Abstract
Crop production in the Fanteakwa District is predominantly rainfed, exposing this major livelihood activity to the variability or change in rainfall pattern. The net potential effect of severe changes in rainfall pattern is the disruption in crop production leading to food insecurity, joblessness, and poverty. As a major concern to food production in Ghana, this study seeks to show the relationship between the production of major crops and rainfall distribution pattern in the Worobong Agroecological Area (WAA) relative to food security in the face of climate change. The study analysed the variability in local rainfall data, examining the interseasonal (main and minor) rainfall distribution using the precipitation concentration index (PCI), and determined the pattern, availability of water, and the strength of correlation with crop production in the WAA. Data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) spanning a 30-year period and grouped into 3 decades of 10 years each was used. Selected crop data for 1993-2014 was also obtained from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture’s District office and analyzed for trends in crop yield over the period and established relationship between the crop data and the rainfall data. Part of the result revealed that rainfall variability within the major seasons in the 3 groups was lower than the minor seasons. It further showed that yields of three crops have declined over the period. Among the strategies to sustain crop production is to make the findings serve as useful reference to inform discussions and policy on adaptive agricultural production methodologies for the area in the face of changing climate.
Highlights
Poor communities in developing economies mainly depend on climate-sensitive activities such as agriculture for their livelihood and are vulnerable to climate change [1,2,3,4,5]
We studied rainfall records from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), spanning a thirty-year period, from 1985 to 2014
As the area experiences a bimodal rainfall regime, the Climate Assessment Decade (CAD) for each data set is further grouped into the major season, between March and July, and minor season, between September and November
Summary
Poor communities in developing economies mainly depend on climate-sensitive activities such as agriculture for their livelihood and are vulnerable to climate change [1,2,3,4,5]. It has been reported that nearly three in four people living in rural Africa and other developing countries are dependent on agriculture in one way or another [6]. It has been reported that rainfall variability affects the production of traditional crops, increases crop diseases incidents, and causes drastic reductions in soil fertility [9,10,11,12]. Analysis of recent rainfall conditions in West Africa suggests long-term change in rainfall pattern within the semiarid and subhumid zones [13, 14]. The mean number of rainy days has significantly reduced throughout the different seasons in West Africa [15]
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