Motivations, enablers and barriers to the adoption of climate- smart agricultural practices by smallholder farmers: Evidence from the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana
Received date: 2021-08-09
Revised date: 2021-12-23
Accepted date: 2022-01-27
Online published: 2022-03-18
This paper examined the prioritized climate-smart agricultural practices by smallholder farmers, the motivations of adopting climate-smart agricultural practices, the enablers to the successful adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, and the barriers to the successful adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana. Specifically, we employed ethnographic research using participatory approaches, including two stakeholder workshops and household surveys with 1061 households in the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana. The weighted average index (WAI) and problem confrontation index (PCI) were used to rank smallholder farmers’ perceived enablers to the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices and the barriers affecting climate-smart agricultural practices, respectively. Results suggest that the majority of the respondents used a suite of climate-smart agricultural practices, including the timely harvesting of produce and storage, emergency seed banking, appropriate and timely weed and pest control, and early planting as practices to build climate resilience. The majority of smallholder farmers primarily employed climate-smart agricultural practices to improve household food security (96.2%), reduce pests and diseases (95.6%), and obtain higher yields and greater farm income (93.2%). Findings also show that secured land tenure system arrangement, understanding the effects of climate change, and access to sustainable agricultural technologies were ranked the first, second, and third most important enablers to the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices with the WAI values of 2.86, 2.75, and 2.70, respectively. Key barriers to the successful adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices included incidences of pests and diseases (PCI=2530), inadequate access to agricultural credit (PCI=2502), high cost of improved crop varieties (PCI=2334), and limited government support with farm inputs (PCI=2296). Smallholder farmers need to be better supported through the provision of appropriate institutional and policy arrangements together with improved land management extension advice to overcome these barriers and facilitate the more effective implementation of climate-smart agricultural practices in Ghana.
Philip ANTWI-AGYEI , Emmanuel Mawuli ABALO , Andrew John DOUGILL , Frank BAFFOUR-ATA . Motivations, enablers and barriers to the adoption of climate- smart agricultural practices by smallholder farmers: Evidence from the transitional and savannah agroecological zones of Ghana[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2021 , 2(4) : 375 -386 . DOI: 10.1016/j.regsus.2022.01.005
| [1] | Abass, A.B., Ndunguru, G., Mamiro, P., et al., 2014. Pos-tharvest food losses in a maize-based farming system of semi-arid savannah area of Tanzania. J.Stored Prod. Res. 57, 49-57. |
| [2] | Abegunde, V.O., Sibanda, M., Obi, A., 2020. Determinants of the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices by small-scale farming households in King Cetshwayo District Municipality, South Africa. Sustainability. 12(1), 195, doi: 10.3390/su12010195. |
| [3] | Adzawla, W., Alhassan, H., 2021. Effects of climate adaptation on technical efficiency of maize production in northern Ghana. Agric. Econ. 9(1), 1-18. |
| [4] | Affognon, H., Mutungi, C., Sanginga, P., et al., 2015. Unpacking postharvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa: a meta-analysis. World Dev. 66, 49-68. |
| [5] | Antwi-Agyei, P., Dougill, A.J., Stringer, L.C., 2015. Barriers to climate change adaptation: evidence from northeast Ghana in the context of a systematic literature review. Clim. Dev. 7(4), 297-309. |
| [6] | Antwi-Agyei, P., Amanor, K., Hogarh, J.N., et al., 2021. Predictors of access to and willingness to pay for climate information services in north-eastern Ghana: A gendered perspective. Environ. Dev. 37, 100580, doi: 10.1016/j.envdev.2020.100580. |
