LEVEL OF VULNERABILITY OF WOMEN FARMERS TO CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS IN THE AGONA WEST MUNICIPALITY BY BARBARA BAIDOO 10228336 THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE DEGREE JULY, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION Candidate’s Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own original research and that no part of it has been presented for another degree in this University or elsewhere. …………………………………… .…………………. BARBARA BAIDOO DATE STUDENT Supervisors’ Declaration We hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of the thesis were supervised in accordance with the guidelines on supervision of thesis laid down by the University of Ghana, Legon. …………………………………… .…………………. DR. IRENE S. EGYIR DATE MAIN SUPERVISOR …………………………………… .…………………. DR. ELAINE T. LAWSON DATE CO- SUPERVISOR University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DEDICATION To my son, Makis Machator University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am deeply grateful for the relentless effort of my Principal Supervisor; Dr. Irene Egyir as well as my Co- Supervisor Dr. Elaine Lawson in ensuring the successful completion of this research. I am also very thankful to Dr. Opoku Pabi for his guidance and contribution to Geographic Information System aspect of this research. Without their leadership this research would have been impossible. I owe my gratitude to Madam Adelaide Yawson, an Extension Worker of the Agona West Municipal‘s Ministry of Food and Agriculture for her efforts during the primary data collection. To Loh Seyram a Research Assistant in the Geography Department of the University of Ghana and Richard Adade, a Research Assistant in the Geography Department of the University of Cape Coast who helped me in securing software and processing the data retrieved from the field in the determination of exposure. I am very appreciative. For the love and support received from my husband ASP Daniel Machator, friends and family, I am very grateful and I say God bless you all. Barbara Baidoo University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv 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. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v TABLE OF CONTENTS Content Page DECLARATION ............................................................................................................ i DEDICATION ............................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ ix LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the Study .......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Problem statement .................................................................................................... 5 1.3 Research Questions .................................................................................................. 8 1.4 Objectives of the study............................................................................................. 8 1.5 Relevance of the Study ............................................................................................ 9 1.6 Organization of the Report ..................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER TWO ......................................................................................................... 12 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................ 12 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Meaning and impacts of climate change ................................................................ 12 2.3 Climate change in Ghana ....................................................................................... 17 2.4 Women, agriculture and climate change ................................................................ 19 2.5 Climate change vulnerability ................................................................................. 29 2.6 Components of vulnerability.................................................................................. 32 2.6.1 Exposure ............................................................................................................. 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi 2.6.2 Sensitivity to climate change impacts ................................................................. 34 2.6.3 Adaptive capacity to climate change impacts ..................................................... 36 2.7 Conceptual Framework .......................................................................................... 44 2.8 Vulnerability Assessment of climate change impacts ........................................... 47 2.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER THREE ..................................................................................................... 51 STUDY SITES AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................. 51 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 51 3.2 Description of the Study Area ................................................................................ 51 3.2.1 Physical Characteristics ...................................................................................... 51 3.2.2 Relief and Drainage ............................................................................................ 52 3.2.3 Soil and land use ................................................................................................. 52 3.2.5 Demographic characteristics ............................................................................... 55 3.3 Methods of data collection ..................................................................................... 58 3.4 Methods of Data Analysis ...................................................................................... 64 3.5 Measurement of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts ...... 66 3.6 Limitations of the study ......................................................................................... 67 3.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 68 CHAPTER FOUR ........................................................................................................ 69 RESULTS .................................................................................................................... 69 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 69 4.2 Women crop farmers‘ exposure to climate vulnerability ...................................... 69 4.3 Socio economic background of the women crop farmers ...................................... 71 4.3.1 Age ...................................................................................................................... 71 4.3.2 Educational status ............................................................................................... 71 4.3.3 Residence status .................................................................................................. 72 4.3.4 Number of dependents ........................................................................................ 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii 4.3.5 Analysis of women crop farmers‘ sensitivity to vulnerability. ........................... 73 4.4 The adaptive capacity of the women crop farmers to climate change vulnerability ...................................................................................................................................... 74 4.4.1 Farming experience ............................................................................................. 74 4.4.2 Availability and accessibility of the weather forecast ........................................ 75 4.4.3 Availability of Farm Based Organizations (FBOs) ............................................ 75 4.4.4 Training from FBOs ............................................................................................ 76 4.4.5 Accessibility of loans .......................................................................................... 76 4.4.6 Extension support................................................................................................ 76 4.4.7 Access to irrigation facilities .............................................................................. 77 4.4.8 Access to storage facilities .................................................................................. 77 4.4.9 Adaptive strategies on floods .............................................................................. 78 4.4.10 Statistics on level of adaptive capacity of women crop farmers to climate change .......................................................................................................................... 78 4.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER FIVE ......................................................................................................... 80 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS ..................................................................................... 80 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 80 5.2 Women crop farmers‘ exposure to climate change impacts .................................. 80 5.3 Agona West Municipality‘s women crop farmers‘ sensitivity to climate change impacts ......................................................................................................................... 82 5.4 Agona West Municipality women crop farmers‘ adaptive capacity to climate change impacts ............................................................................................................. 85 5.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 91 CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................................ 92 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .................................... 92 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 92 6.2 Summary ................................................................................................................ 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii 6.3 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 94 6.4 Recommendations .................................................................................................. 97 6.5 Recommendation for further research……………………………...……………98 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................ 99 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... 110 Appendix A. Questionnaire used in survey. .............................................................. 110 Appendix B: Classified elevation map of Agona West Municipality ........................ 114 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Age range of women crop farmers in Agona West Municipality ............... 72 Table 4.2: Educational status of respondents in Agona West Municipality ................ 72 Table 4.3: Respondents‘ residence status .................................................................... 73 Table 4.4: Statistics on women crop farmers‘ sensitivity to vulnerability ................. 74 Table 4.5: Farming experience of respondents of Agona West Municipality ............. 75 Table 4.6: Availability of farm based organizations. ................................................... 76 Table 4.7: Respondents‘ access to irrigation facilities................................................. 77 Table 4.8: Respondents‘ access to storage facilities. ................................................... 77 Table 4.9: Statistical values on adaptive capacity of the women crop farmers. .......... 78 Table 5.1: Bonferroni pairwise comparison between sensitivity groups ..................... 85 Table 5.2: Bonferroni pairwise comparison between adaptive capacity groups ......... 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework: Measuring level of Vulnerability........................ 46 Figure 3.1: A cassava and plantain farm ...................................................................... 55 Figure 3.2: A maize farm of a respondent ................................................................... 56 Figure 3.3: Agricultural land use map of Agona West Municipality. ......................... 57 Figure 4.1: Flood risk map of Agona West Municipality ............................................ 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ANOVA Analysis of Variation AR5 Fifth Assessment Report AWMA Agona West Municipal Assembly CERGIS Center for Remote Sensing and Geographic Information CVSS Common Vulnerability Scoring System DEM‘s Digital Elevation Models ENSO El Niño Southern Oscillation EPA Environmental Protection Agencies FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FBOs Farm Based Organizations GDP Gross Domestic Product GHG Green House Gas GIS Geographic Information System GPRS Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy GPS Global Positioning System HDI Human Development Index HIPC Highly Indebted Poor Countries IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change KP Kyoto Protocol LUCF Land-Use change and forestry MOFA Ministry of Food and Agriculture NCCPF National Climate Change Policy Framework NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NVD National Vulnerability Database University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii SAPs Structural Adjustment Policies SRES Special Report on Emissions TERI The Energy Research Institute UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNECA United Nations Economic Commission for Africa UNFCCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNISDR United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction USAID United States Agency for International Development USDA United States Department of Agriculture WIAD Women in Agricultural Development University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Climate is considered as one of the most important and primary determinants of agricultural production (Shakoor, Rahman and Nasir, 2013). It is projected that agricultural production and access to food in many African countries would be severely affected due to climate change impacts (UNFCCC, 2007). Possible and expected effects of climate change on agricultural productivity include a reduction in crop and livestock production, and loss of fertile soil. Output from different agricultural sectors including crop and livestock are directly affected by deviations in climatic parameters which include but are not limited to temperature and precipitation. Any extreme event which may be drought, wind storms and floods can also impact agriculture stability. It is estimated that sub-Saharan Africa has the highest proportion of food-insecure people, with an estimated regional average of 26.8% of the population undernourished in 2010–2012, and where rates higher than 50% can be found (FAO et al., 2012). According to studies by IPCC (2013), there is medium confidence that climate trends have negatively affected wheat and maize production for many regions. For tropical systems where moisture availability or extreme heat rather than frost limits the length of the growing season, there is a likelihood that the length of the growing season and overall suitability for crops will decline (Jones and Thornton, 2009; Zhang and Cai, 2011). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 With agriculture being one of the most susceptible sectors to changing climate, climate change is also expected to increase price volatility for agricultural commodities, and reduce food quality. Farmers‘ ability to adapt to these changes however is highly dependent on their social, economic and environmental conditions. Adaptive capacity is projected to be reduced in regions closest to the equator if temperatures increase by 3oC or more (Shakoor, Rahman and Nasir, 2013). The agricultural industry is best served by ambitious approaches to adaptation and to cutting emissions. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture comprised about 10–12% of man-made GHG emissions in 2010. The sector is the largest contributor of non-carbon dioxide (non-CO2) GHGs such as methane (IPCC Assessment Report 5, 2014). In 2000, the total Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions including Land-Use Change and Forestry (LUCF) emissions in Ghana were estimated at 12.2 MtCO2e. This is 173% above the 1990 levels of 23.9 MtCO2e. The total net greenhouse gas emissions increased by 243.3% from 1990 to 2006. If the LUCF are included in 2000, the total GHG emission in Ghana is estimated at 13.3 MtCO2e, which is about 49.4% above 1990 levels and 38% lower than 2006 levels. Without LUCF emissions, the total emissions increased by 107% from 9.3 MtCO2e in 1990 to 18.4 MtCO2e in 2006 (Ghana‘s 2nd National Communication to the UNFCCC, 2011). The largest GHG contribution in Ghana in the year 2000 was from the energy sector which contributed 41% of the total emissions followed by agriculture (38%) and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 waste (11%). The agricultural sector showed an overall increase of 20% from 1990 to 2000 and 44% increase from 1990 to 2006. According to Ghana‘s 2nd National Communication to the UNFCCC 2011, the general rising emissions level of about 44% between 1990 and 2006 reflects increasing trends in livestock numbers and emissions from fertilizer application. Agriculture being the mainstay of Ghana‘s economy plays a critical role in ensuring food security, as well as socio-economic development. Provisional Gross Domestic Product estimates for 2014 showed a growth of 4.6 percent over the 2013 revised estimates. The Agriculture sector recorded the highest growth of 5.6 percent, followed by Industry (3.7%) and the Services sector with a growth of 4.9%. Though the estimates show an improvement in the growth of the Agriculture sector, its share of the structure of the economy continues to decline, with its share reducing from 22.3% of GDP in 2013 to 21.4%. Crops however remain the largest activity in the economy with a share of 15.9% of GDP (Ghana Statistical Service, 2015). Though Ghana‘s agricultural potential is high, climate change keeps agricultural production below its potential. According to the FAO (2012), subsistence farms make up the majority of both male and female-held total farms, 78% and 73% respectively. This leaves the percentage of market-oriented farms at 22% for male-held farms and 27% for female-held farms. Female-led farms, especially those that are medium or large, appear to be more market-oriented than those held by men. