Level of Vulnerability of Women Farmers to Climate Change Impacts in the Agona West Municipality

Abstract

Women farmers are said to be most vulnerable to climate change due to their multifaceted roles in society and limited access to land and credit for commercial production. The Agona West Municipal Assembly in the Central Region of Ghana is selected as a case for study. The following issues were investigated: The degree of vulnerability to climate change by women farmers, the contribution of land size and land acquisition processes to high levels of exposure and sensitivity and the extent to which access to resources such as irrigation facilities, credit facilities and agricultural extension services improve women‘s adaptive capacity. The survey method was used to collect data from women farmers in the Agona Swedru, Nkum, Abodom, Bobikuma, Nyakrom and Ostenkorang communities. The Erdas Imagine Software was used to classify a raster image into a cover map segmented into three to show areas of high, medium and low exposure. A vulnerability indicator adopted from the Human Development Index was developed on a scale of 0 to 1 to rate the variables and based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System, they were ranked as high (0.7-1.0), medium (0.4-0.69) or low (0.0-0.39). The results of the study showed that about 21% of the women farmers were ranked low, 47% were ranked medium and 32% were ranked high. The study recommends that in a bid to weaken women farmers‘ level of exposure and sensitivity to climate change, they should be provided with irrigation and storage facilities and also be encouraged to join farmer- based groups. Women farmers‘ adaptive capacity can be strengthened by linking them with financial institutions so that they can secure funds to procure new crop varieties suitable for the existing climate.