Climate-Related Vulnerability and Migration: A Comparative Study of Buoku and Bofie-Banda Communities in the Wenchi District

Abstract

The population mobility and environment nexus has received a lot of attention in the field of population-environment studies in recent times. Increasing concerns about consequences of climate change for human population have further fueled the interest in the subject. The interest has not, however, resolved the debate on exactly what constitutes climate-induced movement, how to explain it, or what the magnitude is. The study examines the extent to which migration has been used as a livelihood strategy in response to climatic changes. The study uses a mixed method approach of both qualitative and quantitative instruments. Twenty four households were involved in the qualitative study whilst 100 households were interviewed in Bouku and Bofie-Banda respectively in the Wenchi District in the Brong Ahafo Region in the quantitative survey. Data were analysed using analytic and descriptive statistics to examine the direct and indirect influences of climate change on the decision to migrate at the household level. The results indicate that, the mean deviation of the mean of experience of only flood or drought is positive in the savanna zone when other independent variables and covariates are controlled whilst that of the forest zone is negative. People, consciously or unconsciously, either adapt to situations or migrate to other communities when they have no alternative choices. Farmers in Bofie-Banda presently cultivate cassava and cashew which, they say, is able to do well under the current rainfall regime in the area. Farmers in Bouku have started cultivating tiger nuts as an additional crop that is able to bring income to the family no matter the weather situation. Among other things, it is recommended that sustainable adaptation strategies to climate related environmental events should be promoted in rural communities in Ghana.