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 It is estimated that about 80 percent of rural land in Ghana is regulated under customary law. It is the responsibility of lineage chiefs to lead community decision- making with regards to the distribution of land plots (African Development Fund, 2008). In practice, however, male heads of families are in charge of setting up land tenure arrangements, sometimes even in matrilineal societies. The result is that women‘s access to and use of land is through their male counterparts (FAO, 2010). Moreover, there are differences in crop diversity depending on the gender of the holder and type of farming activity. Among subsistence farms held by women, there is less diversity in crop type as most harvest maize (50% compared to 35% in male- led farms). Gender disparities in agriculture emerge according to Peterman et al., (2011), as less female farmers adopt improved crop varieties, compared with more male farmers, because they have less access to land, family labour and extension services. Ghanaian women also own less livestock, use less fertilizers, own less mechanical equipment, have less years of education and school attendance rates than men (FAO, 2012). Even though the contribution of women in agriculture is immense, they are still susceptible to the impacts of climate change as a result of a combination of a number of factors including gender-based cultural norms, inheritance structures and household responsibilities (http://www.worldbank.org/eacc). Farmers of the Agona West Municipality, the case study for this research share similar characteristics as that of farmers in other parts of the country in terms of cultural or gender disparities, environmental and climatic conditions. Agriculture, the major economic activity in Agona West engages more than 64% of the municipal population (AWMA, 2010) and is heavily impacted upon by climate change. Flooding resulting from intense rainfall is another factor impeding the efforts of farmers with the worst flooding scenario occurring in 2011. For this reason, the Municipality has begun University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 incorporating measures that would build the resilience of sensitive sectors including agriculture, water and health. This research examines women crop farmers‘ in Agona West Municipality‘s vulnerability or resilience to climate change by measuring their level of exposure, sensitivity and their adaptive capacity. It is necessary to enhance the adaptive capacity of the women farmers in Agona West Municipality to ensure continuous improvement in the agricultural sector. Several adaptation options are available to build resilience in the agricultural sector together with mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as suggested by various bodies. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) asserts that these mitigation and adaptation measures can only be effected when the sector‘s level of vulnerability is known. For this reason, in support of Evans et al., (2011), this research supports the strategies in enabling the agricultural sector to respond positively to climate change. 1.2 Problem statement Ghana‘s established agricultural sector provides employment on both formal and informal basis producing a variety of crops in the various climatic zones which range from dry savanna to wet forest and which run across the country. Crops, such as tubers, grains, and cocoa as well as products from livestock, forestry and fishing form the base of agriculture. According to FAO (2014), Ghana‘s agricultural sector employed about 53.38% of Ghana‘s labour force engaging both males and females at 54.8% and 45.2% respectively in the year 2014. Optimization of agricultural activities and produce are crucial for the continued rise of Ghana‘s GDP and an effective way of ensuring food security. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 Increasing agricultural produce is however hampered by a number of factors including climate change. Climate change is expected to impact on the agricultural sector in multiple ways, among others through increased variability with regard to temperature, rain, frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, changes in rain patterns and in water availability and through perturbations in ecosystems. The main effects on agricultural production are expected to be an increased variability of production, decrease of production in certain areas and changes in the geography of production. One way to cope with the challenges comprised by climate change is to build resilience for adaptation in the agriculture sector (Fellmann, 2012) on the contrary inability to adapt to climate change increases vulnerability. Though climate change affects women and men throughout the world, IPCC, the UN‘s climate panel, has concluded that ―climate change impacts will be differently distributed among different regions, generations, age classes, income groups, occupations, and genders‖. Lambrou and Piana (2005) also report that whiles men are usually responsible for managing irrigation schemes and prefer mechanized agriculture; women are mostly involved in labour-intensive and subsistence agriculture which increases their vulnerability to climatic stresses. However, according to McCright (2010), women are more able to express understanding of climate change and variability than their male counterparts even though they tend to underestimate their knowledge as compared to men. Maximum temperature recorded in the municipality between 1975-2013 range between 28.9oC and 33.9oC. On the other hand, minimum temperature recorded within the period of 1975 and 2013 showed that there was a gradual increase in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 minimum temperature trend. However, minimum temperature ranged between 21.6oC and 23oC. The highest mean annual rainfall recorded in the municipality was 155mm in the year 2010 which caused flooding on most farmlands; the least annual rainfall recorded was 55.3mm in 1983. Rainfall also increased by 27.7% between 2005 and 2010 and decreased at worst between 1991 and 1994 by 7.9%. The repercussions of climate change as experienced by farmers in the AWMA are also not gender - neutral and these differences can be placed on the existing marginalization against women in the society. Women are more severely affected by climate change and natural disasters because of their social roles, economic and political discrimination and poverty. Coupled with unequal access to resources and to decision-making processes, women in rural areas are disproportionately affected by climate change (UN Women, 2014). It is important to understand that the marginalization of women and their inability to access adequate resources have affected their level of vulnerability to climate change impacts. To this effect, this research focuses on the level of vulnerability of women crop farmers to climate change impacts in the Agona West Municipality. In a bid to assess the vulnerability of the women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality, a semi-quantitative approach is used to determine the level of three components of the sensitivity, exposure and adaptive capacity in order to ascertain the overall vulnerability. The women crop farmers, extension officers, the District office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and the Agona West Municipal Assembly are the stakeholders of this research. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 1.3 Research Questions This study aims to evaluate the level of vulnerability to climate change impacts on women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality. Specifically, it answers the following questions. i. How exposed are the women crop farmers of the Agona West Municipality to floods. ii. To what extent are women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality sensitive to climate change impacts? iii. To what extent are women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality capable of adapting to climate change impacts? 1.4 Objectives of the study The major objective of the study is to measure the women crop farmers‘ vulnerability to climate change impacts in the municipality. The specific objectives are to: i. determine the level of exposure to climate change on women crop farmers to floods. ii. describe the level of sensitivity to climate change impacts on women crop farmers in Agona West Municipal Area. iii. determine the level of adaptive capacity to climate change impacts on women crop farmers in Agona West Municipality. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 1.5 Relevance of the Study Agriculture continues to be a fundamental instrument for sustainable development and poverty reduction in Ghana due to the significant agrarian component in her economy. According to the World Development Report on Agriculture (2008), agriculture can be a source of growth for the national economy, a provider of investment opportunities for the private sector, a prime driver of agriculture related industries and the rural non-farm economy. Agriculture in Ghana however is rain fed and farmers usually use simple tools and equipments in their activities. Due to the nature of agriculture in the country, it is highly affected by changes in climate. Since the anthropogenic effects of climate change are not gender-neutral, it is necessary for a study to be conducted to ascertain how climate change affects the most marginalized. Similarly, WEDO (2007) reports that women form majority of the world‘s poor and are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The government of Ghana recognizes the impact climate change can have on its citizens and as such signed the UNFCCC in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro. The Convention entered into force globally on March 21, 1994 and specifically for Ghana on December 5, 1995, three months after Ghana ratified the Convention. In 2002, Ghana‘s Parliament passed a resolution to ratify the Kyoto Protocol (KP) and the KP entered into force globally on 16th February, 2005 (Agyeman-Bonsu, 2007). These interventions made by the government were to provide farmers with the necessary infrastructure as contained in the various conventions and policies to increase their adaptive capacity against climate change impacts. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) also established the Women in Agricultural Development Directorate in 1989 as a means of enhancing policy making and implementation of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 gender sensitive measures to benefit women‘s agricultural productive activities. This research seeks to evaluate the level of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts as well as identify the exposure of farmlands to floods. Since increasing adaptive capacity is the most effective way to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts, this research would be valuable to stakeholders such as farmers, extension officers and the district‘s Ministry of Food and Agriculture in particular the women in Agricultural Development Directorate as it identifies the current state of the women farmers‘ predisposition to climate change impacts. Especially at local and national scales, the application of vulnerability assessment methods allows interaction with stakeholders. The involvement of stakeholders can take place at several stages of the assessment to agree upon the main issues and responses in assessing vulnerability to climate change. Participatory methods are applied in order to obtain first-hand documentation of vulnerability owing to social conditions and physical stimuli from the perspectives of community members. Furthermore, when quantitative data are not available, expert opinions of regional stakeholders can offer alternative sources of information. In addition, stakeholders can also provide valuable information on non-climatic stimuli that may be important for mitigating climate change impacts (Downing and Ziervogel, 2004; Salter, Robinson and Wiek, 2010; Malone and Engle, 2011). 1.6 Organization of the Report The study has been organized into six chapters. The first chapter, the introduction, consists of the background to the entire research, the problem statement, objectives of the study, relevance of the study as well as the organization of the rest of the study. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 The second chapter contains the literature review which is an academic collection of findings that are related to the study. Chapter Three involves the methodology which is a systematic and theoretical analysis of the methods applied to the study. Chapters Four and Five present the results and discussion of findings made out of the research respectively. The final chapter, Chapter Six, presents the summary, conclusions and recommendations made out of the study. The position of the researcher regarding the research questions are also clearly stated here. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Available literature on climate change and possible future scenarios of cumulative carbon emissions provide an important starting point for this review. There are also considerable discussions on components of climate change with possible climate change impacts. Some empirical evidence is available which illustrates the impacts of existing climate variability on agriculture as well as on women. The literature review has been done under the following sub headings: Meaning and Impacts of Climate Change, Climate Change in Ghana, Women and Climate Change, Climate change vulnerability, Components of Vulnerability, Exposure to climate change impacts, Sensitivity to climate change impacts, Adaptive capacity to climate change impacts, Vulnerability of climate change impacts and Conclusion. 2.2 Meaning and impacts of climate change Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forces, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use. Anthropogenic climate change is projected to continue during this century and beyond. This conclusion is robust under a wide range of scenarios for future greenhouse gas emissions, including some that anticipate a reduction in emissions (IPCC, 2007). While specific local outcomes of climate change are uncertain, recent assessments project alteration in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, or duration of weather and climate extremes, including climate and hydro meteorological events such as heat waves, heavy precipitation events, droughts, and tropical cyclones. Such change, in a context of increasing vulnerability, will lead to increased stress on human University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 and natural systems and a propensity for serious adverse effects in many places around the world (UNISDR 2009, 2011). At the same time, climate change is also expected to bring benefits to certain places and communities at particular times. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2007), natural variations in climate have existed for millennia: ice ages and sub-tropical periods have alternated. However, anthropogenic climate change gradually emerged since the industrial revolution, especially since the 1950s, due to the availability of cheap fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas, and the dramatic increase in its consumption. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also agrees that human activities have been substantially increasing the atmospheric concentrations of green-house gases, and these increases enhance the natural greenhouse effect, and that this will result on the average in an additional warming of the earth's surface and atmosphere and may adversely affect natural ecosystems and humankind. The IPCC‘s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2014 concludes that, climate change is unequivocal, and that human activities, particularly emissions of carbon dioxide, are very likely to be the dominant cause. Changes are observed in all geographical regions: the atmosphere and oceans are warming, the extent and volume of snow and ice are diminishing, sea levels are rising and weather patterns are changing. Climate models used by the IPCC indicate that changes will continue under a range of possible greenhouse gas emission scenarios over the 21st century. If emissions continue to rise at the current rate, impacts by the end of this century are projected to include a global University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 average temperature of 2.6–4.8 degrees Celsius (°C) higher than present, and sea levels 0.45–0.82 meters higher than present. The effects of climate change on crop and food production are already evident in several regions of the world, with negative impacts more common than positive ones. However, climate-related risks for agriculture are particularly acute in developing countries. They expose vulnerabilities of farmers and pastoralists who lack resources fundamental to resilience including finance, technology and knowledge. Moreover, climate-related risks interact with existing environmental stressors such as biodiversity loss, soil erosion, and water contamination, and with social stressors such as inequality, poverty, gender discrimination, and lack of institutional capacity. These interactions compound risks to agricultural production and food security (IPCC AR5, 2014). Rainfall variability and unreliability often have devastating effects on agriculture. Increasing rainfall variability results in droughts. This leads to a reduction in soil moisture that also leads to a decline in agricultural productivity, e.g. crop yields which subsequently results in a decrease in household incomes (Molua and Lambi, 2006). Climate change introduces numerous uncertainties over the livelihoods of farming communities that depend heavily on the weather and climate (Al-Hassan and Poulton, 2009; Athula and Scarborough, 2011). The World Bank (2010a) notes that, women are more susceptible to the impacts of climate change as a result of a combination of a number of factors including gender-based cultural norms, inheritance structures and household responsibilities. