improving Food Production Systems

These negative environmental, social and economic impacts are both unfortunate and unnecessary. This project will investigate and demonstrate techniques for reoptimizing the operation of Akosombo and Kpong dams to restore the Volta River’s downstream livelihoods and ecosystems, reduce flood risks, improve power output and reliability, and re-establish the sediment regime for the beach morphology. Emphasis on advancing the agricultural sector is of primary importance because it is the greatest contributor to Ghana’s GDP and the main livelihood activity for the poor, primarily women. Increased agricultural productivity will reduce poverty and increase food security, and this project contributes by ensuring a more reliable supply of water for agriculture now and in the future – including food crops, livestock, and fisheries. The technical investigation will lead to a reoperation plan that will then be implemented through a series of experimental releases.

The project was recently approved for funding from the African Water Facility.

Find out more about our fully developed project in the Hadejia Nguru wetlands, Nigeria, as well as other NHI reoptimization projects in Africa.