SMALLHOLDER WOMEN OFF-FARM ADAPTATION STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN RURAL SAVANNAH, GHANA

Abstract

Climate variability (CCV) presents an additional challenge to the agricultural sector and society’s livelihood due its persistent low rainfall and high temperatures. Particularly to face the brunt of climate variability are women smallholder farmers who depend on agricultural production and have limited natural resources to enable them respond to the changing climate. The aim of the study was to investigate smallholder women farmers’ off-farm adaptation strategies to climate variability in the Wa West district in the Upper West region. The study adopted a case study designed method with a population of 187 smallholder farmers. Purposive and multi-stage probability sampling were used to select the communities and women respondents for the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used and data collected was analyzed descriptively using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).The results of the study indicated that, smallholder women farmers have adopted mixed off-farm adaptation strategies to climate variability. The study recommends a comprehensive and an integrated adaptation program for the agricultural sector with special focus on smallholder women farmers to include education and training of women on diseases and pest control and prevention, access to credit and value chain development for agro-processing business, and access to climate variability information.