Abstract
Ghana’s economy heavily relies on agriculture, which is predominantly rainfed across its agro-ecological zones. As a result of this, it is vulnerable to rainfall variability, which tends to have a major impact on the industrial and agricultural production sectors of the country. This study investigates the variations occurring across two major farming areas (Wenchi and Saltpond) within the Transition and Coastal Savannah agro-ecological zones of Ghana respectively. Rainfall variations are studied with rainfall data from 1968-2011 from Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet). The rainfall analysis is done over two Climatological Periods (CP), 1968-1989 as CP1 and 1990-2011 as CP2. This study uses two climatic extreme indices as well as rainfall amounts and onset over these two agro-ecological zones to investigate the changes that have occurred in rainfall. The study found that in the Coastal agro-ecological zone, CP1 had a decreasing rainfall trend as compared to CP2 with higher variations in Saltpond. In the Transition agro-ecological zone, Wenchi, CP1 also exhibited a decreasing trend as compared to CP2. In addition, onset of rains in Saltpond mostly occurred in May for CP1 but for CP2, it oscillated between April and May. For Wenchi, onset of rains was in March for CP1 and predominantly April for CP2. In going forward, farmers in these agro-ecological zones should be supported to practice effective adaptation and mitigation measures so as to improve their yields in this challenging climate.
Highlights
This agrees as inversely proportional to the increasing trend of Consecutive Dry Days (CDDs) and depicts the possibility of increasing droughts, which will be detrimental to farming practices
The onset of rainfall and extreme daily characteristics were compared for the two periods
We report in this paper that the average rainfall amount has decreased over both agro-ecological zones but there was an increasing trend in rainfall pattern at present than in the past
Summary
Changes in the amount and pattern of rainfall over Ghana are a major concern These changes may affect the onset and length of rainfall, which has implication for Ghana’s rain-fed agriculture. The paper aims to study the changes in the mean rainfall, extremes and onset dates within the transition and coastal savannah zones of Ghana for two climatic periods, 1968-1989 and 1990-2011. This paper will inform farmers on the pattern and changes that are occurring in rainfall onset and amount in the Transition and Coastal Savannah agro-ecological zones of Ghana. It will inform appropriate interventions for farming in the two agro-ecological zones to reduce the impact of the changes in the climate
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