Smallholder adaptation to climate change: dynamics and limits in Northern Ghana

Laube, Wolfram; Schraven, Benjamin; Awo, Martha Adimabuno

doi:10.1007/s10584-011-0199-1

Cited by 180 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…African smallholders have always had to deal with climate variability (Cooper et al 2008;Laube et al 2012). However, the lack of access to insurance and credit makes the majority of smallholders vulnerable to the projected increase in risk with climate change.…”

Section: Vulnerability Of Smallholder Crop-livestock Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We thereby recognize that climate change will alter the functioning of entire food and livelihood systems, of which farms are but one component, and that climate change is only one of several drivers of change. Indeed, the direction and magnitude of the effects on agriculture will depend on the socio-economic, policy and biophysical context (Laube et al 2012;Müller 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

et al. 2016

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African mixed crop-livestock systems are vulnerable to climate change and need to adapt in order to improve productivity and sustain people's livelihoods. These smallholder systems are characterized by high greenhouse gas emission rates, but could play a role in their mitigation. Although the impact of climate change is projected to be large, many uncertainties persist, in particular with respect to impacts on livestock and grazing components, whole-farm dynamics and heterogeneous farm populations. We summarize the current understanding on impacts and vulnerability and highlight key knowledge gaps for the separate system components and the mixed farming systems as a whole. Numerous adaptation and mitigation options exist for crop-livestock systems. We provide an overview by distinguishing risk management, diversification and sustainable intensification strategies, and by focusing on the contribution to the three pillars of climate-smart agriculture. Despite the potential solutions, smallholders face major constraints at various scales, including small farm sizes, the lack of response to the proposed measures and the multi-functionality of the livestock herd. Major institutional barriers include poor access to markets and relevant knowledge, land tenure insecurity and the common property status of most grazing resources. These limit the adoption potential and hence the potential impact on resilience and mitigation. In order to effectively inform decision-making, we therefore call for integrated, system-oriented impact assessments and a realistic consideration of the adoption constraints in smallholder systems. Building on agricultural system model development, integrated impact assessments and scenario analyses can inform the co-design and implementation of adaptation and mitigation strategies.F

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Section: Vulnerability Of Smallholder Crop-livestock Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

et al. 2016

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“…In many regions, erratic, unpredictable rainfall is an existing major stressor that is expected to worsen under climate change (Adjei-Nsiah et al 2010;Codjoe and Owusu 2011;Tambo and Abdoulaye 2013). Farmers are already noticing changes in rainfall and in seasonality (Casale et al 2010;Laube et al 2012;Tambo and Abdoulaye 2013). They are experiencing unpredictability in the onset of the rainy season (Assan and Kumar 2009;Laube et al 2012), increased incidences of drought (Hesselberg and Yaro 2006;Westerhoff and Smit 2009), and more intense rainfall, sometimes leading to increased flooding (Westerhoff and Smit 2009;Casale et al 2010;Tschakert et al 2010).…”

Section: Vulnerabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Farmers are already noticing changes in rainfall and in seasonality (Casale et al 2010;Laube et al 2012;Tambo and Abdoulaye 2013). They are experiencing unpredictability in the onset of the rainy season (Assan and Kumar 2009;Laube et al 2012), increased incidences of drought (Hesselberg and Yaro 2006;Westerhoff and Smit 2009), and more intense rainfall, sometimes leading to increased flooding (Westerhoff and Smit 2009;Casale et al 2010;Tschakert et al 2010). These biophysical drivers act to deplete people's natural capital by shortening the growing season and decreasing soil moisture and soil fertility (Quaye 2008;Batisani 2012;Milgroom and Giller 2013).…”

Section: Vulnerabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change, food security, and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

2015

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Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Multiple biophysical, political, and socioeconomic stresses interact to increase the region's susceptibility and constrain its adaptive capacity. Climate change is commonly recognized as a major issue likely to have negative consequences on food security and livelihoods in the region. This paper reviews three bodies of scholarship that have evolved somewhat separately, yet are inherently interconnected: climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation, food security, and sustainable livelihoods. The paper develops a conceptualization of the relationships among the three themes and shows how food security's vulnerabilities are related to multiple stresses and adaptive capacities, reflecting access to assets. Food security represents one of several livelihood outcomes. The framework shows how several research paradigms relate to the issue of food security and climate change and provides a guide for empirical investigations. Recognizing these interconnections can help in the development of more effective policies and programs. The framework is applied here to synthesize findings from an array of studies in subSaharan Africa dealing with vulnerability to climate change, food security, and livelihoods.

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“…Even many of the recent livelihood studies carried out in locations not too far from Kui itself (see e.g. Yaro 2006;Laube et al 2012) fall short of providing a representative picture of local livelihood dynamics. These studies, though important, also present outdated information which, if used by policymakers, could yield inappropriate poverty alleviation strategies.…”

Section: Livelihood Diversification In Arid African Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going for gold: transitional livelihoods in Northern Ghana

2013

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This article critically reflects on what impact a supported and formalized artisanal and smallscale mining (ASM) sector could have in Northern Ghana, where poverty is deeply-rooted, the outcome of decades of government neglect. Since country independence in 1957, numerous attempts have been made to improve the living standards of the populations in the country's North but deteriorated human resource bases and shortages of infrastructure have limited their effectiveness. A recent upsurge in ASM activity, however, has catapulted the region on to another -previously unimaginable -growth trajectory entirely. As findings from research carried out in the township of Kui in Bole District of the country's Northern Region illustrate, ASM has injected considerable wealth into many of Ghana's Northern localities, in the process, helping to stabilize their economies and in the process, alleviating the hardships of tens of thousands of farm-dependent families. The intensification of support to, and the formalization of, ASM, could prove to be an important step toward eradicating a poverty problem that has plagued this region of sub-Saharan Africa for more than a century.

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Smallholder adaptation to climate change: dynamics and limits in Northern Ghana

Cited by 180 publications

References 35 publications

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

Climate change adaptation and mitigation in smallholder crop–livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa: a call for integrated impact assessments

Climate change, food security, and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

Going for gold: transitional livelihoods in Northern Ghana

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