Climate variability and household food security in the guinea savannah agro-ecological zone of Ghana
Abstract
The Talensi district is highly exposed and sensitive to climate variability and extremes with limited capacity to adapt. The chapter, therefore, investigates climate variability and extremes and household food security among crop-livestock smallholder farmer households in the district. The study employed a mixed-method approach that spanned eight months of fieldwork. The findings revealed that the most impactful and prevalent manifestation of climate variability and extremes in the Talensi district is drought (32.5%), high temperatures (30.3%), rainfall variability (13.4%), floods (12.5%), and land degradation (11.3%). The study found that due to the highly exposed nature and sensitivity of the households' production systems, only 10.2% of the households are food secure, 32% mildly food insecure, and 67.4% food insecure (25.2% moderately food insecure and 42.2% severely food insecure). The chapter calls for investing and adopting modern agricultural production and productivity enhancing approaches and diversification of income sources to improve agriculture productivity and food security amidst the changing climate and extreme events.
Publication Title
Climate Change in Africa: Adaptation, Resilience, and Policy Innovations
Recommended Citation
Opoku Mensah, S., Akanpabadai, T., Addaney, M., Okyere, S., & Diko, S. (2023). Climate variability and household food security in the guinea savannah agro-ecological zone of Ghana. Climate Change in Africa: Adaptation, Resilience, and Policy Innovations, 211-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30050-9_10
