Abstract
Water resources are increasingly under pressure from population growth, economic activity, and climate change/variability. Using survey and community meetings, the paper analyzed water resources accessible to three farming communities in the Offinso North District and the effects of rainfall changes on their farming livelihood. The study revealed that the households depended on water from three sources, namely: groundwater through boreholes for drinking and domestic use; surface water through streams for drinking, domestic use and irrigating vegetable farms and atmospheric water (i.e. rainfall) for farming. For about 80% of the respondents, changes in rainfall pattern adversely affected their crops yield which has implication on their livelihoods. Access to irrigation facilities was virtually absent. Also, the non-application of water harvesting techniques for farming thus left these smallholder farmers to the ‘mercies of the weather’. Education on climate change and adaptation strategies coupled with technological know-how on water management is recommended for the communities in this forest-savanna transition zone where abrupt changes in rainfall pattern are new to their livelihoods. Keywords: Water Resources, Rainfall, Climate Change, Farming Households, Farm Productivity
Highlights
Man’s survival on earth is dependent on water resources and that makes water indispensable and essential for community development
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes that climate change has already contributed to increasing in annual precipitation, cloud cover and extreme temperatures over the last 50 years (IPCC, 2007)
From our study and earlier findings, it is undoubtedly clear that there is a need for an all-inclusive water management strategy to ensure that there is an all-year-round water supply for both agriculture and domestic purposes
Summary
Man’s survival on earth is dependent on water resources and that makes water indispensable and essential for community development. Water resources are increasingly under pressure from population growth, economic activity, climate change/variability and competition among users (GreenFact, 2006). It is noted that higher temperatures and changes in extreme weather conditions have effects on the availability and distribution of rainfall, snowmelt, river flows and groundwater which further worsen water quality (UN-Water, 2010). Projections indicate that climate change will result in a large increase in climate shocks, such as floods and drought, and lead to a decline in overall rainfall especially in the already drought-prone environment (Rockström, 2003). Climate change is said to have an impact on the global hydrological cycle which brings variation in the patterns of demand and supply of fresh water –a dominant sustainer of agriculture (Turral et al, 2011). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes that climate change has already contributed to increasing in annual precipitation, cloud cover and extreme temperatures over the last 50 years (IPCC, 2007)
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