Climate variability and climate change impacts on smallholder farmers in the Akuapem north district, Ghana

Kwadwo Owusu, Peter Bilson Obour, Selina Asare-Baffour

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Climate change is unequivocal and these changes have increased over the past few years. The recent vulnerability and prospect of climate variability and change impact, thus, warrants measures now to reduce the adverse impacts. This is especially important in relation to smallholder farmers whose activities provide large proportion of the food consumed in the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A qualitative approach was used to collect data on the perceptions of smallholder farmers from three communities in the Akuapem North District in Ghana. The perceptions of the farmers about rainfall changes were compared with the empirical daily rainfall total data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency to corroborate changes in rainfall. By comparing the perceived changes in the rainfall of the district with the empirical data, it was identified that shifts in the rainfall regime was themain cause of crop failures in the study area but not decline in the annual rainfall total. Farmers being aware of changes in the rainfall have employed new stresses to improve their productivity. However, it was observed that non-climatic stresses such as low capital and absence of institutional support in the district have increased smallholder farmers’ vulnerability.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook of Climate Change Adaptation
PublisherSpringer Berlin Heidelberg
Pages1791-1806
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9783642386701
ISBN (Print)9783642386695
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Adaptation
  • Akuapem North
  • Climate change
  • Climate variability
  • Ghana
  • Smallholder farmers
  • Subsistence agriculture
  • Vulnerability

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