Understanding the Nexus between Climate Change, the Shift in Land Use toward Cashew Production and Rural Food Security in Ghana; the Experiences of Farmers in the Transition Zone of Ghana

Abstract

This study summarises the findings from a study investigating rural small-holding farmers’ experiences on the shift from food crop to cashew in the forest/savanna transitional agro-ecological zone of Ghana and its impact on rural food security. Using a mix method approach, the study sampled the views of 400 farmers from 9 farming communities in the Wenchi Municipality of Ghana via questionnaire and semi-structured interview and collated statistical data on crop production to trace the nexus between climate change, agrarian land-use decisions and food security. The study found evidence of increasing shift from food crop to cashew production. This was evidenced by increasing cashew cultivation and cashew output and decreasing total land acreage for food crops and increasing food insecurity of farmers. The findings revealed that about 71% of farmers had expanded their cashew farms and another 41.0% have turned their food crops’ lands to cashew production. Besides cashew production, (57.0%) has overtaken the traditional food crop -maize (25.5%) production in terms of output. Instructively, the study found that the main motivation for the shift from food crop to cashew production is not only to maximise income in bulk, but also climate change adaptability issues. The study found that the cashew crop is resilient in adapting to the changing climate and less prone to pests’ invasion compared to maize in the study District. The study found that food security among rural folks had been seriously compromised by the conversion of farmlands from food crop to cashew farming. Although, the study found that female farmers have higher consciousness to food security yet less motivated to shift from food crop to cashew crop production compared to men. Worryingly, females are the hardest hit group because of their low ownership of or access to farmlands and low voices of women in farmland use decision making in a men-dominant rural extended family setting of the study District. The study concludes that climate change adaptability concern has introduced a new set of risks including crop failure due to changing rainfall pattern and increasing incidence of pest invasions forcing the rural folks to compromise innovative indigenous farming focus and practices that have helped them to navigate extreme food poverty. This study, therefore, argues for improved food crop seeds tailored to the specific climatic context and innovative farming practices that beef-up small-holding farmers’ capacity to navigate climate change to continually produce food crop to ensure rural food security and sustainability.

Human Capital, Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction Nexus: Why Investment in Free Compulsory Universal Education Matters for Africa

“…Thus, implying that increases in human capital accumulation result in poverty reduction. The relationship observed between human capital and poverty is consistent with studies by Addison et al(2016) that investment in human capital is viewed as a panacea for poverty reduction.…”

“…There is an extensive research literature on the impact of human capital on economic growth and poverty). Studies by Abbas (2001), Mattalia (2012), Addison et al (2016), Adekoya (2018), Pavlova (2018), Picatoste et al, (2018), Ahmad and Khan, (2019), Olopade et al (2019) and Collin and Weil (2020), found that investment in human capital has a correlative effect on economic growth and poverty reduction. Adekoya's (2018) investigation on the impact of human capital development on poverty alleviation in Nigeria found that investment in education and health by the Nigerian federal government resulted in a reduction of poverty.…”

Low Adaptive Capacity in Africa and Climate Change Crises

“…However, Southern Africa, some regions of East and North Africa have witnessed a rise in precipitation. In the same vein, rise in air temperatures leading to higher rates of evapotranspiration, which result in drier soil conditions [14] have been reported. It is on record that between 2001 and 2017, Zambia has experienced constant rise in evaporative stress.…”

“…According to the study, even places witnessing a rise in rainfall regime, there is a probability that worsening water stress would impact crop system negatively neutralising the gains achieved [17] . The amount of the temperature increase, and the changes in cloud cover, depending on timing of rainfall, larger areas are likely to experience water availability both in streams and in the soil, but high air temperatures, however, would lead to water loss in the soil through vegetation in the process of evaporation [14] . Atmospheric temperatures and rainfall alteration have significant repercussion on food system and security on the African sub-region [26,27] .…”

Climate Change: Threat to Agricultural System and Food Security in Africa

“…22,23 This had made a lot of food crop producers to shift to the production of cash crop (cashew) which had been identified by the farmers to be somewhat resistant to the erratic rainfall. 24 Again, in Ghana, climate change is projected to affect crop production, food security, water security, energy supply especially in the northern part of the country. 25,26 From Figure 1…”