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 Without adaptation, climate change is projected to reduce production for local temperature increases of 2°C or more (above late- 20th-century levels) up to 2050, although individual locations may benefit. After 2050, the risk of more severe yield impacts increases and depends on the level of warming. Climate change will be particularly hard on agricultural production in Africa and Asia. Global temperature increases of 4°C or more, combined with increasing food demand, would pose large risks to food security globally and regionally. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture comprised about 10–12% of global GHG emissions in 2010. The sector is the largest contributor of non-CO2 GHGs (including methane), accounting for 56% of non-CO2 emissions in 2005. Several opportunities for mitigation exist including the so-called ‗supply‘ and ‗demand‘ side options. On the supply side, emissions from land use change, land management and livestock management can be reduced, and terrestrial carbon stocks can be increased by sequestration in soils and biomass. Emissions from energy use across the entire economy can be reduced through the substitution of fossil fuels by biomass provided certain conditions are met. On the demand side, GHG emissions could be cut by reducing losses and waste of food, and by encouraging changes in diet. The agricultural industry‘s own interests are best served by implementing ambitious approaches to mitigation to ensure that key temperature thresholds are not crossed, while also working to enhance resilience in the face of inevitable temperature rises and associated climate events. While adaptation to climate impacts is possible, largely by extending techniques already in existence, there is a limit to what can be managed. Adaptive capacity is projected to be exceeded if temperature increases by 3°C or more, especially in regions close to the equator (IPCC, AR5, 2014). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 Greenhouse gas emissions over many decades are already affecting production of rice, wheat and maize. Without adaptation, local temperature increases of 2°C are expected to reduce yields further. While CO2 in most cases has a stimulating effect on plant growth, ozone reduces growth. Elevated ozone levels have very likely suppressed global production of crops, causing estimated losses of 10% for wheat and soybean (IPCC, 2007). These are some aspects of a complex picture involving interactions between CO2, ozone, mean temperature rise, temperature extremes, reduced water availability and changes to the nitrogen cycle, whose overall effect is difficult to predict. In addition, areas suitable for cultivation of coffee, tea and cocoa, which support millions of smallholders in over sixty countries, are likely to be significantly reduced by temperature rise and other factors. These projected impacts will occur as demand for crops is expected to increase by about 14% per decade until 2050. Risks are greatest in tropical countries. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also defines climate change as a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. In effect climate change can be established to occur only after considerable changes are consistent over a period of time. In a statement at the January 2007 Conference on ―Climate Change: the Global Security Impact (Royal United Services Institute)‖, John Ashton, UK Foreign Secretary‘s Special Representative for climate change, said, ―There is every reason to believe that as the 21st century unfolds, the security story will be bound together by climate change… climate change is a security issue because if we do not deal with it, people will die and states will fail‖ (Vogel, 2007). Climate University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 change may spark conflict between and within nations, as resources and safe places become scarcer, and disasters destroy livelihoods increasing the number of migrants and refugees. Edward, Shankar and Sergenti (2007) further explain how shortfalls in seasonal rains that result in drought and economic distress increase the likelihood of civil war by up to 50%. The African continent is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of factors such as widespread poverty, recurrent droughts, inequitable land distribution and overdependence on rain-fed agriculture. Consideration of the effects of climate change on farmers requires examination of the direct effects of climate change and climatic factors affecting the growth of plants as well as the way in which these direct effects are modified by soil feedbacks and biological interactions among different organisms. This research however limits itself to the former that is, climatic factors. 2.3 Climate change in Ghana Ghana has experienced some instances of national disaster related to rainfall deficits. This is particularly influenced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), where changes in temperature and air surface pressure in the tropical western pacific have led to below average rainfall in such years (Stutley, 2010). Within the past 50 years however, the worst El Niño year occurred in 1983. It led to a national response to receive food aid. Several efforts to prepare for such emergency situations are arranged to reduce and likewise respond to Ghana‘s increased risk exposure. Historical data for the country indicates that a 1oC increase in mean annual temperature each decade has University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 been recorded for Ghana since 1960 (Ghana‘s Second National Communication, 2011). Due to these significant changes in climate, the government took an initiative in September 2013 and approved of a National Climate Policy to technically and strategically mitigate the looming pressure of climate change on the country‘s industry, natural resources and agricultural sectors as well as its social infrastructural development (Ghana Business News, 2013). Although about 57% of the total land area of Ghana is suitable for agriculture (Damtey, 2007), land problems such as land scarcity, competition over land use, as well as land degradation continues to persist. Projections by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) indicate that if present trends in deforestation continue, then the tropical forests in the managed and tropical forest reserves would decrease by 343,000 hectares and the natural savannah woodlands by about 600,000 hectares. Ghana in a bid to pursue harmonized and coordinated actions to reducing climate change impact on vulnerable people is signatory to the UNFCCC as well as the Kyoto Protocol. Also through a consultative process, Ghana has developed a national climate change policy framework (NCCPF) as a major contribution to the Ghana Shared Growth Development Agenda as well as providing overall strategic direction for coordinating climate change activities in the country. The 2008 national sectoral climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessment revealed the substantial impacts of climate change on the economy with clear University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 evidence that many of the key economic assets such as the coastal zone, agriculture and water resources are negatively affected. Such negative effects in turn affects social development in terms of poverty reduction, health and women‘s livelihoods. Focus on climate change in Ghana is growing at the political level and across other sectors. 2.4 Women, agriculture and climate change Although human activities lead to the changing climate, its aftermaths are unequal on humans. Women tend to be more affected than men due to their multifaceted roles in their homes in addition to the socio-cultural norms that restrict their access to and control of assets (OECD, 2012). Women‘s roles in economic activities have moved beyond the home, spanning all sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture which remains the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the wholesale and retail sub- sectors of the services sector. Climate change will systematically affect women due to their reliance on subsistence farming activities. These changes will affect soil conditions and therefore would have adverse impact on food production. Women‘s income from their livelihoods and other economic activities will become critical thus making them poorer(OECD, 2012). This reinforces the importance of the environment and particularly climate change in women‘s lives. Given the opportunity, women may well have a predisposition to practice sustainable agriculture and maintain overall land quality, because of their strong reliance on natural resources. However, in general, women have less access to resources that are essential in disaster preparedness, mitigation and rehabilitation. Gendered divisions of labor often result in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 the over representation of women in agricultural and informal sectors, which are more vulnerable to disasters (OECD, 2012). In developing countries women and girls are mostly responsible for producing basic needs such as water, fuel and food and even in most communities in Ghana, caring for the sick is seen as their responsibility. When the resources they rely on for living become scarce or expensive, it increases the workload of women and girls (Gonzlez et. al., 2011). In the same vein, Enarson (2000) also asserts that women in general, are also responsible for reproductive tasks such as food collection and energy supply for the household as well as many care- giving tasks, such as caring for the children, sick, elderly, the home and its other related assets. Water, sanitation and climate change challenges put an extra burden on women, adding to the double burden of productive and reproductive labor when there is a disaster and a collapse of livelihood (Patt et al., 2007). In many societies, socio-cultural norms and care giving responsibilities prevent women from migrating to look for shelter and work when a disaster hits. Self-sacrifice even hampers women‘s own rescue in any type of disaster. Similarly, a study conducted by Al-Hassan et al., (2013) to assess the vulnerability level of people in the three Northern Regions of Ghana revealed that women in these regions, particularly Tamale spend about 56.6% of their time searching for water. This resulted in increasing the household chores and affected school attendance in the case of the girl child. The Ghanaian community encourages gendered division of labor within households and the society. It also allocates the bulk of reproductive activities to women, leaving men time to pursue more market valued productive activities and resulting in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 extensive gender segregation in production and reproduction across different sectors of the economy (UNECA, 2004). Women‘s unpaid labor is critical for livelihoods and the security of households and family members. It involves repetitive and time- consuming tasks, such as collection of firewood, water fetching, childcare, sweeping, garbage disposal and cooking, as well as the reproduction of social relations in the household and the community. Ghanaian women spend more than two times as much time on domestic work as men (UNECA, 2004). In agriculture, most women in the rural areas of the country are predominantly engaged in food crop cultivation and small scale trading, while their male counterparts are involved in both food and cash crop cultivation generally and on a relatively larger scale (Duncan, 2004). It is estimated that women cultivate almost 40 percent of all land holdings under production in Ghana. In urban areas where women are predominantly found in the self-employed informal sectors of the economy, mainly in trading and other service activities, men have the majority share of the public and private formal sector wage jobs (Bortei-Doku Aryeetey et. al, 2000). Improving women‘s access to security and tenure has direct impacts on farm productivity, but can have far reaching implications for improving household welfare as well. Strengthening land ownership by women in Nepal, for example linked with better health outcomes for children (Allendorf, 2007). However, in sub-Saharan Africa, where communal property regimes are common, community heads tend to assign land to males not females and where private property prevails cultural norms generally dictate that men are the owners of land while women gain access to land University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 through their relationship with a male relative: father, brother, husband or other (Lastarria-Cornhiel, 1997). Women‘s experience of inequality is also expressed in their limited access to and control over resources. In Ghana, women‘s unequal land rights affect their access to other resources and their economic, social and political status. Ghana‘s pluralistic system of land tenure which is a legacy of colonial rule characterized by the co- existence of British-derived land interests and customary land tenure interests, has affected women‘s land interests (Kotey and Tsikata, 1998; Kasanga, 2002, WMC, 2004). Women‘s access to land is affected by tenure arrangements, inheritance and land use patterns. Thus, although women have land usage rights, their access to the resource depend on its availability and the goodwill of men who control it (UNECA, 2004). Years of Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) in the 1980s have created widespread poverty and insecurity, with particular ecological zones and social groups such as women and children suffering specific forms of hardships. Since 2000, a government decision to join the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the subsequent adoption of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) has led to a continuation of the SAPs approach (WMC, 2004). Even though women in Ghana have been identified as a category that suffers disproportionately from poverty, the sectors where women are in the majority are not prioritized in both GPRS I & II. There are also no measures in place to address women‘s experience of poverty in a systematic way. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 The changes in the climate coupled with the precarious socio-economic conditions of women in Ghana means that any disaster is likely to have the worst impact on women. Women are not sufficiently represented in high decision-making levels and structures. Their participation in the scientific disciplines and in the structures in place for environmental and climate change issues is also limited. This is likely to limit the ability of women to articulate their specific concerns to affect mitigation and adaptation measures (Duncan, 2004). Land relations are critical for women‘s rights in Ghana. This is because of the centrality of land as a resource for the livelihoods of the majority of the population (WMC, 2004). Without secure land rights, these climatic changes are likely to affect women‘s ability to use available land. In Ghana, there are different categories of land users who face problems of access and control to land. Women are an especially vulnerable group in this regard and experience discriminatory cultural practices. Particularly in agriculture, women‘s contributions are devalued. Their interests in family lands are limited by marital residence. They are also often given land of poor quality and size. The clearing of land is customarily assigned to men. These practices afford men the opportunity to use and control land and has prevented the majority of women from securing control over virgin land belonging to their lineage (Kotey and Tsikata, 2000). The unequal experience of women in relation to land comes into sharp focus when examining the productive activities of women in the wake of climate change conditions. An analysis of the impact of climate change on cereal production by the EPA indicates that both the maximum and minimum temperatures increased over the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 years in all the agro-climatic zones of Ghana (EPA, 2000). Based on the findings of the study, it was projected that the percentage decreases in maize yield in the Transition Zone will range from 0.5 percent in the year 2000 to 6.9 percent in the year 2020. Millet yields will not be affected by the projected climate change, as millet, a major local staple in the three northern regions in the country, is more drought tolerant. The other aspect relates to vegetation cover which has been severely affected by human activities. Logging activities in the forest zones coupled with bushfires in the savannah region have tended to reduce the composition and density of vegetation with negative implications for widespread acceleration of erosion, reduced crop yields and desertification (EPA, 2000). These processes are increasing climate change with negative implications for women in terms of their productive efforts in the agricultural sector. Since socio-cultural and land tenure practices deny women sufficient access to fertile lands, their plots of land are the ones which tend to be affected primarily by climate change processes. On the whole, broader access to financial services provides opportunities for improving agricultural output, food security and economic vitality of entire communities and nations. A number of factors may limit the access of credit to women. Often they do not have the same rights or control over the types of fixed assets that are usually necessary as collateral to access credit market (SOFA Team, 2011) furthermore some experimental studies show that women are more risk averse that men (Flestchner, 2008a and World Bank, 2009 ) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 Technology is as crucial for agriculture as for any other productive activity. Technology as used here must be defined broadly and can range from machines and tools to advanced genetic resources, biocides and management techniques that help farmers make their work more productive and more efficient (SOFA Team, 2011) in many instances the adoption of improved technologies is positively at different levels but consistently across continents and regions, the evidence points to remarkable gender differences in access to and adoption of modern technologies and use of purchased inputs. In Ghana, for instance, Doss and Moss (2001) report that female farmers had a much lower adoption rate of modern crop varieties (59 versus 39 per cent) while their analysis showed that the difference was explained by less access to land, lower availability of family labor, and less access to extension services. 