Coastal Protection for Ada, Ghana: a Case Study

Coastal erosion is a major threat to the entire West-African coast. Along the northwest coast of Africa average rates of coastal retreat are between one and two meters per year (UNESCO, 2012). At the coast in Ada, Ghana, the average rate of coastal retreat is locally, close to the Volta River mouth, more than 6 m/year (IMDC, 2010).

In 2010, the Ghanaian government decided to protect the coast in Ada along a distance of about 16km. The coastal protection scheme consists of beach nourishment and groyne structures for its structural stabilisation, and is split into two phases: first the groynes in the most critical stretch near the Volta river mouth are built (phase 1, finished in the summer of 2013), then the remaining groynes and the beach nourishment are executed in a second phase (phase 2, currently ongoing: 2014–2015). The purpose of the project is twofold, to stabilise the coastline, and to limit the amount of overwash towards the villages.