Assessing Indigenous and Modern Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change Among Legumes Producers in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, Ghana

Abstract

Globally, climate change adaptation initiatives have significantly improved recipient farmers’ livelihoods by increasing their resilience, production, and overall standard of living. Climate adaptation results in noticeably higher yields from food crops. Climate change events have had a detrimental impact on farmers in Ghana, especially in the Upper East region. This includes producers of legumes in the Bongo District, which is a part of the fragile savanna semi-arid zone. The growing food insecurity and failure of legume crops point to serious losses in climate change adaptation methods. Farmer’s adaptation strategies have fallen short over time, necessitating a revision of programs to assist growers of legumes in the Bongo District. The obstacles connected with indigenous and contemporary adaptation techniques to climate change are also examined in this study, along with local and contemporary stakeholders’ involvement in adaptation efforts. The primary data was gathered through the use of focus group discussions and interviews. In three communities, 70 farmers who grow legumes were sampled using a simple random sampling technique to select the respondents. The study concludes that farming and mixed cropping are important indigenous adaptation techniques, whereas forecasting and greater variety are important modern adaptation strategies. The MoFA and the Bongo District Assembly are the two important entities in executing adaptation plans, while local farmers were highlighted as key stakeholders. Additionally, it was determined that weak extension services and a lack of integration of indigenous adaptations into contemporary practices could pose serious obstacles to developing climate change adaptation strategies. The study recommends integrating local and contemporary adaptation strategies to combat climate change.