2.5 Interventions for women in Agriculture Women play an integral part in agricultural production, as subsistence farmers, cash crop growers, food processors, and livestock owners, among other roles (Doss, Bockius-Suwyn, & D‘Souza, 2012). It follows that empowering women will impact the agricultural markets. Recently, many development organizations have begun to integrate gender into their agricultural development projects. Several intervention projects have been done on issues concerning extension services, credit facilities, information, technology etc. Extension services are important in empowering women to be more productive farmers and community members. Extension programs must therefore be adjusted to best serve women, including convenient training times and locations, sincere efforts to invite women, and interactive training modules. In addition, social and business University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 trainings can be just as important as agricultural training in increasing women‘s economic empowerment in agriculture (Doss, Bockius-Suwyn, & D‘Souza, 2012). Free extension services including short courses or refresher courses that are not time- consuming, adult learning methods and materials tailor-made for women farmers. Well-trained extension officers with reliable transport and communication to reach the most remote rural areas. Information about how to adapt to, and deal with, the effects of climate change must also be provided (Action Aid International, 2010). Also, loans and savings approaches can be broken down into two basic categories: informal methods and formal methods. Informal methods, e.g. village savings organizations or rotating savings and credit groups, are especially popular with projects that target vulnerable groups such as women. Projects in food security and nutrition, such as Nobo Jibon or CARE Bangladesh‘s Shouardo project, which in part distributes ducks to women in flood-prone areas of Bangladesh, tend to use informal methods (Doss, Bockius-Suwyn, & D‘Souza, 2012). Another way of creating and enforcing women‘s land rights is through projects that specifically target female land ownership and legal structures. Two lessons emerged from interviews with projects with this focus. First, community education—including the education of both women and men as well as local leaders—is paramount. Overall community education on women‘s property rights is an important step in changing discriminatory cultural attitudes and practices and creating a sustainable community structure to support women‘s rights. For UCOBAC‘s Women‘s Land and Property Rights Program, such trainings take the form of community dialogue sessions, drama University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 activities, radio talk shows, and advocacy materials. Another important step in this process is training women, via literacy classes and rights sensitization, to be their own advocates. Finally, ―community‖ can reach all the way to the national arena, and political mobilization on a national level is important in countries without equal land rights. The use of farmers‘ groups is a common tool in linking small farmers to the market.30 By pooling surpluses or funds for inputs, groups can make marketing strategies and technology available to its members, even to those with few resources. Pooling surpluses, often referred to as bulking, is usually a crucial step in connecting smallholders with larger markets. Once smallholder farmers establish a minimum volume of a good, they can reach a variety of buyers, including supermarkets, processors, and international buyers. When expanding into international markets, cooperatives serve as processing centers and are crucial in establishing consistent volumes and qualities. Most projects also relied on input distribution as the basis of the intervention, with inputs tailored to adaptive strategies that work well for women. For example, ducks, instead of chickens, were distributed in flood-prone areas, small greenhouses in regions experiencing more extreme cold, and tree seedlings in regions with soil erosion problems. Government agencies responsible for Land, Agriculture and Justice must develop laws and policies to ensure that women are not dependent on men for access to land and control of land. Traditional/Customary laws and structures must be discussed and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 where necessary changed to ensure that women have equal rights to land. Government agencies responsible for Land, Agriculture, Justice and Local Government must ensure that customary law about land (and related issues such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and violence against women) is in harmony with national policy and law. Government (at the highest level) must stop the lease or sale of public land to private companies or foreign governments at the expense of local land users, especially women. Government agencies responsible for Land, Agriculture and Justice must promote and protect the rights of women and other smallholder farmers who are farming on public land targeted for such lease or sale. Women smallholder farmers need to be recognized as farmers who produce essential food crops and deserve support. Women need to be recognized as adult citizens with: equal rights as landholders joint rights to land where possible the right to enter into contracts (such as credit agreements) independently of men. Women smallholder farmers need information on types and terms of credit facilities language that all can understand support to join or start credit and savings groups easier steps to apply for credit with lower interest rates. When deciding on research priorities, government agencies such as Industrial Development, Cooperatives, Land and Agriculture must pay attention to the needs of women farmers, their views, and their indigenous knowledge. This means going to where women farm, talking with them, and working with them as part of the research process. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 The same agencies must design and provide affordable labor-saving tools and equipment, based on what women need. With support from international agencies like International Fund for Agriculture and Development (IFAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), government agencies (Land, Agriculture and others) must develop crops resistant to drought or flood to enable farmers to adapt to climate change. 2.5 Climate change vulnerability Vulnerability and its causes play essential roles in determining impacts; hence in climate change discourse, comprehending the dynamics of vulnerability is as important as understanding climate itself (Handmer et al 1999). Vulnerability has been defined by several scholars in several ways depending on their fields of research. Kelly and Adger (2000) define vulnerability as the ability or inability of individuals or social groupings to respond to, in the sense of cope with, recover from, or adapt to, any external stress placed on their livelihoods and wellbeing. Blaikie et al., (1994) defined vulnerability as the characteristics of a person or group in terms of their capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover from the impacts of natural hazards. They state that vulnerability can be viewed along a continuum from resilience to susceptibility. Climate change literature provides two main distinct epistemological approaches to conceptualizing vulnerability. One approach views vulnerability as the ―end point,‖ in terms of the amount of (potential) damage caused to a system by a particular climate- related event or hazard. The second approach considers vulnerability as the ―starting University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 point,‖ i.e. as a state that exists within a system before it encounters a hazard event (Kelly and Adger 2000; Brooks, 2003). The end point approach is found in earlier studies of integrated assessment modeling of climate change impacts. In this approach, vulnerability is understood as a residual of climate change impacts minus adaptation; it is therefore the net impact of climate change. This approach emphasizes the physical dimensions of vulnerability. According to O‘Brien et al. (2004), in this approach, assessment of vulnerability is the end point of an analytic sequence that begins with projections of future emission trends, moves on to the development of climate scenarios, and then progresses through biophysical impact studies and the identification of adaptive options. Thus, the end point represents a strong scientific understanding of climate change and other environmental problems. An assumed knowledge of future climate is deeply embedded in end-point analyses in terms of both impacts and adaptations. On the other hand, the ―starting point‖ approach to the assessment of vulnerability to climate change has its origins in studies assessing the vulnerability of social groups to food insecurity and famine (Sen, 1981; Watts and Bohle, 1993; Bohle et al., 1994) and vulnerability to natural hazards (Blaikie et al., 1994, Cutter, 1996). This approach also draws on the entitlement literature regarding access to resources, on the political economy literature in explaining the factors that lead to vulnerability, and on the social capital literature for the means of claiming entitlements and pursuing coping mechanisms (Adger, 1996). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 Adger (1999) also explains that vulnerability is the extent to which a natural or social system is susceptible to sustaining damage from climate change. It is generally perceived to be a function of two components. The first is the effect that an event may have on humans, referred to as capacity or social vulnerability and the second, risk that such an event may occur, often referred to as exposure. Watson et al., (1996) defined vulnerability as the extent to which climate change may damage or harm a system, depending not only on a system‘s sensitivity but also on its ability to adapt to new climatic conditions. Kasperson et al., (2000) defined vulnerability as the degree to which an exposure unit is susceptible to harm due to exposure to a perturbation or stress and the ability or lack of the exposure unit to cope, recover or fundamentally adapt to become a new system or to become extinct. Vulnerability therefore can be said to be the degree to which a system is prone to climate change. Vulnerability changes continuously over time and is driven by physical, social, economic and environmental factors (UNU-EHS, 2006). Physical vulnerability is the potential for physical impact of damage on the built environment and population. Economic vulnerability is the potential impacts of hazards on economic assets and processes (i.e. business interruption, secondary effects such as increased poverty and job loss). Social vulnerability is the potential impacts of harmful events on groups such as the poor, single parent households, pregnant or lactating women, the handicapped, children, and the elderly. All aspects of a system can be affected by climate change hence, the various types of vulnerability as identified by UNU-EHS, (2006). The Africa Environment Outlook describes vulnerability as security continuum, with the state of vulnerability being University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 characterized by low adaptive capacity, limited choices and marginalization; and that of security with high adaptive capacity, diversity in choices, power and control. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which is regarded as the primary, authoritative and scientific international body for the assessment of climate change defines vulnerability as ―the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to cope with adverse effects of climate change, including climate variability and extremes‖ (IPCC 2007). According to this definition, ―vulnerability is a function of the character, magnitude, and rate of climate variation to which a system is exposed, its sensitivity, and its adaptive capacity (IPCC, 2007). It implies that a system is vulnerable if it is exposed and sensitive to the effects of climate change and at the same time has only limited capacity to adapt. On the contrary, a system is less vulnerable if it is less exposed, less sensitive or has a strong adaptive capacity (Smit et al., 1999; Smit and Wandel, 2006). For the sake of this research, the definition given by the IPCC is used as the standard. It is important to note that the vulnerability of a farmer to climate change depends on three factors. First, the farm‘s level of exposure to climate change occurrences, second, the farmer‘s level of sensitivity and third, the farmer‘s adaptive capacity to climate change phenomenon. 2.6 Components of vulnerability 2.6.1 Exposure Exposure is defined as the degree of climate stress upon a particular unit of analysis; it may be represented as long term changes in climate conditions, or by changes in climate variability, including the magnitude and frequency of extreme events (IPCC University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 2001). Two main elements can be considered in exposure. These include things that can be affected by climate change (populations, resources, property etc.) and change in climate itself (precipitation, temperature changes etc.). In the climate change context, exposure relates to ―the nature and degree to which a system is exposed to significant climatic variations‖ (IPCC, 2001). Exposure represents the background to climate conditions and stimuli against which a system operates, and any changes in those conditions. Thus, exposure as a component of vulnerability is not only the extent to which a system is subjected to significant climatic variations, but also the degree and duration of these variations (Adger, 2006). For vulnerability assessments, the climatic variations can be aggregated as climate variability or specific changes in the climate system (e.g. temperature increases, variability and change in rainfall, etc). It has to be noted that systems are often exposed to natural climate variability, independent of future climate changes; however, climate change can alter and increase the future exposure (Lavell et al., 2012). With regard to exposure, it is also important to define the exposure unit, i.e. the activity, group, region or resource that is subjected to climate change (IPCC, 2001). Exposure is the assessment component that compares local or regional projections of climate impacts with a specific inventory of physical assets or communities. Both climate projections and asset inventories are conducive to quantitative analysis. Exposure, then, is the component most commonly undertaken through ―desktop‖ analysis, such as Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, review of historic extreme weather events, regional hazard response plans, flood plain maps and reports University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 on the exposure of specific economic sectors and populations to certain climate impacts. In this study, exposure is represented by one element: Floods: one of the key constraints to women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality is the nearness of their farms to water bodies. Increased rainfall usually leads to a rise in the level of water which affects farms. A major incident of flooding occurred in 2010 which destroyed several farmlands. 