IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v25y2022ics2452292921001065.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing nuanced social networks and its implication for climate change adaptation in northwestern Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Alare, Rahinatu S.
  • Lawson, Elaine T.
  • Mensah, Adelina
  • Yevide, Armand
  • Adiku, Prosper

Abstract

The current uncertainty, frequency and intensity of climate change impacts limits opportunities for climate adaptation among smallholder farmers in developing countries. This paper seeks to critically examine how gendered relations at the household level influence access to social networks for climate change adaptation in northwestern Ghana. By doing so, the study contributes to an improved understanding of how inter-gender dynamics shape adaptive capacities among vulnerable groups. Using semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and key informant interviews, a total sample size of 156 respondents were studied. The study also employed an intersectional framework and a network analysis to examine the nuanced networks of smallholder farmer households. Findings revealed that the interplay of age, marital status and educational levels influenced access to social networks for support in minimising climate risk. As such, promoting adaptation actions without addressing structural and relational inequalities within vulnerable communities may deepen existing inequalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Alare, Rahinatu S. & Lawson, Elaine T. & Mensah, Adelina & Yevide, Armand & Adiku, Prosper, 2022. "Assessing nuanced social networks and its implication for climate change adaptation in northwestern Ghana," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:25:y:2022:i:c:s2452292921001065
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100390
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292921001065
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2021.100390?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. W. Neil Adger, 2003. "Social Capital, Collective Action, and Adaptation to Climate Change," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 79(4), pages 387-404, October.
    2. Rebecca Pearse, 2017. "Gender and climate change," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(2), March.
    3. Mark Pelling & Karen O’Brien & David Matyas, 2015. "Adaptation and transformation," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 113-127, November.
    4. Carr, Edward R., 2019. "Properties and projects: Reconciling resilience and transformation for adaptation and development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 70-84.
    5. Stephen Samuel Smith & Jessica Kulynych, 2002. "It May be Social, But Why is it Capital? The Social Construction of Social Capital and the Politics of Language," Politics & Society, , vol. 30(1), pages 149-186, March.
    6. Thomas B. Yaméogo & William M. Fonta & Tobias Wünscher, 2018. "Can Social Capital influence Smallholder Farmers’ Climate-Change Adaptation Decisions? Evidence from Three Semi-Arid Communities in Burkina Faso, West Africa," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-20, February.
    7. Samuel T. Partey & Angela D. Dakorah & Robert B. Zougmoré & Mathieu Ouédraogo & Mary Nyasimi & Gordon K. Nikoi & Sophia Huyer, 2020. "Gender and climate risk management: evidence of climate information use in Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 61-75, January.
    8. Lenore Newman & Ann Dale, 2007. "Homophily and Agency: Creating Effective Sustainable Development Networks," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 79-90, February.
    9. Eriksen, Siri & Schipper, E. Lisa F. & Scoville-Simonds, Morgan & Vincent, Katharine & Adam, Hans Nicolai & Brooks, Nick & Harding, Brian & Khatri, Dil & Lenaerts, Lutgart & Liverman, Diana & Mills-No, 2021. "Adaptation interventions and their effect on vulnerability in developing countries: Help, hindrance or irrelevance?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    10. Bhattarai, Basundhara & Beilin, Ruth & Ford, Rebecca, 2015. "Gender, Agrobiodiversity, and Climate Change: A Study of Adaptation Practices in the Nepal Himalayas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 122-132.
    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. Stephen Morse & Nora McNamara & Nancy Nathan & Shuaibu Adamu & Oluwayemisi Idowu Micah & Muhammed Kabir & Augustine Sunday Onwuaroh & Nathaniel Otene, 2023. "The Leveraging of Support by Faith-Based Social Groups in Rural Villages of the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-19, September.

