IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ccsesa/234992.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Climate Variability Since 1970 and Farmers’ Observations in Northern Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Nyadzi, Emmanuel

Abstract

The study examines how farmers’ observations of climate variability and change correspond with 42 years (1970-2011) meteorological data of temperature and rainfall. It shows how farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana adjust to the changing climate and explore the various obstacles that hinder the implementation of their adaptation strategies. With the help of an extension officer, 200 farmers from 20 communities were randomly selected based on their farming records. Temperatures over the last four decades (1970-2009) increased at a rate of 0.04 (± 0.41) ˚C and 0.3(± 0.13)˚C from 2010-2011 which is consistent to the farmers (82.5%) observations. Rainfall within the districts are characterised by inter-annual and monthly variability. It experienced an increased rate of 0.66 (± 8.30) mm from 1970-2009, which was inconsistent with the farmers (81.5%) observation. It however decreased from 2010-2011 at a huge rate of -22.49 (±15.90) mm which probably was the reason majority of the respondents claim rainfall was decreasing. Only 64.5% of the respondents had adjusted their farming activities because of climate variability and change. They apply fertilizers and pesticides, practice soil and water conservation, and irrigation for communities close to dams. Respondents desire to continue their current adaptation methods but may in the future consider changing crop variety, water-harvesting techniques, change crop production to livestock keeping, and possibly migrate to urban centers. Lack of climate change education, low access to credit and agricultural inputs are some militating factors crippling the farmers’ effort to adapt to climate change.

