Coastal people, especially those living within deltaic areas, encounter major climatic concerns which affect their livelihoods. To cope with this problem, different types of planned adaptation strategies have been implemented guided by laws, policies and programs. However, these guiding documents sometimes fall short of addressing the needs of climate-affected people, especially in natural resource-dependent societies in Asia and Africa. Based on this premise, this paper sought to evaluate the effectiveness of existing policy documents which affect the lives of people living in one large delta (Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna in Bangladesh), two medium-sized deltas (Indian Bengal delta—part of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Mahanadi in India), and a small-sized delta (Volta in Ghana). The study followed a mixed methods research design, which included desktop analyses of policies, laws and programs, a questionnaire survey conducted among individuals who played various roles in the policy and legal development processes at national and local levels and focus group discussions at the community level in the three countries. National laws, policies and programs were assessed in the context of climate change adaptation through three lenses: human rights, natural resource management and disaster response. Findings of this paper reveal that the existing documents have some strengths to promote adaptation, although they have some major limitations that cause concerns among the delta communities.

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The Volta Delta, Ghana: Challenges in an African Setting 81 produce a double maximum rainfall pattern (Gampson et al. 2017). The major rainy season falls between March and July, and the minor rainy season is between August and November. Mean annual rainfall varies between 146 and 750 mm between years and increases from south of the delta to its north. The dry season occurs from November to February Fig. 4.1 Map of the Volta Delta area depicting the 5 m contour boundary of the delta and the nine administrative districts partly or wholly within the delta

The decision to migrate involves multiple causes and motivations with environmental factors subsumed by economic and other dimensions. Deltas are rich in natural resources but are also vulnerable to environmental hazards making them a hotspot for out-migration. In spite of some infrastructural interventions, specifically in the Volta Delta, to minimize the environmental effects, there is scant evidence of their impacts on livelihoods and the potential to reverse out-migration trends and aspirations. Additionally, there is little knowledge on the key drivers of migration in the area. Using data from the 2016 DECCMA household survey in Ghana, we found that exposure to drought does not trigger migration intentions, however, exposure to erosion and salinity do. Households capable of diverse adaptation options have a higher likelihood of migration intention. Households whose main livelihood is ecosystem-based were less likely to have the intention to migrate compared with those whose livelihoods were non-ecosystem based. The study provides insights into future migration intentions and drivers of migration in the Volta Delta.