| [7] | Antwi-Agyei, P., Nyantakyi-Frimpong, H., 2021. Evidence of climate change coping and adaptation practices by smallholder farmers in northern Ghana. Sustainability. 13, 1308, doi: 10.3390/su13031308. |
| [8] | Anuga, S.W., Gordon, C., Boon, E., et al., 2019. Determinants of climate smart agriculture (CSA) adoption among smallholder food crop farmers in the Techiman Municipality, Ghana. Ghana J. Geog. 11(1), 124-139. |
| [9] | Arslan, A., McCarthy, N., Lipper, L., et al., 2015. Climate smart agriculture? Assessing the adaptation implications in Zambia. J.Agric. Econ. 66(3), 753-780. |
| [10] | Aryal, J.P., Rahut, D.B., Maharjan, S., et al., 2018. Factors affecting the adoption of multiple climate smart agricultural practices in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. Nat. Resour. Forum. 42(3), 141-158. |
| [11] | Asaaga, F.A., Hirons, M.A., Malhi, Y., 2020. Questioning the link between tenure security and sustainable land management in cocoa landscapes in Ghana. World Dev. 130, 104913, doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.104913. |
| [12] | Asante, F.A., Amuakwa-Mensah, F., 2015. Climate change and variability in Ghana: Stocktaking. Climate. 3(1), 78-99. |
| [13] | Baffour-Ata, F., Antwi-Agyei, P., Apawu, G.O., et al., 2021. Using traditional agroecological knowledge to adapt to climate change and variability in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Environ. Chall. 4, 100205, doi: 10.1016/j.envc.2021.100205. |
| [14] | Bhan, S., Behera, U.K., 2014. Conservation agriculture in India-Problems, prospects and policy issues. Int. Soil Water Conserv. 2(4), 1-12. |
| [15] | Braimoh, A.K., Vlek, P.L.G., 2004. The impact of land-cover change on soil properties in northern Ghana. Land Degrad. Dev. 15(1), 65-74. |
| [16] | Branca, G., Perelli, C., 2020. ‘Clearing the air’: common drivers of climate-smart smallholder food production in Eastern and Southern Africa. J.Clean. Prod. 270, 121900, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121900. |
| [17] | Breman, H., Groot, J.J.R., van Keulen, H., 2001. Resource limitations in Sahelian agriculture. Glob. Environ. Change. 11(1), 59-68. |
| [18] | Deguine, J.P., Aubertot, J.N., Flor, R.J., et al., 2021. Integrated pest management: good intentions, hard realities. A review. Agron. Sustain. Dev. 41, 38, doi: 10.1007/s13593-021-00689-w. |
| [19] | Devkota, R.P., Cockfield, G., Maraseni, T.N., 2014. Perceived community-based flood adaptation strategies under climate change in Nepal. Inter. J.Glob. Warm. 6, 113-124. |
| [20] | Erenstein, O., 2002. Crop residue mulching in tropical and semi-tropical countries: An evaluation of residue availability and other technological implications. Soil Tillage Res. 67(2), 115-133. |
| [21] | Essegbey, G.O., Nutsukpo, D., Karbo, N., et al., 2015. National Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Security Action Plan of Ghana (2016-2020). [2021-11-2]. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/69000. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/handle/10568/69000 |
| [22] | Fagariba, C.J., Song, S.X., Soule Baoro, S.K.G., 2018. Climate change adaptation strategies and constraints in northern Ghana: Evidence of farmers in Sissala West District. Sustainability. 10(5), 1484, doi: 10.3390/su10051484. |
| [23] | Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2013. Sourcebook on Climate Smart Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. |
| [24] | Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2021. Conservation agriculture-three principles of conservation agriculture. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. |
| [25] | Ford, J.D., Berrang-Ford, L., Bunce, A., et al., 2015. The status of climate change adaptation in Africa and Asia. Reg. Environ. Change. 15(5), 801-814. |
| [26] | Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2014a. 2010 Population and Housing Census: Kintampo South District. Accra: District Analytical Report. |
| [27] | Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2014b. 2010 Population and Housing Census: Savelugu-Nanton. Accra: District Analytical Report. |
| [28] | Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2014c. 2010 Population and Housing Census: Lambussie-Karni District. Accra: District Analytical Report. |
