Effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield in the Cape Coast Municipality, Ghana
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Date
2023
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Publisher
Cogent Food & Agriculture
Abstract
Maize is a major staple produced by most peasant farmers in Ghana,
amidst climate variabilities that potentially thwart the attainment of global sus tainable development goals (SDGs), specifically SDG −2 of zero hunger. Ordinarily,
one expects the extant literature to be replete on a nexus between climate varia bility adaptation strategies and maize yields. Ironically, there appears to be scant
information on the expected nexus in Ghana’s coastal areas. The dual questions
about what adaptation strategies significantly affect maize yield, and the extent
(magnitude) to which climate variability strategies affect maize yield beg answer ing. Inspired by these research questions, the objective of this article is to examine
the effect of climate variability adaptation strategies on maize yield. This study
relies on a cross-sectional data covering 197 smallholder maize farmers in the Cape
Coast Metropolitan Assembly of Ghana’s Central Region. The study is deeply rooted
in a quantitative approach employing multiple linear regression and a treatment
effect model (inverse probability weighted regression adjustment—IPWRA). Our
findings reveal that adaptation strategies correlate with maize yields. Specifically,
estimates from the IPWRA show that irrigation and changes in planting dates
positively correlate with maize yields. The implication is that these adaptation
strategies improve maize yields. Smallholder farmers are encouraged to adopt
effective climate variability adaptation strategies to minimize the adverse risks associated with climate variability. The government of Ghana’s initiative for arid
regions, dubbed as the “one village one dam” initiative can be upscaled to southern
Ghana to ensure sustainable agricultural development.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
smallholder farmers, non-arid space, climate crisis, crop yield