2.6.2 Sensitivity to climate change impacts Sensitivity is the degree to which a system will be affected by or responsive to climate stimuli (Smith et al., 2001). The sensitivity of a system to climate change also reflects the ―degree to which a system is affected, either adversely or beneficially, by climate variability or change. Sensitivity is basically the biophysical effect of climate change, but sensitivity can be altered by socio economic changes. The effect may be direct (e.g., a change in crop yield in response to a change in the mean, range or variability of temperature) or indirect (e.g., damages caused by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding due to sea level rise)‖ (IPCC, 2007). Additionally, sensitivity reflects the responsiveness of a system to climatic influences, and the degree to which changes in climate might affect it in its current form. Thus, a sensitive system is highly responsive to climate and can be significantly affected by small climate changes. Sensitivity describes the human–environmental conditions that can worsen the hazard, ameliorate the hazard, or trigger an impact. This measure, which herein reflects the responsiveness of a system to climatic influences, is shaped by both socio-economic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 and ecological conditions and determines the degree to which a group will be affected by environmental stress (SEI, 2004). The sensitivity of agro-ecosystems to climate change, as determined by the FAO/IIASA Agro-ecological Zones (AEZ) model, was assessed within the socio-economic scenarios defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emissions (SRES). The selection of indicators was done through an extensive review of previous reports particularly from Gbetibouo and Ringler (2009), Aandahl and O‘Brien (2001), Moss et al. (2001), Cutter et al. (2000 and 2003) and Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment (2000). This research examines four factors that may influence the sensitivity of a farming region: Age: Age extremes of the age spectrum affect the response of farmers to climate stimuli. Older farmers may lose time and money due to mobility constraints or mobility concerns increasing the burden of climate impacts or lack of resilience Cutter, Mitchell, and Scott (2000) and O‘Brien and Mileti (1992). Educational status: Education of the head of household is also hypothesized to positively affect response to climate change. Access to information on climate change through extension agents or other sources creates awareness and favorable condition for adoption of farming practices that are suitable under climate change (Maddison, 2006). Also, education is linked to socio-economic status, with higher educational attainment resulting in greater lifetime earnings. Lower education constrains the ability to understand warning information and access to recovery information (Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, 2000). Residential status: This study focused on migrants and indigenes and their responses to climate stimuli. Migrants are regarded as renters who are either transient University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 or do not have the financial resources for home ownership. They often lack access to information about financial aid during recovery. In the most extreme cases, renters lack sufficient shelter options when lodging becomes uninhabitable or too costly to afford (Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, 2000). House hold size: Families with large numbers of dependents or single-parent households often have limited finances to outsource care for dependents, and thus must manipulate work responsibilities and care for family members. All these affect the resilience to and recovery from hazards (Blaikie et al., 1994, Morrow, 1999, Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment, 2000 and Puente, 1999). Exposure and sensitivity together describe the potential impact that climate change can have on a system. However, it has to be noted that even though a system may be considered as being highly exposed and/or sensitive to climate change, it does not necessarily mean that it is vulnerable. This is because neither exposure nor sensitivity account for the capacity of a system to adapt to climate change (i.e. its adaptive capacity), whereas vulnerability is the net impact that remains after adaptation is taken into account. Thus, the adaptive capacity of a system affects its vulnerability to climate change by modulating exposure and sensitivity (Yohe and Tol, 2002; Gallopin, 2006; Adgeret al., 2007). 2.6.3 Adaptive capacity to climate change impacts Adaptive capacity denotes the ability of a system to adjust, modify or change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential future damage; take advantage of opportunities; and to cope with the consequences of shock or stress (Brooks, 2003). According to Smith and Pilifosova (2001), adaptive capacity refers to the potential or capability of a system to adjust to climate change, including climate vulnerability and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 extremes, so as to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with consequences. As suggested by the name, adaptive capacity is the capability of a system to adjust to impacts of climate change. The IPCC (2007) further defines adaptive capacity as the ability (or potential) of a system to adjust successfully to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to: (i) moderate potential damages; (ii) to take advantage of opportunities; and/or (iii) to cope with the consequences (IPCC, 2007). Adaptive capacity is a significant factor in characterizing vulnerability. In climate change literature, adaptive capacity is similar or closely related to a host of other commonly used concepts such as adaptability, coping ability, management capacity, stability, robustness, flexibility, and resilience (Smit and Wandel 2006). Adaptive capacity comprises adjustments in both behavior and in resources and technologies (Adgeret al., 2007). Recent literature emphasizes the importance of socio-economic factors for the adaptive capacity of a system, especially highlighting the integral role of institutions, governance and management in determining the ability to adapt to climate change (Smith and Pilifosova, 2001; Brooks and Adger, 2005; Adgeret al., 2007; Engle, 2011; Williamson, Hesseln and Johnston, 2012). Adaptive capacity is generally accepted as a desirable property or positive attribute of a system for reducing vulnerability (Engle, 2011). The more adaptive capacity a system has, the greater is the likelihood that the system is able to adjust and thus is less vulnerable to climate change and variability. Adaptive capacity represents the potential of a system to adapt rather than the actual adaptation (Brooks, 2003). Smith et al., 2001, have identified the following seven factors that determine adaptive University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 capacity. They include wealth, technology, education, institutions, information, infrastructure and social capital. These factors can successfully be used as indicators of adaptive capacity. According to Gbetibouo and Ringler (2009), analyzing vulnerability involves identifying not only the threat, but also the ―resilience,‖ or the responsiveness of the system and its ability to exploit opportunities and resist or recover from the negative effects of a changing environment. The means of resistance are the assets and entitlements that the individuals, households, or communities can mobilize and manage in the face of hardship. There are close linkages between vulnerability and livelihoods, and building resilience is a question of expanding and sustaining these assets (Moser, 1998). Vulnerability is therefore closely linked to asset ownership. The more assets people have, the less vulnerable they are; conversely, the greater the erosion of people‘s assets, the greater their insecurity. In this research, adaptive capacity is described as being dependent upon the following factors: Experience in farming Farmer experience increases the probability of uptake of all adaptation options. Highly experienced farmers are likely to have more information and knowledge on changes in climatic conditions and crop and livestock management practices. Experienced farmers are usually leaders and progressive farmers in rural communities and they can be targeted in promoting adaptation management to other farmers who do not have such experience and are not yet adapting to changing climatic conditions (Madison, 2006). Making use of local successful lead farmers as entry points in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 promoting adaptation among smallholder farmers can have significant positive impacts in increasing use of various adaptation options. Farming experience could be an index of the degree to which the farmer has been exposed to the existing farm practices and technology and, perhaps, the degree of his willingness to accept new innovation. Availability and accessibility of the weather forecast Farmers who are aware of changes in climatic conditions have higher chances of taking adaptive measures in response to observed changes. It is an important precondition for farmers to take up adaptation measures (Madison, 2006). Raising awareness of changes in climatic conditions among farmers would have a greater impact in increasing adaptation to changes in climatic conditions. It is therefore important for governments, meteorological departments, and ministries of agriculture to raise awareness of the changes in climatic conditions through appropriate communication pathways that are available to farmers such as extension services, farmer groups, input and output dealers, radio and television among others. These need to be accompanied by the various crop and livestock management practices that farmers could take up in response to forecasted changes in climatic conditions such as varying planting dates, using irrigation, or growing crop varieties suitable to the predicted climatic conditions. Information concerning climate change forecasting, adaptation options and other agricultural production activities remains an important factor affecting use of various adaptation measures for most farmers. Lack of and or limitations in information (seasonal and long-term climate changes and agricultural production) increases high University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 downside risks from failure associated with uptake of new technologies and adaptation measures (Jones 2003; Kandlinkar and Risbey 2000). Availability of better climate and agricultural information helps farmers make comparative decisions among alternative crop management practices and this allows them to better choose strategies that make them cope well with changes in climatic conditions (Baethgen et al. 2003). Farm Based Organizations (FBOs) The incentives for FBO formation are accessing social and economic benefits that are greater than what may be achieved without collective action. FBOs give farmers bargaining power in the market place, enable cost-effective delivery of extension services, and empower FBO members to influence policies that affect their livelihoods. Farmers organize themselves into FBOs primarily to improve their chances of receiving training, grants, and loans and to collectively engage in economically beneficial activities. FBOs interested in economic activities look to the profits from the activities as a primary or supplementary source of income. If the goal of an FBO is to make the members economically better off, guiding them to economically viable activities may be more beneficial than building capacity through training (Salifu et al., 2012). The most common training received by groups are in agricultural practices, bookkeeping, and leadership. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 Extension support Agricultural extension or agricultural advisory services, comprises the entire set of organizations that support people engaged in agricultural production and facilitate their efforts to solve problems; link to markets and other players in the agricultural value chain; and obtain information, skills, and technologies to improve their livelihoods (Birner et al. 2009 and Davis 2009). Extension visits afford the farmers the opportunity to learn improved technologies and how to acquire the needed inputs and services. Access to free extension services significantly increases the probability of taking up adaptation options except moving from faming to non-farming. Extension services provide an important source of information on climate change as well as agricultural production and management practices (Nhemachena et al., 2014). Farmers who have significant extension contacts have better chances to be aware of changing climatic conditions and also of the various management practices that they can use to adapt to changes in climatic conditions (Nhemachena et al., 2014). Improving access to extension services for farmers has the potential to significantly increase farmer awareness of changing climatic conditions as well as adaptation measures in response to climatic changes. Access to loans Access to affordable credit increases financial resources of farmers and their ability to meet transaction costs associated with the various adaptation options they might want to take. With more financial and other resources at their disposal, farmers are able to change their management practices in response to changing climatic conditions and other factors and are better able to make use of all the available information they University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 might have on changing conditions, both climatic and other socioeconomic factors. For instance, with financial resources and access to markets farmers are able to buy new crop varieties, new irrigation technologies, and other important inputs they may need to change their practices to suit the forecasted and prevailing climatic conditions. Access to irrigation The irrigation system consists of a main intake structure or pumping station which is mostly drawn from water source, a conveyance system, a field application system and/or a drainage system. Access to irrigation facilities helps improve participation and decision making by the poor, at both micro- and meso-levels (Hussain and Hanjra, 2004). Farmers‘ involvement in irrigation management and decision making delivers direct benefits at farm household level, and indirect benefits at system level. Household-level benefits accrue in terms of higher water productivity, profitability, and labor savings due to higher water use efficiency, improved maintenance, and accountability in system management. These effects may translate into system-wide benefits, thereby improving the overall performance of irrigation systems and promoting its sustainability. Storage facilities Constructing on-farm storage facilities can help farmers succeed financially by giving them greater control over their products and their timing of marketing. Availability of storage facilities help reduce post-harvest losses and encourage farmers to continue to increase their level of productivity. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 Adaptive strategies on floods and droughts Several strategies on floods and droughts have been considered by various farmers over the years. Drawing upon a series of shared learning dialogues with affected communities, non-government organizations and local government officials, researchers have come up with a number of soft and hard resiliency measures which reduce vulnerability to natural hazards. These measures take into account the unique interplay among physical, social, economic and political relationships. The ability to reduce vulnerability to disasters is related to the robustness of the systems (Moench and Dixit, 2004). These systems include: the presence of diversified media and accessibility of information about weather in general and hazards in particular and access to a range of economic and livelihood options. The three components of vulnerability (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity) as well as their determinants are specific to place and system and they can vary over time (i.e. they are dynamic), by type and by climatic stimuli such as increasing temperature, droughts, etc. (Smit and Wandel, 2006; Adgeret al., 2007). Thus, vulnerability is context-specific, and the factors that make a system vulnerable to the effects of climate change depend on the nature of the system and the type of effect in question (Brooks, Adger and Kelly, 2005), i.e. the factors that make farmers in semi- arid Africa vulnerable to drought will usually not be identical to those that make farmers in Northern Europe vulnerable to extreme weather events (cf. Schröter et al., 2005a; Challinor et al., 2007). In general, women tend to have more limited access to assets such as physical, financial, human, social, and natural capital that would enhance their capacity to adapt University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 to climate change. (Aguilar, 2009). Thus, any climate adaptation strategy should include actions to build up women‘s assets. Interventions should pay special attention to the need to enhance women‘s capacity to manage risks with a view of reducing their vulnerability and maintaining or increasing their opportunities for development (Worldwatch Institute, 2012). Ways to reduce climate-related risks for women include improving their access to skills, education, and knowledge; strengthening their ability to prepare for and manage disasters; supporting their political ability to demand access to risk- management instruments; and helping households gain greater access to credit, markets and social security. Despite the many challenges they face, women are already playing an important role in developing strategies to cope with climate change. They have always been leaders in community revitalization and natural resource management, and there are countless instances where their participation has been critical to community survival. 