Farmers’ Perceptions about Adaptation Practices to Climate Change and Barriers to Adaptation: A Micro-Level Study in Ghana
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Survey Design and Study Area
2.2. Statistical Analysis
Variables | Mean | Standard Deviation |
---|---|---|
Age (15–34 years = 1; 35–54 years = 2; above 55 years = 3) | 2.26 | 0.73 |
Education level (literate = 1; illiterate = 0) | 0.21 | 0.41 |
Farm size (continuous) | 4.95 | 1.70 |
Household size (continuous) | 8.20 | 5.12 |
Family labor (continuous) | 4.65 | 3.04 |
Annual farm income—Ghana cedi (continuous) | 949.42 | 1909.55 |
Annual off-farm income—Ghana cedi (continuous) | 797.20 | 2459.92 |
Farmer’s adaptation (adapted = 1; not adapted = 0) | 0.67 | 0.47 |
- PCI = Problem Confrontation Index;
- Pn = Number of respondents who graded the constraint as no problem;
- Pl = Number of respondents who graded the constraint as low;
- Pm = Number of respondents who graded the constraint as moderate;
- Ph = Number of respondents who graded the constraint as high.
3. Results
3.1. Farmers’ Perceptions of Long-Term Temperature and Rainfall Changes
3.2. Farmers’ Perceived Causes of Climatic Variability on Agriculture
Cause Variable | Percentage of Respondents |
---|---|
Deforestation | 14.0 |
Bush fires | 51.0 |
More than one cause | 23.3 |
Gods/ancestral spirits | 9.3 |
Do not know | 2.4 |
Total | 100 |
3.3. Farmers’ Adaptation to Climate Change
Variable | Percentage of Respondents |
---|---|
a. Adaptation classification | |
Adapted | 67 |
Not adapted | 33 |
b. Reasons for adaptation | |
Reduce effects of flood | 7 |
Reduce effects of drought | 20 |
Reduce effects of dry spell | 73 |
3.4. Farmer-Perceived Importance of Adaptation Practices
Adaptation Practice | Frequency by Each Level of Importance | WAI | Rank | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Highly Important | Moderately Important | Less Important | Not Important | |||
Improved crop varieties | 35 | 48 | 14 | 3 | 2.15 | 1 |
Irrigation | 30 | 51 | 17 | 8 | 2.09 | 2 |
Crop diversification | 14 | 76 | 8 | 2 | 2.02 | 3 |
Farm diversification | 7 | 67 | 23 | 3 | 1.78 | 4 |
Change of planting date | 10 | 44 | 26 | 20 | 1.44 | 5 |
Income generating activities | 3 | 20 | 28 | 49 | 0.77 | 6 |
Agroforestry practice | 0 | 9 | 56 | 35 | 0.74 | 7 |
3.5. Perceived Constraints to Adaptation to Climate Change
Constraints to Adoption | Degree of Constraint | PCI | Rank | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High | Moderate | Low | No Problem | |||
Unpredictable weather | 35 | 48 | 14 | 3 | 215 | 1 |
High cost of farm inputs | 14 | 76 | 8 | 2 | 202 | 2 |
Lack of access to timely weather information | 7 | 67 | 23 | 3 | 178 | 3 |
Lack of access to water resources (e.g., dams) | 10 | 44 | 26 | 20 | 144 | 4 |
Lack of access to credit facilities | 2 | 32 | 11 | 55 | 81 | 5 |
Lack of access to agricultural subsidies | 3 | 20 | 28 | 49 | 77 | 6 |
Poor soil fertility | 0 | 9 | 56 | 35 | 74 | 7 |
Limited access to agricultural extension officers | 3 | 19 | 7 | 71 | 54 | 8 |
Limited access to agricultural markets | 0 | 0 | 24 | 76 | 24 | 9 |
Inadequate farm labor | 0 | 1 | 19 | 80 | 21 | 10 |
Limited farm size | 0 | 0 | 13 | 87 | 13 | 11 |
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
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Ndamani, F.; Watanabe, T. Farmers’ Perceptions about Adaptation Practices to Climate Change and Barriers to Adaptation: A Micro-Level Study in Ghana. Water 2015, 7, 4593-4604. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7094593
Ndamani F, Watanabe T. Farmers’ Perceptions about Adaptation Practices to Climate Change and Barriers to Adaptation: A Micro-Level Study in Ghana. Water. 2015; 7(9):4593-4604. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7094593
Chicago/Turabian StyleNdamani, Francis, and Tsunemi Watanabe. 2015. "Farmers’ Perceptions about Adaptation Practices to Climate Change and Barriers to Adaptation: A Micro-Level Study in Ghana" Water 7, no. 9: 4593-4604. https://doi.org/10.3390/w7094593