Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana
The impacts of climate change are already pushing beyond the threshold for sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods. In Sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable due to limited resources and adaptive capacity. Early warnings are critical in mitigating and reducing clim...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Land |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/10/1944 |
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| author | Cornelius K. A. Pienaah Evans Batung Suleman Ansumah Saaka Kamaldeen Mohammed Isaac Luginaah |
| author_facet | Cornelius K. A. Pienaah Evans Batung Suleman Ansumah Saaka Kamaldeen Mohammed Isaac Luginaah |
| author_sort | Cornelius K. A. Pienaah |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The impacts of climate change are already pushing beyond the threshold for sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods. In Sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable due to limited resources and adaptive capacity. Early warnings are critical in mitigating and reducing climate-related dangers and building resiliency. That notwithstanding, there needs to be higher coverage of early warnings in developing countries, and there is even less knowledge of their contribution to rural development. Using a cross-sectional survey involving smallholder farmer households (<i>n</i> = 517), this study investigates the relationship between early warnings and perceived climate preparedness in Ghana’s semi-arid Upper West Region. From ordered logistic regression presented as an odds ratio (OR), factors that influenced climate preparedness in the past 12 months before the study include exposure to early warnings (OR = 2.238; <i>p</i> < 0.001) and experiences of prior climate events such as drought (OR = 9.252; <i>p</i> < 0.001), floods (OR = 6.608; <i>p</i> < 0.001), and erratic rain (OR = 4.411; <i>p</i> < 0.001). The results emphasize the importance of early warning systems and various socioeconomic factors in improving the climate resilience of smallholder farmers in Ghana. In conclusion, the study puts forth policy suggestions worth considering. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:06:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-74e42f1b819c407ab21ff71ed04f9b09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-445X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:06:56Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Land |
| spelling | doaj.art-74e42f1b819c407ab21ff71ed04f9b092023-11-19T17:04:49ZengMDPI AGLand2073-445X2023-10-011210194410.3390/land12101944Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of GhanaCornelius K. A. Pienaah0Evans Batung1Suleman Ansumah Saaka2Kamaldeen Mohammed3Isaac Luginaah4Department of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 5C2, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 5C2, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 5C2, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 5C2, CanadaDepartment of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St., London, ON N6A 5C2, CanadaThe impacts of climate change are already pushing beyond the threshold for sustainable agriculture and rural livelihoods. In Sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable due to limited resources and adaptive capacity. Early warnings are critical in mitigating and reducing climate-related dangers and building resiliency. That notwithstanding, there needs to be higher coverage of early warnings in developing countries, and there is even less knowledge of their contribution to rural development. Using a cross-sectional survey involving smallholder farmer households (<i>n</i> = 517), this study investigates the relationship between early warnings and perceived climate preparedness in Ghana’s semi-arid Upper West Region. From ordered logistic regression presented as an odds ratio (OR), factors that influenced climate preparedness in the past 12 months before the study include exposure to early warnings (OR = 2.238; <i>p</i> < 0.001) and experiences of prior climate events such as drought (OR = 9.252; <i>p</i> < 0.001), floods (OR = 6.608; <i>p</i> < 0.001), and erratic rain (OR = 4.411; <i>p</i> < 0.001). The results emphasize the importance of early warning systems and various socioeconomic factors in improving the climate resilience of smallholder farmers in Ghana. In conclusion, the study puts forth policy suggestions worth considering.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/10/1944early warning systemsclimate risksperceived climate preparednesssmallholder farmerssocio-ecological resilienceGhana |
| spellingShingle | Cornelius K. A. Pienaah Evans Batung Suleman Ansumah Saaka Kamaldeen Mohammed Isaac Luginaah Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana Land early warning systems climate risks perceived climate preparedness smallholder farmers socio-ecological resilience Ghana |
| title | Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana |
| title_full | Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana |
| title_short | Early Warnings and Perceived Climate Change Preparedness among Smallholder Farmers in the Upper West Region of Ghana |
| title_sort | early warnings and perceived climate change preparedness among smallholder farmers in the upper west region of ghana |
| topic | early warning systems climate risks perceived climate preparedness smallholder farmers socio-ecological resilience Ghana |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/12/10/1944 |
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