    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. Jeetendra Prakash Aryal & Tek Bahadur Sapkota & Dil Bahadur Rahut & Hom Nath Gartaula & Clare Stirling, 2022. "Gender and climate change adaptation: A case of Ethiopian farmers," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(3), pages 263-288, August.
    2. Eriksen, Siri & Schipper, E. Lisa F. & Scoville-Simonds, Morgan & Vincent, Katharine & Adam, Hans Nicolai & Brooks, Nick & Harding, Brian & Khatri, Dil & Lenaerts, Lutgart & Liverman, Diana & Mills-No, 2021. "Adaptation interventions and their effect on vulnerability in developing countries: Help, hindrance or irrelevance?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Ingold, Karin, 2017. "How to create and preserve social capital in climate adaptation policies: A network approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 414-424.
    4. Eranga K. Galappaththi & James D. Ford & Elena M. Bennett, 2020. "Climate change and adaptation to social-ecological change: the case of indigenous people and culture-based fisheries in Sri Lanka," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 279-300, September.
    5. Rao, Nitya & Singh, Chandni & Solomon, Divya & Camfield, Laura & Sidiki, Rahina & Angula, Margaret & Poonacha, Prathigna & Sidibé, Amadou & Lawson, Elaine T., 2020. "Managing risk, changing aspirations and household dynamics: Implications for wellbeing and adaptation in semi-arid Africa and India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    6. Ensor, Jonathan & Tuhkanen, Heidi & Boyland, Michael & Salamanca, Albert & Johnson, Karlee & Thomalla, Frank & Lim Mangada, Ladylyn, 2021. "Redistributing resilience? Deliberate transformation and political capabilities in post-Haiyan Tacloban," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    7. Matthew L. Hamilton & Mark Lubell, 2019. "Climate change adaptation, social capital, and the performance of polycentric governance institutions," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 307-326, March.
    8. Edward R. Carr, 2022. "Climate Services and Transformational Adaptation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Ana Raquel Nunes, 2021. "Exploring the interactions between vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to extreme temperatures," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(3), pages 2261-2293, December.
    10. Tapio Riepponen & Mikko Moilanen & Jaakko Simonen, 2023. "Themes of resilience in the economics literature: A topic modeling approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(2), pages 326-356, April.
    11. Raissa Sorgho & Isabel Mank & Moubassira Kagoné & Aurélia Souares & Ina Danquah & Rainer Sauerborn, 2020. "“We Will Always Ask Ourselves the Question of How to Feed the Family”: Subsistence Farmers’ Perceptions on Adaptation to Climate Change in Burkina Faso," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-25, October.
    12. Hong Sun & Valentina Hartarska & Lezhu Zhang & Denis Nadolnyak, 2018. "The Influence of Social Capital on Farm Household’s Borrowing Behavior in Rural China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, November.
    13. Neef, Andreas & Benge, Lucy & Boruff, Bryan & Pauli, Natasha & Weber, Eberhard & Varea, Renata, 2018. "Climate adaptation strategies in Fiji: The role of social norms and cultural values," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 125-137.
    14. N. Jones & J. Clark, 2014. "Social capital and the public acceptability of climate change adaptation policies: a case study in Romney Marsh, UK," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 123(2), pages 133-145, March.
    15. Laura M. Canevari‐Luzardo & Frans Berkhout & Mark Pelling, 2020. "A relational view of climate adaptation in the private sector: How do value chain interactions shape business perceptions of climate risk and adaptive behaviours?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 432-444, February.
    16. Aparna Kumari & Tim G. Frazier, 2021. "Evaluating social capital in emergency and disaster management and hazards plans," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(1), pages 949-973, October.
    17. Schipper, E.L.F. & Tanner, T. & Dube, O.P. & Adams, K.M. & Huq, S., 2020. "The debate: Is global development adapting to climate change?," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    18. Desai, Raj M. & Olofsgård, Anders, 2019. "Can the poor organize? Public goods and self-help groups in rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 33-52.
    19. H.M. Tuihedur Rahman & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "An Analytical Framework for Assessing Context-Specific Rural Livelihood Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    20. Florence Jacquet & A Aboul-Naga & Bernard Hubert, 2020. "The contribution of ARIMNet to address livestock systems resilience in the Mediterranean region," Post-Print hal-03625860, HAL.

    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:eee:wodepe:v:25:y:2022:i:c:s2452292921001065. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    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.