Abstract
Farmers can play an important role in climate change mitigation through sustainable soil management practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the Atwima Nwabiagya municipality of Ashanti region, Ghana, to explore farmers' knowledge and perceptions of their soils, soil fertility, applied management practices, and climate change on soil organic carbon. The interviews included topics related to farmers’ access to training and its impact in adopting and changes in management strategies. Summary for interviews was prepared based on notes and recordings and analyzed with the Qualitative Content Analysis (QCAmap) software using emergent codes. Results show that farmers had a lot of knowledge on soil organic matter (SOM) and how it affects climate and the relationship between SOM and soil fertility. They also acknowledged that their management practices affect quantities of SOM in topsoil and subsoil and soil fertility. The adoption of current and new management practices including, the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, manure, mulching, and shade management, is a reflection of their newly acquired knowledge and understanding of fertility sustaining processes. The study highlights the relationship between farmers' training and changes in their adopted practices and how management practices affect SOC influencing climate change and soil fertility. Key words: soil organic carbon, cocoa farmers, perception, soil management, soil fertility and climate change.
Highlights
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is essential for its contributions to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change and soil fertility critical for food production (Lal, 2004)
Carbon fluxes in the soil are essential in determining whether the soil will act as a sink for or a source of Green House Gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere contributing to global warming and climate change in general (IPCC, 2013; Batjes, 2014)
Farmers’ knowledge and perceptions about modern farming systems regarding their soil management practices and their effect on soil fertility have developed over time
Summary
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is essential for its contributions to the mitigation and adaptation to climate change and soil fertility critical for food production (Lal, 2004). SOC is the main component of soil organic matter (SOM) and an indicator of soil health (FAO, 2017). Carbon fluxes in the soil are essential in determining whether the soil will act as a sink for or a source of Green House Gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere contributing to global warming and climate change in general (IPCC, 2013; Batjes, 2014). Atmospheric carbon is stored through plants or organic residues and transferred to the soil as soil organic carbon (SOC), known as the labile pool (Batjes, 2014; Chandler, 2016)
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