Suggested Citation

  • Nyadzi, Emmanuel, 2016. "Climate Variability Since 1970 and Farmers’ Observations in Northern Ghana," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 5(2).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ccsesa:234992
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.234992
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/234992/files/P4-p41-56.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.234992?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Acquah, H. de-Graft & Onumah, Edward E., 2011. "Farmers Perception and Adaptation to Climate Change: An Estimation of Willingness to Pay," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 3(4), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Jalloh, Abdulai & Nelson, Gerald C. & Thomas, Timothy S. & Zougmoré, Robert & Roy-Macauley, Harold, 2013. "West african agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis:," Issue briefs 75, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. K, Sudarkodi & K, Sathyabama, 2011. "The Impact Of Climate Change On Agriculture," MPRA Paper 29784, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Oecd, 2009. "Climate Change and Africa," OECD Journal: General Papers, OECD Publishing, vol. 2009(1), pages 5-35.
    5. B. Fosu-Mensah & P. Vlek & D. MacCarthy, 2012. "Farmers’ perception and adaptation to climate change: a case study of Sekyedumase district in Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 495-505, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Emmanuel Nyadzi & Benjamin K. Nyarko & Mathew I. S Ezenwa, 2019. "Effects of Human Generated Fires on Soil Organic Carbon Stocks under Different Vegetation Types in Northern Ghana," Earth Science Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(1), pages 1-27, August.
    2. Muli, Celestine & Gerber, Nicolas & Sakketa, Tekalign Gutu & Mirzabaev, Alisher, 2018. "Ecosystem tipping points due to variable water availability and cascading effects on food security in Sub‐Saharan Africa," Working Papers 278230, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    3. Madhuri & Upasna Sharma, 2020. "How do farmers perceive climate change? A systematic review," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(3), pages 991-1010, October.
    4. Attoh, Emmanuel, 2024. "Changing terrain: evidence of climate change impacts and adaptive responses of Dagbani Indigenous Communities, northern Ghana," IWMI Books, Reports H052570, International Water Management Institute.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdou Matsalabi Ado & Jin Leshan & Patrice Savadogo & Li Bo & Ashfaq Ahmad Shah, 2019. "Farmers’ awareness and perception of climate change impacts: case study of Aguie district in Niger," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2963-2977, December.
    2. Khan, Imran & Lei, Hongdou & Shah, Irshad Ali & Ali, Imad & Khan, Inayat & Muhammad, Ihsan & Huo, Xuexi & Javed, Tehseen, 2020. "Farm households’ risk perception, attitude and adaptation strategies in dealing with climate change: Promise and perils from rural Pakistan," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Richard Kofi Asravor, 2022. "On-farm adaptation strategies to climate change: the case of smallholder farmers in the Northern Development Authority Zone of Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 5080-5093, April.
    4. Clifford James Fagariba & Shaoxian Song & Serge Kevin Gildas Soule Baoro, 2018. "Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Constraints in Northern Ghana: Evidence of Farmers in Sissala West District," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    5. Melissa Dell & Benjamin F. Jones & Benjamin A. Olken, 2014. "What Do We Learn from the Weather? The New Climate-Economy Literature," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(3), pages 740-798, September.
    6. Lenis Saweda O. Liverpool-Tasie & Awa Sanou & Justice A. Tambo, 2019. "Climate change adaptation among poultry farmers: evidence from Nigeria," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 527-544, December.
    7. Webber, Heidi & Gaiser, Thomas & Ewert, Frank, 2014. "What role can crop models play in supporting climate change adaptation decisions to enhance food security in Sub-Saharan Africa?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 161-177.
    8. Isaure Delaporte & Mathilde Maurel, 2018. "Adaptation to climate change in Bangladesh," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 49-62, January.
    9. Yihong Ding & Kelvin Balcombe & Elizabeth Robinson, 2021. "Time discounting and implications for Chinese farmer responses to an upward trend in precipitation," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(3), pages 916-930, September.
    10. Mustafa, Ghulam & Latif, Ismail Abd & Ashfaq, Muhammad & Bashir, Muhammad Khalid & Shamsudin, Mad Nasir & Wan Daud, Wan Mohamed Noordin, 2017. "Adaptation Process To Climate Change In Agriculture- An Empirical Study," International Journal of Food and Agricultural Economics (IJFAEC), Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, Department of Economics and Finance, vol. 5(4), October.
    11. Minghui Zhang & Gabriel Abrahao & Sally Thompson, 2021. "Sensitivity of soybean planting date to wet season onset in Mato Grosso, Brazil, and implications under climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 168(3), pages 1-28, October.
    12. Frédéric Kosmowski & Antoine Leblois & Benjamin Sultan, 2016. "Perceptions of recent rainfall changes in Niger: a comparison between climate-sensitive and non-climate sensitive households," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 227-241, March.
    13. Samira Shayanmehr & Shida Rastegari Henneberry & Mahmood Sabouhi Sabouni & Naser Shahnoushi Foroushani, 2020. "Climate Change and Sustainability of Crop Yield in Dry Regions Food Insecurity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-24, November.
    14. Monica Fisher & Tsedeke Abate & Rodney Lunduka & Woinishet Asnake & Yoseph Alemayehu & Ruth Madulu, 2015. "Drought tolerant maize for farmer adaptation to drought in sub-Saharan Africa: Determinants of adoption in eastern and southern Africa," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(2), pages 283-299, November.
    15. Boris O. K. Lokonon & Aly A. Mbaye, 2018. "Climate change and adoption of sustainable land management practices in the Niger basin of Benin," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(1), pages 42-53, February.
    16. Cook, Aaron M. & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob E. & Sesmero, Juan P., 2013. "How do African households adapt to climate change? Evidence from Malawi," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150507, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Valentina Mereu & Gianluca Carboni & Andrea Gallo & Raffaello Cervigni & Donatella Spano, 2015. "Impact of climate change on staple food crop production in Nigeria," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 321-336, September.
    18. Jikun Huang, 2013. "Financing Sustainable Agriculture Under Climate Change with a Specific Focus on Foreign Aid," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2013-047, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    19. Florence De Longueville & Pierre Ozer & François Gemenne & Sabine Henry & Ole Mertz & Jonas Ø. Nielsen, 2020. "Comparing climate change perceptions and meteorological data in rural West Africa to improve the understanding of household decisions to migrate," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 123-141, May.
    20. Moh. Shadiqur Rahman & Hery Toiba & Wen-Chi Huang, 2021. "The Impact of Climate Change Adaptation Strategies on Income and Food Security: Empirical Evidence from Small-Scale Fishers in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ccsesa:234992. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ccsenet.org/sar .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.