Climate Change Vulnerability and Perceived Resilience Among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana
Abstract
Globally, observed climate change has become a major barrier to agricultural productivity. At the same time, present and projected climate impacts are disproportionately affecting smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where smallholder agriculture constitutes the predominant source of livelihood. Due to the vast agricultural potential of SSA, climate change resilience has been central in several multi-level deliberations over the past few decades. However, existing policies aimed at improving the effects of climate change on food security have overwhelmingly focused on the climatic dimensions of vulnerability, resulting in a lack of knowledge of the role non-climatic factors also play in shaping smallholders’ resilience. In fact, others have argued that smallholder farmers’ lack of access to credit continues to militate against their climate resilience. Using data from a cross-sectional survey (n = 1,100) collected on household representatives across three districts in the Upper West Region of Ghana, this thesis examined the association between climate resilience and socio-economic aspects of smallholder farmers. Specifically, the study assessed the relationship between smallholder farmers’ perceived climate change resilience and their credit access; and also examined the association between perceived climate change resilience and their intrahousehold decision-making arrangements. Findings from ordered logistic regression analysis suggest that households with access to credit from informal sources were more likely (OR = 1.73, p ≤ 0.05) to report good resilience compared to those without access. Furthermore, households that received remittances (OR = 3.26, p ≤ 0.001) were also more likely to report good resilience compared to their counterparts that did not receive remittances. Regarding resilience and decision-making, households that practiced joint decision-making were also more likely (OR=3.74, p≤0.001) to report good resilience compared to households where ii only male heads made decisions. These findings reiterate that the multifaceted nature of climate vulnerability must be considered in the resilience-building process. The results also highlight the gaps and inefficiencies of current policies on strengthening the socioeconomic capability of smallholder farmers. It is recommended that policy makers should redesign policies that will combine the strengths of both formal and informal credit sources to better serve rural populations. Also, agricultural policies must take into account the traditional value systems of any targeted context to maximize the chances of realizing the intended effects.