Investigating climate change adaptation strategies among informal residents in Kumasi, Ghana, through the lenses of the social action and control theories

Abstract

The urban poor in informal settlements in Ghana remain exposed and vulnerable to climate--induced hazards. Their exclusion from official adaptation interventions, undeniably calls for social mechanisms to enable them to adapt to climate change hazards such as heatwaves and floods. Individuals may contribute to exacerbating climate-induced hazards or employ adaptation measures as a common practice or due to their connectedness to a group, as hypothesised by the social action and social control theories, respectively. There is, however, no known study on the empirical and theoretical contributions of these theories to influencing climate change adaptation efforts in urban Africa. At best, studies have looked at the importance of individual and community skills, and assets to adapting to climate change hazards. Underpinned by the social action and social control theories, 367 household interviews, four focus group discussions and seven relevant agency interviews in two of Kumasi’s largest informal settlements – Aboabo and Asawase - were conducted to explore how elements of the theories shape hazard reduction and adaptation efforts, and discuss the barriers to building adaptation to climate impacts. We found that most households employed several adaptation measures because they saw other residents do the same which was confirmed by the Chi-square test statistic (χ2=4.968, p<0.000) and as hypothesised by the social action theory. Similarly, as hypothesised by the social control theory, we also found differences in the adaptation measures employed by households belonging to identified environment-related groups (χ2=21.465, p<0.001). This was, largely, because among other activities, the education and training exercises undertaken by the groups influenced the knowledge levels of members about climate change hazards and adaptation measures. The groups offer emotional, monetary, material, and practical support to cope within the short-term; first to the members, and the general residents, who are hit by disasters. Generally, adopted measures to reduce adverse impacts and build adaptation were unsustainable. This study is among few studies that demonstrate the contribution of social action and social control theories to managing and adapting climate change and its associated impacts in African cities.