Planned climate adaptation interventions and smallholder farmer output levels in the Upper East Region, Ghana

• Published in: Cogent social sciences Vol. 8; no. 1
• Main Authors: Kangah, Henry, Boateng Agyenim, Joseph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Cogent 31-12-2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Adaptation; Averages; climate; Climate change; Corn; crop farm output levels; Crops; Farmers; Intervention; Loans; planned adaptation interventions; Variability; Weather; Ghana
• ISSN: 2331-1886; 2331-1886
• DOI: 10.1080/23311886.2022.2108214

Climate change and variability negatively impacts outputs of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana for that matter. This has resulted in the introduction of numerous planned adaptation initiatives. Although there is literature on institutionally designed adaptation initiatives, not much coverage has been given to the effect of adaptation interventions on farm output in the region. This study investigated the effects of planned climate variability adaptation interventions on smallholder farmer output in the Bolgatanga and Garu and Tempani districts of the Upper East Region, Ghana. Emphasis was on smallholder crop farmers cultivating maize and millet due to the staple nature of both crops in the region. Using a mix of methods, the study sort data from 184 randomly sampled smallholder farmers of two initiatives in the region (i.e., Climate Change Adaptation in Northern Ghana Enhanced-CHANGE and Adaptation Learning Programme-ALP). Primary data were analysed using descriptive statistics (SPSS-v22) and thematic analytical techniques. The study found that farmers adopted and implemented adaptation interventions like improved seed varieties, soil and crop health interventions, village savings and loans associations, planting and land management and weather forecast information. The study concludes that, the average output of maize and millet among smallholder farmers increased more than significantly by 92.5% and 73.1% respectively after the adoption and implementation of planned climate adaptation interventions under the projects. The study recommended the design and diffusion of similar planned adaptation interventions among smallholder farmers in other communities in the Upper East region of Ghana on a case-by-case basis.