2.7 Conceptual Framework This section deals with an interactive compilation of the indicators, concepts and the major components of climate change leading to vulnerability and its consequences. Vulnerability as a function of sensitivity, adaptive capacity and exposure with some indicators relevant to establishing the degree of vulnerability to climate change impacts amongst women farmers are illustrated in Figure 2.1. Exposure, defined as the degree of climate stress upon a particular unit of analysis may be represented as long term changes in climate variability, including the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 magnitude and frequency of events (IPCC, 2001). The unit of analysis for which exposure was determined is the farmland. The farmland‘s liability to flooding was determined. Sensitivity is the degree to which a system will be affected by or responsive to climate stimuli (Smith et al., 2001). The degree to which the women crop farmers respond to climate stimuli through indicators such as age, educational status, number of dependents and residence status were measured. Adaptive capacity denotes the ability of a system to adjust, modify or change its characteristics and actions to moderate potential future damage, take advantage of opportunities and cope with the consequences of shock or stress (Brooks, 2003). Indicators used in measuring the adaptive capacity of the women crop farmers include involvement in farm based organizations, access to loan, training in climate related issues and access to micro insurance. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 This framework specifies the processes through which the vulnerability of the women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality was measured. Figure 2.1: Conceptual framework: Measuring level of Vulnerability. Source: Author, 2015. Climate Change Sensitivity of women based on: Age Educational status Marital status Household size Residence status Exposure of farmlands to: Floods Adaptive capacity of women: Based on participation in FBOs Access to training Access to loans Access to extension support Access to irrigation facilities Access to storage facilities Vulnerability University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 47 2.8 Vulnerability Assessment of climate change impacts According to Gbetibouo et al. (2009), approaches to vulnerability assessment attempt to explore questions about who and what are vulnerable, to what are they vulnerable, their degree of vulnerability, the causes of their vulnerability, and what responses can lessen their vulnerability. However, defining a criteria for quantifying vulnerability has proven difficult, in part because vulnerability is often not a directly observable phenomenon (Downing et al., 2001). Despite the many challenges that exist in quantifying vulnerability, several quantitative and semi-quantitative metrics have been proposed and applied. These may be classified into two main approaches: the indicator approach and vulnerability variable assessments. A vulnerability assessment is the process of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing (or ranking) the vulnerabilities in a system. Examples of systems for which vulnerability assessments are performed include, but are not limited to, information technology systems, energy supply systems, water supply systems, transportation systems and communication systems. Vulnerability variable assessments measure and assess the vulnerability of selected variables of concern to specific sets of stressors. Vulnerability is defined in terms of the changes that have occurred or will occur in these selected variables (e.g., income) or stressors. This method can assess relationships across a wide range of stressors to the extent that, the selected stressors characterizing a given place, provide important indications of its vulnerability (Luers et al. 2003). A few generic vulnerability metrics have been proposed. For example, the variability of selected variables of concern has been applied as a metric of vulnerability, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 48 especially in economic and agricultural studies (Pritchett et al. 2000; Heitzmann et al. 2002; Luers et al. 2003). Another general metric is the probability that a variable of concern will cross a threshold (Schimmelpfennig and Yohe 1999; Mansuri and Healy 2002). While these metrics are useful, they are not adequate to fully capture all the dimensions of vulnerability. Indeed, no single measure can fully capture the multiple dimensions of vulnerability (Luers et al. 2003). The indicator approach uses a specific set or combination of indicators (proxy indicators) and measures vulnerability by computing indices, averages or weighted averages for those selected variables or indicators. This approach can be applied at any scale (e.g., household, district, national or system). The major limitation of the indicator approach is its inability to capture the complex, temporal and social dynamics of the various systems being measured. In addition, the application of indices is limited by considerable subjectivity in the selection of variables and their relative weights, by the availability of data at various scales, and by the difficulty of testing or validating the different metrics (Luers et al. 2003). However, the indicator approach is valuable for monitoring trends and exploring conceptual frameworks. According to Leichenko and O‘Brien (2002), composite indices capture the multi- dimensionality of vulnerability in a comprehensible form. Vulnerability indicators are needed for practical decision-making processes, such as to provide policy makers with appropriate information about where the most vulnerable individuals are located. The identification of zones of vulnerability provides a systematic rationale for targeting proactive measures aimed at protecting populations. Thus, policy makers use University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 49 indicators not only for understanding vulnerability, but also for direct decision making. According to Vogel and O‘Brien (2004), capturing the differential elements of vulnerability is a prerequisite for the formulation and implementation of policies that will promote equitable and sustainable development. The indicator approach is the most common method adopted for quantifying vulnerability in the global change community. It is used to develop a better understanding of the socio-economic and biophysical factors contributing to vulnerability (Hebb and Mortsch 2007). Several composite indicators are known from the field of sustainable development; these include the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 1990), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Food Emergency Warning Systems program, the Food Security Index by Downing (1992), the Genuine Progress Indicator (Venetoulis and Cobb 2004) and the State of the Future Index (Glenn and Gordon 2004). Examples of composite indicators related to vulnerability mapping include the Index of Vulnerability of Lonergan et al. 1998 and the climate globalization vulnerability maps of The Energy Research Institute (TERI) 2003). In this research, the indicator approach was used to identify the vulnerable nature of women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality. 2.9 Conclusion From the theoretical and empirical reviews made above, it is evident that most countries are experiencing climate change impacts at varying degrees with levels of vulnerability and adaptation options. Also, for a thorough understanding and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 50 evaluation of a systems vulnerability status, all components involved in estimating a vulnerability index must be analyzed and established. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 51 CHAPTER THREE STUDY SITES AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction This chapter focuses on a detailed description of the study area, methods of data collection, methods of data analysis, and limitations of the study. 3.2 Description of the Study Area 3.2.1 Physical Characteristics Agona West is situated in the eastern corner of the Central Region within latitudes 5030‘ and 5050‘N and between longitudes 0035‘ and 0055‘ W. It has a total land area of 447 square kilometers. The Municipality is divided into six (6) sub-districts or Town/Area Councils. It is bordered to the North by Agona East, to the South by Gomoa East , and to the Northwest and West by Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa and Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Districts. The Municipal capital, Swedru, is at a nodal point of roads radiating to the rich cocoa growing areas of the Central Region. Swedru is approximately twenty- four kilometers North of Winneba. Generally, the Municipality lies in the wet semi-equatorial climate zone. It has two main crop growing seasons: a bio-modal pattern of rainfall with the maximum occurring in May/June and September/October. The annual rainfall amount lies within the range of 1000 – 1400mm. The dry season starts in December and ends in March University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 52 with the highest mean monthly temperature of 33.80 occurring between March/April and the lowest of about 29.40 C in August. 3.2.2 Relief and Drainage Agona West has a diversified relief with altitudes varying between 75-150 meters above sea level with the highest point being 350 meters. Agona West has undulating and sloppy topography from north to south with isolated hillocks in the north- east, most of which are made up of granite rocks. The main river which primarily drains through the municipality is the ―Akora‖ River. There are other small rivers like ―Abena‖, and ―Enchiwi‖, which could be useful for purposes of irrigation. 3.2.3 Soil and land use The major soil type found in the Municipality is classified as Forest ochrosols. These soils are alkaline and richly supplied with nutrients which make them suitable for cultivating varied agricultural produce like cocoa, citrus and coconut(AWMA, 2010). Typical forest food crops like plantain, banana, cassava, cocoyam and maize are also grown. Vegetable and sugar cane cultivation is widespread. Agriculture occupies most of the land use; however, certain areas are devoted to forestry and community settlements. The area falls within the moist tropical and semi-deciduous forest with a lot of valuable trees like mahogany, sapele, silk cotton, wawa and odum. Due to over logging, most of the trees are no more. The most predominant and giant tree left is the silk cotton. The recent award of concessions for the harvesting of this tree poses the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 53 greatest ecological danger to the environment. Afforestation, particularly the cultivation of teak and other forest trees would become very important economic ventures in future. The resource base of the Municipality is determined by the natural resources of the area. This has made the Municipality‘s economy predominantly agricultural oriented. As a result of this, all the products of the Municipality are mainly agricultural outputs. Cash crop production dominates all farming activities of the Municipality e.g. cocoa, citrus, oil palm and coconut. Agriculture employs more than 64% of the Municipal population. However, there are few irrigation systems in the Municipality that enables farming to be perennial. These irrigation systems have been constructed by only three small group farmers spread across the municipality who use dugouts for vegetable farming. Crop yields recorded in the municipality are low and the major contributing factors include outmoded agricultural practices, declining soil fertility, small farm holdings and use of very simple technology and over dependence on the weather. This notwithstanding, Agona West still has enormous potential to increase overall output because, agricultural practice is still not intensive enough and about 20% of arable land still remains uncultivated. The municipality‘s agricultural land use has been grouped into three by a map made by CERSGIS. This includes the mixed arable cropping notable in Agona Swedru and Abodom, the mixed arable and tree cropping which stretches from Agona Nyakrom, through Kwaman to Bobikuma and the mixed arable and tree cropping as depicted in the Nkum area shown in Figure. 3.3. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 54 Agricultural technology in the Municipality is mainly traditional and subsistence, employing farming implements like hoes, cutlasses and axes which partly explains the low productivity. Though a considerable number of farmers use improved seed varieties and agro-chemicals, these have not made a significant impact on production because, farmers lack the capital to enable them use these inputs on a sustainable basis. The Municipality produces large quantities of cassava, maize, plantain, cocoyam and vegetables. Cocoa, palm oil and coffee are also produced. Granite for the production of quarry stone for all types of construction abound. 3.2.4 Economic activities The municipality is endowed with several economic activities. Winning of sand occurs in several parts of the Municipality, particularly in Swedru. Palm kernel oil is processed into local soap in several of the large communities. Distillation of local gin is predominant in the Abodom and Kurantumi areas. Swedru is home to a number of hotels of international status where workshops and conferences are held. There are very good second cycle educational institutions in the Municipality. The Municipality is well served by major trunk roads and health facilities (Agona West Municipality, 2010). Trade and commerce is the second most important economic activity throughout the Municipality and the Municipality has built a new market and rehabilitated the old market in order to improve upon this important activity. When cognizance is taken of the fact that the main economic backbone of the Municipality – cocoa cultivation- is seriously on the decline, then the high incidence of poverty cannot be over emphasized. Pictures of some farmlands are shown in Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 55 3.2.5 Demographic characteristics According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, the Agona West Municipality has an estimated total population of 115,358 with females slightly dominating at an estimated population of 61, 199 while male population was estimated at 54,159. The annual growth rate between 2000 and 2010 is 2.8 per annum. The Municipality has an approximated female population of 52% and 48% males. It has a working population of about 48% who take care of the aged (6.5%) and the youth (45%). Figure 3.1: A cassava and plantain farm Source: Field data, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 56 Figure 3.2: A maize farm of a respondent Source: Field data, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 57 Figure 3.3: Agricultural land use map of Agona West Municipality. Source: CERSGIS, 2014. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 58 3.3 Methods of data collection Data for this study is collected from various sources and categorized into primary, secondary. Obtaining primary data involved administering questionnaires, collection of Global Positioning System (GPS) points, map interpretation, flood levels and flood volume estimations. Secondary data include rainfall and temperature data, agricultural land use map of the study area and published information on flood generation factors such as rainfall and increased water levels of rivers and other water bodies. The use of Google earth for elevation verifications, obtaining and downloading the required software, land use and Digital Elevation Models (DEM‘s) were obtained from the internet. The survey method was used where participants answered questions administered through interviews and questionnaires. Open and closed ended questions were used. The open-ended questions allowed for a greater variety of responses from participants, however, they were difficult to analyze statistically because the data had to be coded or reduced to some scale. Closed-ended questions on the other hand were easy to analyze statistically. Nevertheless, they had the disadvantage of limiting the responses that participants gave. Polit and Hungler (1999) refer to the population as an aggregate or totality of all the objects, subjects or members that conform to a set of specifications. In this, study the population was women farmers in the Agona West Municipality. Women crop farmers of all age groups, educational status, socio-economic status and residential areas who fit the criteria that specify the characteristics that people in the population must possess in order to be included in the study were selected. The process of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 59 selecting a portion of the population to represent the entire population is known as sampling (LoBiondo-Wood & Haber 1998; Polit and Hungler 1999). A designated number of the women crop farmers in the municipality were selected. 3.3.1 Sampling size Estimation of the sample size for this study was done using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) which is a commonly employed method. Krejcie and Morgan (1970) used the following formula to determine sampling size: S = required sample size = the table value of chi-square for one degree of freedom at the desired confidence level N = the population size P = the population proportion (assumed to be 0.50) d = the degree of accuracy expressed as a proportion (0.05). The Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Food and Agriculture and Agona West Municipality in 2012 asserted that the municipality had a total farming population of 3,344 with a female population of 1,114 and a male population of 2,230. The women farmer‘s population was approximated to 1200 and based on Krejcie and Morgan‘s (1970) table for determining sample size. The best sample size for the population is 291. It was observed from the field that most of the women crop farmers cultivated maize, cassava, vegetables such as okro, tomatoes etc. These crops are highly sensitive to climate stresses and as such only women crop farmers cultivating these three crops were sampled. Geographical clusters were formed around the major urban University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 60 (Agona Swedru) and area (Abodom, Nyakrom, Bobikuma, Nkum, and Otsenkorang) councils since the population was geographically dispersed to make the sampling procedure time efficient and cost effective. 