Vulnerability And Adaptation Of Smallholder Farmers To Changes In Agroecosystem Services And Climate In Semi-Arid Regions: The Case Of Nandom District Of Ghana

ABSTRACT

A significant proportion of people in semi-arid regions depend on climate variables and agroecosystem services to sustain their livelihoods. These livelihoods are threatened by the deterioration of agroecosystem services and climate variability. Recently, many communities exhibit low levels of adaptive capacity due to maladaptation and the lack of understanding of the patterns of vulnerabilities. This study examined the scope and nature of vulnerability and adaptation strategies of smallholder households to recent changes in agroecosystem services and climate in semi-arid Upper West Region of Ghana, specifically in the Nandom District. To achieve this goal, the study employed a participatory rural research design to collect and analyze the perceptions of smallholder farmers on vulnerability and adaptation options to the changes in agroecosystems and climate in the study area. Mixed methods involving qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to collect and analyze these data. The field work was undertaken between January 2016 and March, 2017 in four communities, namely, Billengangn, Gengenkpe, Naapaal and Ketuo using a questionnaire made up of semi-structured interviews with 194 households, focus group discussions with 125 farmers and key informant interviews with 10 relevant stakeholders drawn from government and non-government institutions. Soil and water samples were collected from selected farms, the Black Volta River, and selected boreholes and analyzed to assess the contribution of soil and water quality to livelihood strategies. Rainfall and temperature data spanning January 1984 to December 2014 were collected from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) to investigate the trends and variability. The livelihood vulnerability index (LVI) was employed to investigate the level of vulnerability of households in the study communities.