Country Comments

Ghana’s population has soared, doubling in just 30 years to roughly 30 million citizens in 2020. The total fertility rate has been persistently over 4 children per mother adding 650,000 more citizens to the country’s population every year increasing the gap to achieving sustainability. The Catholic Church has a large footprint in Ghana posing challenges to adopting modern family planning practices based on church doctrine. However, The New York Times reported in May 2020 the new executive director of the National Population Council in Ghana, a Catholic herself has, proposed free family planning services, sex education in schools (14% of adolescent females are pregnant or already mothers) and limits to public benefits if families exceed three children. These measures will hopefully reduce fertility rates, improve women’s and children’s lives and the environment in Ghana which suffers from increasing population pressures.

Monga Bay reported deforestation of Ghana’s primary forests jumped 60 percent between 2017 and 2018 – the biggest jump of any tropical country. Most of this occurred in the country’s protected areas, including its forest reserves. illegal logging in forest reserves is commonplace, with sources claiming officers from Ghana’s Forestry Commission often turn a blind eye and even participate in the activity.