Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana

AbstractMaize is a major staple produced by most peasant farmers in Ghana, amidst climate variabilities that potentially thwart the attainment of global sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically SDG −2 of zero hunger. Ordinarily, one expects the extant literature to be replete on a nexus be...

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Main Authors: Daniel Ankrah, Charles Okyere, Jojo Mensah, Emmanuel Okata
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2023-12-01
Series:Cogent Food & Agriculture
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311932.2023.2247166
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author Daniel Ankrah
Charles Okyere
Jojo Mensah
Emmanuel Okata
author_facet Daniel Ankrah
Charles Okyere
Jojo Mensah
Emmanuel Okata
author_sort Daniel Ankrah
collection DOAJ
description AbstractMaize is a major staple produced by most peasant farmers in Ghana, amidst climate variabilities that potentially thwart the attainment of global sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically SDG −2 of zero hunger. Ordinarily, one expects the extant literature to be replete on a nexus between climate variability adaptation strategies and maize yields. Ironically, there appears to be scant information on the expected nexus in Ghana’s coastal areas. The dual questions about what adaptation strategies significantly affect maize yield, and the extent (magnitude) to which climate variability strategies affect maize yield beg answering. Inspired by these research questions, the objective of this article is to examine the effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield. This study relies on a cross-sectional data covering 197 smallholder maize farmers in the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly of Ghana’s Central Region. The study is deeply rooted in a quantitative approach employing multiple linear regression and a treatment effect model (inverse probability weighted regression adjustment—IPWRA). Our findings reveal that adaptation strategies correlate with maize yields. Specifically, estimates from the IPWRA show that irrigation and changes in planting dates positively correlate with maize yields. The implication is that these adaptation strategies improve maize yields. Smallholder farmers are encouraged to adopt effective climate variability adaptation strategies to minimize the adverse risks associated with climate variability. The government of Ghana’s initiative for arid regions, dubbed as the “one village one dam” initiative can be upscaled to southern Ghana to ensure sustainable agricultural development.
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spelling doaj.art-1f713ccc5628441ab8bd9f032d5d93152023-12-01T08:31:55ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Food & Agriculture2331-19322023-12-019110.1080/23311932.2023.2247166Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, GhanaDaniel Ankrah0Charles Okyere1Jojo Mensah2Emmanuel Okata3Department of Agricultural Extension, School of Agriculture, College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, GhanaDepartment of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, School of Agriculture, College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, GhanaDepartment of Agricultural Extension, School of Agriculture, College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS), University of Ghana, Legon-Accra, GhanaDepartment of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, CanadaAbstractMaize is a major staple produced by most peasant farmers in Ghana, amidst climate variabilities that potentially thwart the attainment of global sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically SDG −2 of zero hunger. Ordinarily, one expects the extant literature to be replete on a nexus between climate variability adaptation strategies and maize yields. Ironically, there appears to be scant information on the expected nexus in Ghana’s coastal areas. The dual questions about what adaptation strategies significantly affect maize yield, and the extent (magnitude) to which climate variability strategies affect maize yield beg answering. Inspired by these research questions, the objective of this article is to examine the effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield. This study relies on a cross-sectional data covering 197 smallholder maize farmers in the Cape Coast Metropolitan Assembly of Ghana’s Central Region. The study is deeply rooted in a quantitative approach employing multiple linear regression and a treatment effect model (inverse probability weighted regression adjustment—IPWRA). Our findings reveal that adaptation strategies correlate with maize yields. Specifically, estimates from the IPWRA show that irrigation and changes in planting dates positively correlate with maize yields. The implication is that these adaptation strategies improve maize yields. Smallholder farmers are encouraged to adopt effective climate variability adaptation strategies to minimize the adverse risks associated with climate variability. The government of Ghana’s initiative for arid regions, dubbed as the “one village one dam” initiative can be upscaled to southern Ghana to ensure sustainable agricultural development.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311932.2023.2247166smallholder farmersnon-arid spaceclimate crisiscrop yield
spellingShingle Daniel Ankrah
Charles Okyere
Jojo Mensah
Emmanuel Okata
Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
Cogent Food & Agriculture
smallholder farmers
non-arid space
climate crisis
crop yield
title Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
title_full Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
title_fullStr Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
title_short Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
title_sort effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the cape coast municipality ghana
topic smallholder farmers
non-arid space
climate crisis
crop yield
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311932.2023.2247166
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