3.3.2 Sampling technique Pre-testing of the questionnaire was done through expert review and field test. The researcher and supervisors conducted an expert review on the questionnaire determining whether each item was problematic. Questions that were unclear were reframed and those that did not meet the objectives rejected. A one-day field test was conducted with 20 respondents to observe how questions were answered and to correct or change questions that respondents could not relate to in their field of work. Validity is defined as a measure of truth or falsity of the data obtained through using the research instrument. It is classified as internal and external validity of the measuring instrument (Burns and Grove, 2001). The occurrence of an event, which may be unrelated to the study but can affect the result of the study, poses a possible threat to the internal validity of the data (Burns and Grove 2001). The most important threats to the internal validity of this study were factors other than floods and drought. Relative humidity and storms resulting from climate change variations and stresses are factors which were not studied nor measured in this study. These factors can be considered as extraneous variables which can possibly affect the vulnerability of the women farmers. Other extraneous variables that can affect the vulnerability of the farmers include bad farming practices, soil fertility and the variety of crops being grown. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 61 External validity refers to the extent to which the research results can be generalized beyond the sample used in the study (Burns and Grove 2001). The external validity of a research project can be threatened by the Hawthorne effect, the type of sampling method selected, the validity of the research instrument (the survey method) and by the predictive value of the research instrument. The Hawthorne effect is the behaviour that is displayed by participants just because they are aware that they are involved in a study (Polit and Hungler 1999). Being aware that they were involved in a study estimating the rate at which women are vulnerable to climate impacts, the women might have given answers to please the interviewer, instead of providing information about their real farming experiences. This type of threat to external validity was minimized by providing explanations to respondents and not compelling them into giving any responses. They were requested to be as honest and clear as possible. The type of sampling method used affects the generalization of the research results to the entire population, thereby threatening the external validity of the results (Polit and Hungler 1999). A cluster sampling method was used in this study, and a sample of 291 women farmers was involved. External validity might have been compromised since not all farmers in the geographical areas where clusters were made were involved due to the sampling method used. According to De Vos & Fouché (1998), a valid instrument measures the concept in question, and it measures it accurately. There are three major classifications of estimating the validity of the data-collecting instrument, the self-evident measures, pragmatic measures and content validity (Brink and Wood 1998). In this study, the validity of the measuring instrument was observed by adhering to the characteristics of the first two of these measures. Self-evident measures refer to the extent to which University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 62 the instrument measures what it is supposed to measure, which is classified as face and content validity. In ensuring face validity, the questionnaire was objectively assessed. The items on the questionnaire were given to colleagues to check whether the questions were relevant, definite and clear. Content validity is the extent to which the content of the instrument appears to comprehensively examine the scope it is intended to measure (Bowling, 1997). A comprehensive literature review was done on climate change and its impacts. Various studies suggest that women are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts and those in developing countries who are generally poor are most affected. Lack of education and poor socio-economic status worsens the effect climate change has on women. In times of droughts or floods women tend to lose their farms and in other case their lands as well. Little or no training is given to these farmers by agricultural extension workers which affect their ability to cope. Information obtained during the literature review helped to set this study‘s research questions. The questionnaire‘s content has been designed to collect data bordering on the demographic information of the participants, their degree of sensitivity and adaptive capacity using indicators adapted from United Nations Development Programme‘s Human Development Index. These helped to include relevant content guiding the achievement of the study‘s objectives. Reliability is the degree of consistency with which the instrument measures an attribute (Polit and Hungler 1999). It further refers to the extent to which independent administration of the same instrument yields the same results under comparable conditions (De Vos & Fouché, 1998). The less variation the instrument produces in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 63 repeated measurements of an attribute the higher the reliability. There is also a relationship between reliability and validity. An instrument which is not valid cannot possibly be reliable (Polit and Hungler 1999). In ensuring reliability in this study, each respondent‘s answered questionnaire was operationalized within a threshold of 1 (highly vulnerable) and 0 (not vulnerable). Data on sensitivity was differently computed from that of adaptive capacity and their scores determined. The procedure used in determining vulnerability was clear and consistent to ensure reliability. The data used in the determination of flood exposure in the Agona West Municipality are listed Landsat 8 data (30 m resolution) captured on 22nd March 2014, Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of 90m resolution and the Global Positioning System (GPS). Erdas Imagine software was used to classify the raster image obtained from Landsat 8 into a cover map. The map contains five (5) different classes, which are palm plantation, shrub, built up, forest and farm. The image has some few clouds, which were masked before the classification. An unsupervised classification was performed. The map composition was done using the ArcMap software. A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of 60 m resolution generated from contour maps was used to map the flood risk of the study area using ArcGIS model builder and ground truth was applied to validate the output map. The two main parameters used were elevation and nearness to river bodies. The DEM was used to produce elevation values which range from 147 m to 772 m above mean sea level. This was reclassified into nine (9) levels using natural breaks (Jenks) classification method. The lowest elevation range is taken as the most vulnerable and vice versa. Ground truthing was done by picking Global Positioning System (GPS) points of some farmlands to ensure University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 64 they fall within the areas demarcated on the satellite image for farmlands. The output is depicted in Figure 4.3. The rivers depicted by lines were used to calculate line density for the whole study area. The line density values decreases away from the line, thus, depicting the fact that the further an area is from a river, the less likely it is to be flooded. These two factors were weighted using ArcGIS ―weighted overlay‖ to give the resultant model depicting flood vulnerability. The flood vulnerability model output was reclassified from a range of 2 – 9 vulnerability levels (2 = worst case) to three levels as (i.e. high, medium and low risks). The output was a flood risk map indicating high, medium and low flood risk zones. The detailed output maps are provided in the Appendix. 3.4 Methods of Data Analysis This research applied statistical analysis to the data collected from the field through the use of questionnaire. A vulnerability index was developed using indicators from the Human Development Index (HDI). Construction of vulnerability index for the women farmers consisted of several steps. First, set of indicators itemized on the questionnaire were based on two of the three components of vulnerability which are sensitivity and adaptive capacity. These indicators were selected based on personal observation, the availability of data and previous research (Blaike et. al., 1994; Cutter 1996 and Gbetibouo et al., 2006). Sensitivity indicators include age, education, marital status, residence status and household size. Indicators used in measuring the level of adaptive capacity include involvement in farm based organizations, training in climate change issues, access to loan, access to agricultural extension services, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 65 access to seed and grain storage facilities, access to irrigation facilities, adaptation strategies to flood, and adaptation strategies to drought. The second step was to normalize the indicators into different units and scales. Data was put on one scale to make it easy to work with. The methodology used in the United Nation Development Programme‘s (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) (UNDP, 2006) was adopted. In order to obtain figures which are free from different units and also to standardize their values, they are first normalized so that they all lie between 0 and 1. Before doing this, it is important to identify the functional relationship between the indicators and vulnerability. Two types of functional relationship are possible: vulnerability increases with an increase in the value of the indicator whiles there is a decrease in vulnerability with a decrease in the value and indicator. That is, the higher the value of the indicator, the higher the vulnerability. For example, a farmer who is 50 years and above is more vulnerable to climate change than the one who is below 29 years. In this case, we say that the variables have increased functional relationship with vulnerability and the normalization is done using the formula: …………………………………………………………….3.1 N = normalized scale x= observed value min x- minimum value max x= maximum value It is important to note that each item on every questionnaire was normalized in other to determine the overall vulnerability of the farmer. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 66 Using the formula equation 3.1, if a farmer‘s observed value in age is 60 years and the maximum and minimum ages are 60 and 20 years respectively, then The answer derived denotes that the age of the farmer makes her highly sensitive to climate change impacts. 3.5 Measurement of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) is the U.S. government‘s repository of standards based vulnerability management data. The NVD provides Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) which offers an open framework for communicating the characteristics and impacts of vulnerability scores for almost all known vulnerabilities. The NVD provides severity rankings of low, medium, and high in addition to the numeric CVSS scores: vulnerabilities are labeled low severity if they have a CVSS base score of 0.0-3.9, medium severity if they have a base CVSS score of 4.0-6.9, and high severity if they have a CVSS base score of 7.0-1.00. These scores were adapted to quantify the final level of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts to lie within 0 and 1 in order with the normalization of the indicators with reference to the UNDP‘s Human Development Index. All indicators used in measuring sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts vulnerability after their normalization were run in the ANOVA software and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 67 an overall ranking into low, medium and high was established using the NVD-CVSS for vulnerability where low severity has a CVSS base score of 0.0 - 0.39 with a medium severity score of 0.4 - 0.69 and a high severity of.0.7.0- 0.1. In compliance with the characteristics of descriptive research as stipulated by Jackson (2009), a descriptive analysis was conducted. Descriptive designs are used for the development of a database for any science. In this study, databases on indicators that make women farmers vulnerable to climate change have been identified and the demographic information obtained would aid in describing the population of the women farmers. Each indicator was analyzed by calculating the mean of every item and represented using bar graphs, pie charts and tables. 3.6 Limitations of the study The research was limited by four major factors. The first was the type of sampling technique chosen, second, access to relevant information, third, technique in measuring exposure and fourth, the focus on women. The two-stage cluster sampling technique used led to the sampling of respondents with similar characteristics leading to an underrepresentation of the cluster. Moreover, respondents were reluctant in giving out information especially on ones bordering on their income which was an important variable in accessing vulnerability. Also, it was impossible to identify all the farmlands of the respondents due to time and financial constraints which could have made it easier to link each farmer‘s level of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to exposure so as to arrive at an accurate state of vulnerability. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 68 Lastly, the research focused solely on women farmers due to their perceived marginalization in society as stated in literature. These limitations could be countered with sufficient time and financial resources. The one-stage cluster sampling technique would have been best for this research to avoid underrepresentation of the clusters. Incessant education and assurance of anonymous uses of data collected from respondents would have been necessary to promote the release of information. Moreover, each respondent‘s farmland could have been identified to show where it actually falls in the flood risk map to minimize inferences. Finally, best results would have been attained if there was a comparison between male and female farmers to ascertain which of the two were more vulnerable to climate change impacts. 3.7 Conclusion The survey method used in data collection was essential to ascertain the degree of sensitivity and exposure of the women crop farmers. The flood risk map developed in the course of the study helped to identify the rate at which the farmers are exposed to climate change impacts. Though some limitations to the study emerged, the methodology used helped to minimize it to the barest minimum. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 69 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 4.1 Introduction This chapter provides an analysis of the results of the primary data gathered from the field. More specifically, the results cover the surveyed women crop farmers‘ exposure to climate change impacts, descriptive characteristics of the women crop farmers based on all the variables that were used as indicators of sensitivity and their adaptive capacity to climate change impacts. 4.2 Women crop farmers’ exposure to climate vulnerability Data generated from the map displayed in figure 4.1 shows that all farmlands in the municipality occupy an area of 65,807,100 km2. Farmlands in high risk zones occupy about 7,812,900 km2, farmlands in the medium risk zone also occupy about 32,781,600 km2 whiles 25,212,600 km2 of farmlands lie in the low risk zone. The largest river draining through the municipality is the ―Akora‖ river which increases sharply any time it rains intensely flooding farmlands closer to it. Other smaller rivers include ―Abena‖ and ―Enchiwi‖ which does flood intermittently when it rains heavily. However, in January 2015, the ―Ankora‖ and ―Yaa Fitaa‖ streams located in Ahamadonko in the Nkum area council overflowed its banks causing flooding on nearby farmlands. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 70 Figure 4.1: Flood risk map of Agona West Municipality Source: Author, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 71 4.3 Socio economic background of the women crop farmers 4.3.1 Age A sample of 291 respondents was taken for the survey. Out of 291 respondents, 29.2% were between the ages of 56 and 70, 22.7% were between the ages of 46 and 55 with 27.1% being within the age range of 36 and 45. The survey further recorded 21% within the ages of 20 and 35. Table 4.1 shows the information about the distribution of the ages of the sampled population. It is also evident from the table that about 51.9% of the respondents are above the age of 45. This implies that most of the women farmers are in their old age and would be highly sensitive to any climate stress. 