TY - JOUR
T1 - Provisioning Ecosystem services in Rural Savanna landscapes of Northern Ghana
T2 - An assessment of supply, utilization, and drivers of change
AU - Boafo, Yaw Agyeman
AU - Saito, Osamu
AU - Takeuchi, Kazuhiko
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - As a fundamental element of human lives, ecosystems and the services they provide across all socioecological regions are now under threat from human and natural activities. An assessment of the different categories of ecosystem services at various levels has become necessary for sustainable use and conservation. This study seeks to identify and characterize provisioning ecosystem services affecting rural households in the Tolon and Wa West Districts of northern Ghana. It examines the key dynamics of these services and discusses the major factors influencing their supply and utilization. The study employs rapid rural appraisal methods, including key informant interviews, household questionnaires surveys, focus group discussions, and participatory observations for collecting primary data. Findings indicate an extensive use of all provisioning services examined: bushmeat, crop and animal production, fish catches, fodder and forage, fuelwood, building materials, fresh water, and wild plants by households at all study sites. Averagely, 80% of households across the study sites collect and utilize these variety of services to support livelihood strategies. Our study also identified major challenges for sustainable supply and use of these ecosystem services, including the growing scarcity and decline in these services attributed to closely connected drivers such as cyclical drought, climate variation, land conversion, overharvesting, and a decline in traditional ecological knowledge. This study thus demonstrates the need for an integrated assessment that examines, at the local level, the interactions of various ecosystem services and human well-being to provide a scientific basis for formulation of effective coping and adaptation strategies in the midst of these challenges.
AB - As a fundamental element of human lives, ecosystems and the services they provide across all socioecological regions are now under threat from human and natural activities. An assessment of the different categories of ecosystem services at various levels has become necessary for sustainable use and conservation. This study seeks to identify and characterize provisioning ecosystem services affecting rural households in the Tolon and Wa West Districts of northern Ghana. It examines the key dynamics of these services and discusses the major factors influencing their supply and utilization. The study employs rapid rural appraisal methods, including key informant interviews, household questionnaires surveys, focus group discussions, and participatory observations for collecting primary data. Findings indicate an extensive use of all provisioning services examined: bushmeat, crop and animal production, fish catches, fodder and forage, fuelwood, building materials, fresh water, and wild plants by households at all study sites. Averagely, 80% of households across the study sites collect and utilize these variety of services to support livelihood strategies. Our study also identified major challenges for sustainable supply and use of these ecosystem services, including the growing scarcity and decline in these services attributed to closely connected drivers such as cyclical drought, climate variation, land conversion, overharvesting, and a decline in traditional ecological knowledge. This study thus demonstrates the need for an integrated assessment that examines, at the local level, the interactions of various ecosystem services and human well-being to provide a scientific basis for formulation of effective coping and adaptation strategies in the midst of these challenges.
KW - Ecosystem
KW - Livelihood
KW - Northern Ghana
KW - Provisioning services
KW - Rural households
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84905169931&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.20965/jdr.2014.p0501
DO - 10.20965/jdr.2014.p0501
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84905169931
SN - 1881-2473
VL - 9
SP - 501
EP - 515
JO - Journal of Disaster Research
JF - Journal of Disaster Research
IS - 4
ER -