Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Constraints in Northern Ghana: Evidence of Farmers in Sissala West District

Clifford James Fagariba, Shaoxian Song and Serge Kevin Gildas Soule Baoro
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Clifford James Fagariba: School of Environment and Natural Resource Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
Shaoxian Song: Hubei Key Laboratory of Mineral Resources Processing and Environment, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China
Serge Kevin Gildas Soule Baoro: School of Environment and Natural Resource Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Luoshi Road 122, Wuhan 430070, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: Research findings indicate that most African countries are vulnerable to climate change as a result of challenges such as poverty, weather extremes, and insufficient governmental agricultural support. For this reason, the researchers used the Sissala West District as a case study to determine factors influencing farmers’ adaptation to climate change and strategies used to avert climate change impact. A total of 330 small-scale farmers were sampled for survey and 150 key informants were used in focus group discussions. Utilizing the logistic regression model, the study indicated irregular rainfall, high temperature, weather information, and high evaporation as the factors that highly influenced farmers’ ability to adapt to climate change. A Weighted Average Index used to measure weather extremes revealed that drought and temperature had the highest level of occurrence. Furthermore, climate change adaptation strategies assessed in the study showed that agroforestry practices, drought-resistant crops, and mulching were the most preferred methods. The study concluded that farmers’ ability to adapt to climate change can be improved if the Environmental Protection Agency and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture intensify climate adaptation campaigns, increase access to weather information, and train farmers on adaptable strategies including, but not limited to, alternative sources of livelihood.

Keywords: adaptation; agriculture; challenges; effects; weather extremes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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