Esi Buobasa

Ghanaian fishmonger

Esi Buobasa
Known for	Community activism, climate activism
Awards	100 Women (BBC)

Esi Buobasa (Fuveme, Ghana) is a Ghanaian fishmonger, environmental migrant, and climate activist.^[1]

In 2023, Buobasa was distinguished as one of the most influential women in the world according to the 100 Women (BBC) for her efforts to build resilience against climate change.^[2]^[3]

Career

Buobasa was born and raised in Fuveme, a coastal village near Keta.^[3] Between 2000 and 2010, the territory, located between Keta Lagoon and the Gulf of Guinea, eroded to practically a thin line of sand due to the rising sea level.^[4]^[5]^[6] The town also is periodically flooded by the Volta River.^[6]

The loss of buildings and increasingly frequent cycloans and floods forced Buobasa, a fisherman, with her husband and five children,^[3] to migrate inland and recreate their lives.^[6]^[7] However, this deprived the family of their main source of income: fishing.^[8]

To mitigate the socioeconomic impacts of the environmental migration, Buobasa founded an association to support female fishermen in her circumstance.^[1]^[3] The alliance sought to train them for other jobs and provide economic recovery.^[3]^[7] It also provided a resistance fund to finance damage or loss of income due to further storms or climate disaster.^[8] Buobasa's leadership led to her inclusion in BBC's 2023 list of 100 Women (BBC).^[1]^[7]^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Agbetiloye, Adekunle (24 November 2023). "Meet the 13 African women named among BBC 100 women in 2023". Business Insider Africa. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
^ "Ghana's coastal erosion: The village buried in sand". BBC News. 2016-05-11.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e GNA (2023-11-24). "Esi Buobasa, native of Fuveme, among BBC's 100 most influential women". Ghana News Agency. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
^ Appeaning Addo, K.; Brempong, E. K.; Jayson-Quashigah, P. N. (2020-05-25). "Assessment of the dynamics of the Volta river estuary shorelines in Ghana". Geoenvironmental Disasters. 7 (1): 19. Bibcode:2020GeoDi...7...19A. doi:10.1186/s40677-020-00151-1. ISSN 2197-8670.
^ Naadi, Thomas (May 12, 2016). "Ghana's coastal erosion: The village buried in sand". BBC Africa.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Climate change drowning West African coastline – DW – 07/22/2022". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
^ ^a ^b ^c "BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year? - BBC News". News. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
^ ^a ^b ^c The women at the forefront of the climate battle - BBC 100 Women, BBC World Service, retrieved 2024-02-09