Assessing the Impact of Rainfall Variability on Tomato Farmers in Tano South District: A Case Study of Techimantia.

Abstract

Rainfall variability is one of the most critical environmental challenges that has received a lot of attention across some parts of the world, especially Sub-Saharan African countries. It affects various economic sectors such as agriculture, energy and industries. Considering agriculture, it is due to the fact that farmers in the Sub-Saharan countries are highly dependent on rainfall for their agricultural production. Unfortunately, there has been severe rainfall pattern changes during the past decades and food production has declined partly due to this climate challenge. The study thus sought to assess the impact of rainfall variability on tomato farmers at Techimantia in the Tano South District of the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. A mixed method approach and a case study design were used for the study. Data collected instruments used involved structured questionnaire, in-depth interview guide and some participant observations were the tools used for data collection involving eighty (80) tomato farmers who were purposively selected from the Techimantia community in the study area. The results of the study indicate that rainfall is the most observed climate variability over the past decade as compared to temperature and humidity changes. The study also identified the yield and availability of tomato to mostly be in a fluctuating manner since the past decade due to changes in the onset and duration of the rains. It was also observed that in the heat of adverse effect of rainfall variability in play, farmers have also adopted several on-farm and off-farm adaptation mechanisms to deal with the shock. It is therefore recommended that certified seed/seedling units (such as CSIR and Bechem seed/seedling units) should concentrate on developing climate resistant tomato varieties that are easily accessible by farmers.