Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana
Smallholder agriculture in Northwestern Ghana continues to suffer the increasing threats of climate change and variability. The extant literature has argued that climate-smart agriculture is the way forward for smallholder farmers to reduce the threats of climate change and variability in agricultur...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023093702 |
| _version_ | 1827615775521767424 |
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| author | Dramani Juah M-Buu File Godwell Nhamo |
| author_facet | Dramani Juah M-Buu File Godwell Nhamo |
| author_sort | Dramani Juah M-Buu File |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Smallholder agriculture in Northwestern Ghana continues to suffer the increasing threats of climate change and variability. The extant literature has argued that climate-smart agriculture is the way forward for smallholder farmers to reduce the threats of climate change and variability in agriculture production. However, smallholder farmers continue to rely on indigenous knowledge and practices in their day-to-day agricultural activities. Few studies have explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers choice of local agriculture practices. This study explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers' choice of indigenous knowledge and agriculture practices. The mixed research method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed for data collection and analysis. A survey, involving 305 household heads, 31 in-depth interviews and 18 focus group discussions were held with key participants for the data. The results showed that smallholder farmers' decisions to adopt indigenous practices for climate change adaptation were influenced by socio-demographic characteristics, access to farm capital, landscape and distance to farms, accessibility and reliability of practices, accessibility and cost of inputs, land tenure, access to extension services, and socio-cultural beliefs. These variables were statistically significant at 5 %. The paper concludes that these factors will continue to limit farmers' ability to adopt climate-smart and other improved agricultural practices. This will aggravate smallholder households’ vulnerability to food insecurity and poverty. It is, therefore, recommended that climate-smart agriculture practices should be framed within the context of the aforementioned factors influencing farmers choice of indigenous farming practices in mainstreaming them into climate-smart agriculture. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:16:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-19bcdc41eefb49e68ff389dc42c22e45 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:16:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-19bcdc41eefb49e68ff389dc42c22e452023-12-02T07:05:21ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402023-11-01911e22162Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern GhanaDramani Juah M-Buu File0Godwell Nhamo1Department of Environmental Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; Corresponding author.Institute for Corporate Citizenship, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South AfricaSmallholder agriculture in Northwestern Ghana continues to suffer the increasing threats of climate change and variability. The extant literature has argued that climate-smart agriculture is the way forward for smallholder farmers to reduce the threats of climate change and variability in agriculture production. However, smallholder farmers continue to rely on indigenous knowledge and practices in their day-to-day agricultural activities. Few studies have explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers choice of local agriculture practices. This study explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers' choice of indigenous knowledge and agriculture practices. The mixed research method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed for data collection and analysis. A survey, involving 305 household heads, 31 in-depth interviews and 18 focus group discussions were held with key participants for the data. The results showed that smallholder farmers' decisions to adopt indigenous practices for climate change adaptation were influenced by socio-demographic characteristics, access to farm capital, landscape and distance to farms, accessibility and reliability of practices, accessibility and cost of inputs, land tenure, access to extension services, and socio-cultural beliefs. These variables were statistically significant at 5 %. The paper concludes that these factors will continue to limit farmers' ability to adopt climate-smart and other improved agricultural practices. This will aggravate smallholder households’ vulnerability to food insecurity and poverty. It is, therefore, recommended that climate-smart agriculture practices should be framed within the context of the aforementioned factors influencing farmers choice of indigenous farming practices in mainstreaming them into climate-smart agriculture.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023093702Climate-smart agricultureIndigenous knowledgeClimate changeSmallholder farmersGhana |
| spellingShingle | Dramani Juah M-Buu File Godwell Nhamo Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana Heliyon Climate-smart agriculture Indigenous knowledge Climate change Smallholder farmers Ghana |
| title | Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana |
| title_full | Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana |
| title_short | Farmers’ choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana |
| title_sort | farmers choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate smart agriculture in northern ghana |
| topic | Climate-smart agriculture Indigenous knowledge Climate change Smallholder farmers Ghana |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844023093702 |
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