| [29] | Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), 2015. Ghana Poverty Mapping Report. Accra: Ghana Statistical Service. |
| [30] | Giller, K.E., Witter, E., Corbeels, M., et al., 2009. Conservation agriculture and smallholder farming in Africa: the heretics’ view. Field Crops Res. 114(1), 23-24. |
| [31] | Government of Ghana (GoG), 2013. Ghana National Climate Change Policy. Accra: Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. |
| [32] | Government of Ghana (GoG), 2015. Ghana’s Third National Communication Report to the UNFCCC. 2015 Climate Change Report. Ministry of Environment Science, Technology, and Innovation. [2021-11-2]. https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/natc/ghanc3.pdf. |
| [33] | Havemann, T., Negra, C., Werneck, F., 2020. Blended finance for agriculture: exploring the constraints and possibilities of combining financial instruments for sustainable transitions. Agric. Hum. Values. 37(4), 1281-1292. |
| [34] | Hossain, M.S., Miah, M.A.M., 2011. Poor farmers’ problem confrontation in using manure towards integrated plant nutrition system. Bangladesh J. Ext. Educ. 23, 139-147. |
| [35] | Issahaku, G., Abdulai, A., 2020. Adoption of climate-smart practices and its impact on farm performance and risk exposure among smallholder farmers in Ghana. Aust. J.Agric. Resour. Econ. 64(2), 396-420. |
| [36] | Jew, E.K.K., Whitfield, S., Dougill, A.J., et al., 2020. Farming systems and Conservation Agriculture: Technology, structures and agency in Malawi. Land Use Policy. 95, 104612, doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104612. |
| [37] | Justin, C.O., Williams, C.E., Vera, T.S., 2017. Understanding the factors affecting adoption of subpackages of CSA in Southern Malawi. Int. J.Agric. Econ. Ext. 5(2), 259-265. |
| [38] | Kabir, M., Marković, M.R., Radulović, D., 2019. The determinants of income of rural women in Bangladesh. Sustainability. 11(20), 5842, doi: 10.3390/su11205842. |
| [39] | Kassem, M.A., Khoiry, M.A., Hamzah, N., 2020. Using relative importance index method for developing risk map in oil and gas construction projects. J.Kejuruteraan. 32(3), 441-453. |
| [40] | Katengeza, S.P., Mangisoni, J.H., Kassie, G.T., et al., 2012. Drivers of improved maize variety adoption in drought prone areas of Malawi. J.Dev. Agric. Econ. 4(14), 393-403. |
| [41] | Keshavarz, M., Karami, E., 2014. Farmers’ decision-making process under drought. J.Arid Environ. 108, 43-56. |
| [42] | Khatri-Chhetri, A., Aggarwal, P.K., Joshi, P.K., et al., 2017. Farmers’ prioritization of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies. Agric. Syst. 151, 184-191. |
| [43] | Klutse, N.A.B., Owusu, K., Boafo, Y.A., 2020. Projected temperature increases over northern Ghana. SN Appl. Sci. 2(8), 1-14. |
| [44] | Lipper, L., Thornton, P., Campbell, B.M., et al., 2014. Climate-smart agriculture for food security. Nat. Clim. Change. 4(12), 1068-1072. |
| [45] | Luu, T.D., 2020. Factors influencing farmers’ adoption of climate-smart agriculture in rice production in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Asian J. Agric. Dev. 17(1), 109-124. |
| [46] | Minia, Z., Agyemang-Bonsu, W.K., 2008. Climate change scenario development. Ghana Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessments. Accra: Environmental Protection Agency, 2-13. |
| [47] | Myeni, L., Moeletsi, M., Thavhana, M., et al., 2019. Barriers affecting sustainable agricultural productivity of smallholder farmers in the Eastern Free State of South Africa. Sustainability. 11(11), 3003, doi: 10.3390/su11113003. |
| [48] | Ndamani, F., Watanabe, T., 2015. Farmers’ perceptions about adaptation practices to climate change and barriers to adaptation: A micro-level study in Ghana. Water, 7(9), 4593-4604. |
| [49] | Nelson, S., Huyer, S., 2016. A Gender-responsive Approach to Climate-Smart Agriculture: Evidence and guidance for practitioners. Climate-Smart Agriculture Practice Brief. Copenhagen, Denmark: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). |
| [50] | Niang, I., Ruppel, O.C., Abdrabo, M.A., et al., 2014. IPCC WGII AR5 Chapter 22. Africa.[2021-11-4]. http://papadembafall.com/publications/IPCC%20WGIIAR5-Chap22_Africa.pdf |
