Agricultural Information's Impact on the Adaptive Capacity of Ghana's Smallholder Cocoa Farmers

Abstract

Ghanaian smallholders grow one quarter of the world's cocoa, but climate change, individual extreme weather events, such as droughts, as well as deforestation increasingly threaten cocoa production. Pertinent information could bolster adaptive capacity. However, in Ghana's cocoa sector, relevant agricultural information is not available to all farmers, which can exacerbate power asymmetries. This paper focuses on how (i) agricultural and drought-adaptive information and (ii) socioeconomic characteristics shape a cocoa farmer's adaptive capacity. We conducted our study in the aftermath of 2015-16's prolonged El Niño-induced drought that negatively impacted the livelihoods of cocoa smallholders across Ghana. In 48 semi-structured interviews and 12 focus groups, we asked smallholders how they responded to the drought to decipher how adaptive capacity compares between farmers receiving four different sources of agricultural information, and of diverse socioeconomic status. Overall, agricultural information improved cocoa farmers' adaptive capacity compared to those who received no formal agricultural information. Smallholders detailed adaptive techniques that would be accessible to, and thus replicable by, other poorly-resourced cocoa farmers. Shade tree management and income diversification were identified as pertinent adaptive actions. However, we identified a divergence between exposure to agricultural information and its transformation into substantive adaptive action. Additionally, informal information sharing between smallholders represents an underutilized resource by extension programmes. We found that adaptive capacity is also determined by socioeconomic characteristics: particularly gender, and to a lesser extent formal education level, proximity to asphalt roads, and land tenure. Finally, we present evidence that framing adaptive techniques in relatable terms that resonate with farmers' immediate livelihood concerns could narrow the adaptation deficit prevalent in Ghana's cocoa sector.

Constraints limiting the improvement of manure management as climate smart technology for smallholder dairy farmers

“…This study evaluation of the value of information and sources also agrees with such studies and also focuses on the smallholder farmers' perception of the sources of agricultural information and its value to them. The movement beyond just climate change as a key constraint is best demonstrated with knowledge of the value of farmers give to various sources of information (Maguire-Rajpaul et al, 2020). The findings from this present study disagree with other recent Table 4.…”

Climate-Smart Cocoa in Ghana: How Ecological Modernisation Discourse Risks Side-Lining Cocoa Smallholders

“…As other authors have highlighted, there are often contestations and trade-offs associated with the pursuit of multiple objectives by multiple stakeholders (Tallis et al, 2008;Carpenter et al, 2009;Redford and Adams, 2009;Vira et al, 2012;Nyborg et al, 2016;Galafassi et al, 2017). We advocate that by paying more attention to these local complexities and potential trade-offs between different social-ecological objectives, CSC interventions might be more likely to create the sustainable outcomes to which they aspire (Howe et al, 2014;Hirons et al, 2017;Maguire-Rajpaul et al, 2020).…”

“…Contextual equity is concerned with pre-existing social, political, and economic conditions. As per in other economicallydeveloping country communities, gendered disadvantage patterns are shaped by locally-embedded social norms (Barrientos, 2014), and with regard to the particular context of smallholder cocoa farming in Ghana: tree-tenure and gender recurred as significant contextual factors, which threaten to perpetuate inequality (Maguire-Rajpaul et al, 2020). According to the Constitution of Ghana, "naturally-occurring trees" on cocoa farms belong to the government, while planted trees belong to farmers.…”

“…However, farmers who successfully register the trees that they plant on their farms with the government, legally own those shade trees. Nevertheless, tree registration remains unattainable to most of Ghana's 800,000 cocoa smallholders (Maguire-Rajpaul et al, 2020). Simplifying administrative procedures and increasing access to both legal support and to up-to-date information for tree registration would be a crucial step toward meeting the triple wins expected of CSC.…”

From Agroforestry to Agroindustry: Smallholder Access to Benefits From Oil Palm in Ghana and the Implications for Sustainability Certification

“…research questions to be modified during the research process (Bhattacherjee, 2012). We used the following criteria to select our sites: (1) the 15 villages 4 were selected as these were already part of an on-going study (Maguire-Rajpaul et al, 2020) in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Research Centre (NCRC) examining the socio-ecological system of smallholder cocoa cultivation in Ghana: ECOLIMITS 5 , (2) these villages are also located within what Rhebergen et al (2016) and van der Vossen (1969) classify as either "favorable" or "optimal" oil palm growing conditions; Ghana's oil palm belt, (3) cultivation of oil palm significantly contributes to local livelihoods and (4) the presence of the Assin Juaso Oil Palm Farmers Association, which meets the above three criteria but was also in the preparatory stage for certification. These farmers were participating in the "readiness for RSPO certification" programme (see https:// www.rspo.org/members/4720/Assin-Juaso-Oil-Palm-Growers-4 Carrying out research in sites of previous research meant that 'trust building' was already established.…”