Tidal waves have destroyed homes, canoes, fishing nets and school buildings across several coastal communities in the Anloga District of the Volta Region, leaving hundreds of residents displaced and the local fishing economy in a state of acute distress, while President John Dramani Mahama has pledged government intervention under a World Bank-backed coastal protection programme.
The latest and most destructive incident struck on April 16, 2026, washing away a sandbar that residents had constructed as a temporary barrier against the encroaching Atlantic Ocean. The loss of that buffer has narrowed the land separating the ocean from the Keta Lagoon and the Volta estuary near Ada to a critical point, with communities including Fuveme, Dzaflagbe and Kporkporgbor among those worst affected. Three of those communities have effectively been washed away, with Atiteti now the last remaining settlement in the area and itself under threat from the advancing sea.
Hundreds of displaced residents are sheltering in makeshift structures in coconut groves, while others have moved to neighbouring communities such as Atorkorkodzi. Fishing, which is the primary source of livelihood in the area, has been severely disrupted, compounding hardship for women and children whose incomes depend on the wider fish processing and trading value chain.
Jackson Akorli, a fisherman in Fuveme, warned that the damage extends beyond the immediate coastline. “Beyond the direct impact on marine fishing, we fear the intrusion of seawater into the Keta Lagoon and surrounding inland water bodies,” he said, adding that contamination of those water bodies would affect breeding conditions for tilapia and mudfish, the main species supporting inland fishing in the enclave.
What Communities Are Demanding
Amos Agboado, the Atiteti-Fuveme Representative of the Ghana National Canoe Fishermen Council, said sea defence infrastructure is now the single most urgent intervention required. “Without the sea defence, we cannot continue with fishing here,” he said, ruling out relocation as a practical solution on the grounds that it would sever residents from their only means of survival.
He also called for dredging of sections of the Volta River estuary, arguing that sediment accumulation has reduced its capacity to contain tidal surges, contributing directly to recurrent overflow and flooding.
Mahama Visits, Announces WACA Programme
President Mahama visited Fuveme on April 29 to assess the destruction firsthand and meet with affected communities. He confirmed that the area falls under the World Bank-supported West Africa Coastal Areas Management Programme (WACA), a US$150 million initiative targeting coastal erosion and tidal wave impacts across vulnerable West African communities, and assured residents that the project, currently at the design stage, will advance to implementation.
Planned interventions under the programme include sea defence structures, groynes to break the force of incoming waves, and ecosystem restoration measures including the planting of coconut trees and mangroves to stabilise the shoreline. As an immediate step, the President said the Volta River Authority (VRA) would be contacted about dredging the main Volta estuary to reduce tidal pressure on the Fuveme side.
The President noted that previous coastal protection projects, including the Keta Sea Defence initiative and other interventions at Dzita, Akleutoko and Blekusu, had helped protect sections of the coastline, but said remaining vulnerable communities such as Fuveme still require urgent attention.
Volta Regional Minister James Gunu described the Anloga District as one of the worst-hit coastal areas in the region in recent weeks, with multiple communities appealing for emergency relief and permanent infrastructure.
The crisis has drawn attention to the broader threat that climate change poses to Ghana’s coastal fishing economy, where rising sea levels, worsening erosion and environmental degradation are steadily undermining livelihoods that support large numbers of households along the country’s eastern shoreline.
