Exploring agro-ecological implications and gendered adaptation to climate change in Northern Ghana

This paper explores agro-ecological implications of climate change and gendered adaptations in Northern Ghana. Drawing on feminist political ecology, sequential mix-method design was used to collect socio-economic and livelihood data through a survey of 300 smallholder farmers. Paired sample t test, simple linear regression and descriptive statistics were used to determined yield variation, gendered perception, and adaptive capacities to climate change. Three focus group discussions and 15 key informant interviews were conducted to validate the survey results. Findings show that climate change has threatened the sustainability of local livelihoods with a significant drop in food production over the last 15 years. Adaptation to climate change in the study area is polarized by gender, affecting productivity. This is because men perceive climate change and its impacts differently from women. Men were likely to adapt changing methods of farming and improvement in storage capacity, while women were likely to adapt migration and livelihood diversification. Policy toward building resilience to the impacts of climate change should recognize and adopt these gender adaptive capacities.