Adaptive Capacity and Cassava Farmers’ Adoption of Soil Conservation Techniques in the Wenchi Municipality of Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana

Abstract

Climate change and its variability are serious issues in the agriculture sector. They have serious consequences on the soil, hence, affecting agricultural production which in turn affects food security. As a result of the impacts of climate change on the soil, farmers need to adopt techniques that conserve the soil but the techniques cannot be adopted except the farmer has the capacity to adopt them. Hence, this study assesses farmers’ capacity to adopt three of the soil conservation techniques (mulching, ridging and mounding) as an adaptation strategy to climate change in the Wenchi Municipality. In assessing farmers’ adaptive capacity, the study described farmers’ perception of climate change and its variability using descriptive statistics. Adaptive capacity index using attributes (knowledge, use, availability, accessibility and consultation about the three techniques) were developed to determine farmers’ capacity to adopt the soil conservation techniques. Scores from 0.25 to 1 were assigned to the attributes depending on the farmer’s level of the attributes. The ordered logit model was used to estimate factors that affect farmers’ adaptive capacity, and the effect of adaptive capacity on the adoption of these techniques using multinomial logit. The results reveal that farmers perceived changes in climate variables. It is shown that on the average, farmers in the Wenchi Municipality have moderate capacity to adopt the three soil conservation techniques. The ordered logit model reveals that geographical location (Akrobi), farm size, access to extension services, other sources of income, and perception of a decreased rainfall are factors that influence the capacity to adopt soil conservation techniques. The multinomial logit model revealed that high adaptive capacity has a positive effect on the level of adoption of the soil conservation techniques. Therefore, the study recommends policy makers such as MOFA and extension officers to encourage farmers to adopt the soil conservation techniques and initiate trainings to enhance farmers’ adaptive capacity as high adaptive capacity is positively related to the adoption of the techniques.