| [51] | Nyantakyi-Frimpong, H., 2020. What lies beneath: climate change, land expropriation, and zaï agroecological innovations by smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana. Land Use Policy. 92, 104469, doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104469. |
| [52] | Ogada, M.J., Rao, E.J.O., Radeny, M., et al., 2020. Climate-smart agriculture, household income and asset accumulation among smallholder farmers in the Nyando Basin of Kenya. World Dev. Perspect. 18, 100203, doi: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104469. |
| [53] | Ojoko, E.A., Akinwunmi, J.A., Yusuf, S.A., et al., 2017. Factors influencing the level of use of climate-smart Agricultural practices (CSAPs) in Sokoto State, Nigeria. J.Agric. Sci. Belgrade. 62(3), 315-327. |
| [54] | Onyeneke, R.U., Igberi, C.O., Uwadoka, C.O., et al., 2018. Status of climate-smart agriculture in southeast Nigeria. Geo. Journal. 83(2), 333-346. |
| [55] | Parfitt, J., Barthel, M., Macnaughton, S., 2010. Food waste within food supply chains: quantification and potential for change to 2050. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. 365(1554), 3065-3081. |
| [56] | Partey, S.T., Zougmoré, R.B., Ouédraogo, M., et al., 2018. Developing climate-smart agriculture to face climate variability in West Africa: Challenges and lessons learnt. J.Clean. Prod. 187, 285-295. |
| [57] | Ponnusamy, P., 2012. Using CSPro (census and survey processing system) experience from large scale surveys in India. Int. J. Sci. 2(7), 1-3. |
| [58] | Rahut, D.B., Aryal, J.P., Marenya, P., 2021. Ex-ante adaptation strategies for climate challenges in sub-Saharan Africa: macro and micro perspectives. Environ. Chall. 3, 100035, doi: 10.1016/j.envc.2021.100035. |
| [59] | Rochecouste, J.F., Dargusch, P., Cameron, D., et al., 2015. An analysis of the socio-economic factors influencing the adoption of conservation agriculture as a climate change mitigation activity in Australian dryland grain production. Agric. Syst. 135, 20-30. |
| [60] | Sain, G., Loboguerrero, A.M., Corner-Dolloff, C., et al., 2017. Costs and benefits of climate-smart agriculture: The case of the Dry Corridor in Guatemala. Agric. Syst. 151, 163-173. |
| [61] | Shikuku, K.M., Mwongera, C., Winowiecki, L.A., et al., 2015. Understanding Farmers’ Indicators in Climate-Smart Agriculture Prioritization in Nwoya District, Northern Uganda. Nwoya District: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). |
| [62] | Sterne, J.A., 2009. Meta-Analysis in Stata: An Updated Collection from the Stata Journal. Texas: StataCorp LP. |
| [63] | Sullivan, G.M., Artino-Jr, A.R., 2013. Analyzing and interpreting data from likert-type scales. J. Graduate Med. Educ. 5(4), 541-542. |
| [64] | Thierfelder, C., Matemba-Mutasa, R., Rusinamhodzi, L., 2015 Yield response of maize (Zea maysL.) to conservation agriculture cropping system in southern Africa. Soil Tillage Res. 146, 230-242. |
| [65] | Tsige, M., Synnevåg, G., Aune, J.B., 2020. Gendered constraints for adopting climate-smart agriculture amongst smallholder Ethiopian women farmers. Sci. Afr. 7, 1-12. |
| [66] | Uddin, M.N., Bokelmann, W., Entsminger, J.S., 2014. Factors affecting farmers’ adaptation strategies to environmental degradation and climate change effects: A farm level study in Bangladesh. Climate. 2(4), 223-241. |
| [67] | Williams, P.A., Larbi, R.T., Yeboah, I., et al., 2018. Smallholder farmers experiences of climate variability and change on pineapple production in Ghana: examining adaptation strategies for improved production. J. Agric. Ext. Rural Dev. 10(2), 35-43. |
| [68] | Zougmoré, R.B., 2003. Integrated Water and Nutrient Management for Sorghum Production in Semi-Arid Burkina Faso. Wageningen: Wageningen University and Research. |
| [69] | Zougmoré, R., Ouattara, K., Mando, A., et al., 2004. Role of nutrients in the success of water and soil conservation techniques (stony cords, grass strips, zai and half-moons) in Burkina Faso. Science and Global Change/Drought. 15(1), 41-48. |
| [70] | Zougmoré, R., Jalloh, A., Tioro, A., 2014. Climate-smart soil water and nutrient management options in semiarid West Africa: a review of evidence and analysis of stone bunds and zaï techniques. Agric. Food Secur. 3(1), 1-8. |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |
REGSUS Wechat
新公网安备 65010402001202号