4.3.2 Educational status Table 4.2 below shows the educational status of the women farmers surveyed. Among the 291 respondents 38.1% of them have no education whereas about 40.2% went through primary education. A record of about 21.6% of the respondents was taken to represent those who went through secondary school or at least enrolled in the secondary school. More than 61% of the respondents have low education. Education reduces sensitivity to climate stress since it is capable of providing alternative adaptation options to victims of climate change. However, over 60% of respondents recording low level of education indicates that these respondents are highly sensitive to climate change. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 72 Table 4.1: Age range of women crop farmers in Agona West Municipality Age Group Frequency Valid Percent Cumulative Percent 56-70 85 29.2 29.2 46-55 66 22.7 51.9 36-45 79 27.1 79.0 20-35 61 21.0 100.0 Total 291 Source: Field data, 2015 Table 4.2: Educational status of respondents in Agona West Municipality Educational Status Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent secondary 63 21.6 21.6 primary 117 40.2 61.9 none 111 38.1 100.0 Total 291 100.0 Source: Field data, 2015 4.3.3 Residence status Table 4.3 indicates that about 65.3% of the women farmers surveyed were migrants from surrounding villages whereas about 34.7% were indigenes of the towns and villages where they were interviewed. Migrants are settlers who would seek shelter elsewhere when any climate stress occurs. This implies that the food security of the municipality would be at risk when migrants seek greener pastures elsewhere after a disaster has occurred. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 73 Table 4.3: Respondents’ residence status Residence Status Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent Migrants 190 65.3 65.3 Indigenes 101 34.7 100.0 Total 291 100.0 Source: Field data, 2015 4.3.4 Number of dependents Among the 291 women farmers surveyed, 3 of them had a household size of 10, 16 of the respondents had 8, 21 respondents had 7 household members, 40 had 6 household members with 38, 81, 60, and 32 recording 5, 4, 3, and 2 respectively. On the whole, mode of 4 dependents was recorded for all the respondents with a minimum value of 2 and a maximum value of 10. 4.3.5 Analysis of women crop farmers’ sensitivity to vulnerability. The NVD-CVSS was used to score the level of vulnerability within the ranges of low, medium and high. About 60 respondents representing 20.62% of the sampled population were within the low sensitivity range whereas 138 and 93 respondents representing 47.42% and 31.96% were within the sensitivity ranges of medium and high respectively. Surveyed women farmers within the low sensitivity range had a mean of 0.29 with a minimum value of 0.159 and a maximum value of 0.38. Also, surveyed women farmers within the medium range recorded a mean value of 0.4 with a minimum value of 0.4 and a maximum value of 0.69. More so, respondents within the maximum level of sensitivity had a mean value of 0.8 with a minimum value of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 74 0.7 and a maximum value of 1. Table 4.4 shows all other statistical analysis of the surveyed women farmers. Table 4.4: Statistics on women crop farmers’ sensitivity to vulnerability Sensitivity Frequency Percentage (%) Mean Standard deviation Minimum value Maximu m value Low 60 20.62 0.2964468 0.6003545 0.159028 0.15902 8 Medium 138 47.42 0.5412389 0.842892 0.4 0.69513 9 High 93 31.96 0.8243802 0.918873 0.706944 1 Source: Field data, 2015. 4.4 The adaptive capacity of the women crop farmers to climate change vulnerability The level of adaptive capacity was measured using the following indicators: farming experience, weather information availability and accessibility, availability of Farm Based Organization (FBO), training received from FBOs, access to loan facilities, access to extension services and support, access to irrigational facilities, access to storage facilities and availability of adaptive strategies to floods and droughts. 4.4.1 Farming experience Data received from the surveyed women crop farmers indicated that the women crop farmers have been farming for a minimum of 5 years and a maximum of 40 years. Specifically about 2.6% had a farming experience of between 33 to 41 years, 7.4% had been farming for about 24 to 32 years, and 21.9% and 68.1% had been in farming University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 75 for 15 to 23 years and 5-14 years respectively. Table 4.5 shows the farming experience of the sampled population on their farmlands. Table 4.5: Farming experience of respondents of Agona West Municipality Farming experience (Years) Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent 33-41 7 2.6 2.6 24-32 20 7.4 10.0 15-23 59 21.9 31.9 5-14 184 68.1 100.0 Total 270 100.0 Source: Field data, 2015. 4.4.2 Availability and accessibility of the weather forecast Out of 291 surveyed respondents, 60.1% of them indicated that they had access to the weather forecast whilst 39.9% of them specified that they received no information on issues concerning the weather but relied on intuition. 4.4.3 Availability of Farm Based Organizations (FBOs) Out of the 291 surveyed women farmers, 44% indicated that they had joined or were members of FBOs and 56% indicated otherwise. Table 4.6 briefly illustrates the responses received from the respondents. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 76 Table 4.6: Availability of farm based organizations. Access to Farm based organization Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent Yes 128 44.0 44.0 No 163 56.0 100.0 Total 291 100.0 Source: Field data, 2015. 4.4.4 Training from FBOs Out the 44% of people who agreed that they are members of the FBOs about 66% of them further asserted that they had received training from such organizations with about 34% of them stating that they have not received any form of training from these organizations. 4.4.5 Accessibility of loans 47.1% of the women crop farmers surveyed stated that they have access to loan facilities whereas 52.9% of the respondents asserted that they have no access to loans. Access to credit facilities enables farmers to improve their output and also develop alternative modes (digging of channels, well and dams) of withstanding climate stress (flood) in order to increase their adaptive capacity. However, only less than half of the respondents have access to loans hence reducing their adaptive capacity. 4.4.6 Extension support 128 women crop farmers out of the 291 sampled population responded favorably to receiving extension services and support with 168 of the sampled population receiving no form of extension services or response. Extension services improve adaptive capacity through the provision of the right information on relevant farm University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 77 practices. With most of the respondents not being able to access these services it implies that their adaptive capacity would be reduced. 4.4.7 Access to irrigation facilities About 43% of the population accepted having access to irrigational facilities. However, 57% of them reported that they have no access to irrigational facilities. The sampled population‘s access to irrigational facilities is shown in the table below. Table 4.7: Respondents’ access to irrigation facilities Irrigation Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Yes 125 43.0 43.0 43.0 No 166 57.0 57.0 100.0 Total 291 100.0 100.0 Source: Field data, 2015. 4.4.8 Access to storage facilities About 175 respondents asserted having access to storage facilities with 116 stating that they do not have access to irrigational facilities. The table below shows respondents‘ access to storage facilities. Table 4.8: Respondents’ access to storage facilities. Storage Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Yes 175 60.1 60.1 60.1 No 116 39.9 39.9 100.0 Total 291 100.0 100.0 Source: Field data, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 78 4.4.9 Adaptive strategies on floods Surveyed women crop farmers who stated that they have developed some sort of resilience to flood were about 30.3% whereas farmers who have been unable to build any form of resilience constituted 69.7% of the sampled population. Amongst the surveyed farmers who have developed adaptive strategies, some explained that they construct channels in their farms to allow faster drain of overflow when the need arises. Other farmers also developed a strategy of delaying the planting season. 4.4.10 Statistics on level of adaptive capacity of women crop farmers to climate change With reference to the NVD-CVSS, total adaptive capacity was ranked within the ranges of low, medium, and high. Here, 60 surveyed women crop farmers were within the low range with a mean value of 0.50. The minimum value recorded for farmers within the low range was 0.137 and the maximum value was 0.831. Respondents within the medium range also had a mean of 0.45 with a minimum value of 0.111 and a maximum value of 0.809. Moreover, women crop farmers within the high range had a mean of 0.44, with 0.13 and 0.803 being the minimum and maximum values respectively. Below is a table showing the statistics on overall adaptive capacity. Table 4.9: Statistical values on adaptive capacity of the women crop farmers. Adaptive capacity Frequency Mean Standard deviation Minimum value Maximum value Low 60 0.503291 0.1342067 0.13763 0.831169 Medium 138 0.4549489 0.1400536 0.111378 0.809197 High 93 0.4463831 0.1779481 0.13771 0.803071 Source: Field data, 2015. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 79 4.5 Conclusion Scientifically assessing agricultural vulnerability to climate change is of great significance to the formulation of rational and effective adaptation strategies. The empirical findings specified above are necessary in determining the vulnerability of the women crop farmers to climate change. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 80 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION OF RESULTS 5.1 Introduction The findings of the research are explained with reference to other studies. Inferences are also made and the vulnerability of the women farmers thoroughly assessed. 5.2 Women crop farmers’ exposure to climate change impacts The farmlands of the surveyed women crop farmers are the unit of analysis of exposure to climate change impacts. This is in agreement to IPCC (2001) report which asserts that with regard to exposure, it is important to define the exposure unit, i.e. the activity, group, region or resource that is subjected to climate change. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to depict the exact location of some farms on the map shown in the results as Figure 4.1. The location of the farmlands of the respondents extended across various flood risk zones indicating their degree of exposure. Most of the farmlands are located near water bodies which increases their degree of exposure in relation to farmlands that are located far from the water bodies. Moreover, the women farmers explained that in times of intense rainfall, farmlands closer to water bodies or farmlands located in the high flood risk zones experience flooding over longer periods of time while those in the medium and low risk zones experience shorter durations of flooding. This can be attributed to the fact that runoff water easily drains away from farms located in the medium and low risk zones. Similar studies made by Adger (2006) stipulates that exposure as a component of vulnerability is not only the extent to which a system is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 81 subjected to significant climatic variations, but also the degree and duration of these variations. In spite of the consequences that the women crop farmers face as a result of their farms‘ location, they explained that per the nature of their jobs they can only identify and intensify effective modes of adaptive mechanisms to enable them face future exposure to climate change impacts. This finding affirms the studies made by Lavellet al. (2012) which explains that systems are often exposed to natural climate variability, independent of future climate changes; however, climate change can alter and increase the future exposure. Assessment of the farmlands reveals that any form of climate stress such as floods would have a devastating effect considering the stretch of farmlands in the municipality. However, large magnitude changes in climate in the region do not necessarily imply an elevated destruction of farmlands (high exposure). Throughout the municipality, several farmlands are found close to water bodies and though this is expected to help farmers enjoy adequate provision of water for their crops, it also poses an initial risk of the farmlands to flooding even before the floods occur. Such areas where high exposure to climate change occurs is expected to have a high level of crop loss. It is important to note however that risk also depends on variation in crop species' intrinsic capabilities to tolerate changes in climate. It can be concluded from the results of the study that most of the women crop farmers are moderately vulnerable to climate change. From analysis made on sensitivity, about 138 out of 291 farmers are within the medium range with similar results University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 82 recorded for adaptive capacity. In the case of exposure, a critical study of the map makes it obvious that the farmland size of the areas demarcated as medium risk areas are larger than both the high and low risk areas. This implies that more farms are located in the medium risk areas and hence the women crop farmers‘ level of exposure to climate change is moderate. In summary, the level of vulnerability of the women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality is categorized into three with 20.62%, 47.42% and 31.96% of the respondents having low, medium and high vulnerability to climate change respectively. With agriculture being the breadbasket of Ghana‘s economy, the conditions of service and the elements of agriculture must be of great concern to the nation. Assessing the impact of one of the greatest dictators of agricultural production that is climate can therefore not be overemphasized. To ensure constant increment in agricultural produce, farmers must be equipped and provided with accessible human and non- human resources to enable them adapt efficiently to climate change impacts. Their exposure as well as sensitivity to climate change impacts should also be reduced to the barest minimum. 5.3 Agona West Municipality’s women crop farmers’ sensitivity to climate change impacts The significant variables or indicators in the prediction of sensitivity were age, education, number of dependents and residence status. The age distribution of the respondents presented in Table 4.1 reveals that both young and old women are University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 83 involved in crop farming. The distribution shows that about 51.9 % of the respondents are above the age of 45 whereas about 49.1% are between the ages of 20-45. This implies that most of the respondents were relatively old and almost retiring from their active farming. It can also be inferred that the able bodied ones prefer off farm jobs and income which can affect the food security of the municipality. This is contrary to the findings that more young people are involved in farming than old people (Adebayo et al., 2012) in a study conducted in Adamawa State, Nigeria. Education of the farmer reduces her sensitivity to climate and also positively affects her awareness to climate change impacts. With about 40.2% of the respondents attaining only basic education and 38.1% with no education, it will be difficult for most farmers to easily come across information on climate change to help them respond positively to climate change impacts. A previous research by Bayard et al., 2007 indicated similar results whereby education significantly but negatively affected awareness to climate change. This is contrary to a study by Apata et al. (2009) which indicated that education influenced adaptation positively. Besides, the study by Deressa et al. (2009) and Deressa et al. (2010) indicated similar results that education of the head of household increased the probability of adapting to climate change. In congruence with the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment (2000), migrants can also be described as ―renters‘‘ who mostly lack sufficient shelter options when lodging becomes uninhabitable or too costly to afford. As such any time disasters occur they will not hesitate to seek shelter somewhere else. With 65.3% of the women farmers being migrants from surrounding villages, the food security of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 84 municipality would be at risk as migrants may abandon farming when they discover more lucrative jobs. For this research, the least number of dependents and the highest number of dependents were 2 and 10 respectively. Overall, an average of 4 dependents was recorded. In line with Blaikie et al. (1994) and Morrow (1999), families with large numbers of dependents or single-parent households often have limited finances to outsource care for dependents, and thus must manipulate work responsibilities and care for family members. Contrary to adaptive capacity, sensitivity increases with increased number of dependents. This finding is in harmony with the argument which assumes that a large family size is normally associated with a higher labour endowment, which would enable a household to accomplish various agricultural tasks, especially during peak seasons (Croppenstedt et al., 2003). On the whole, it can be inferred from the vulnerable groups as depicted in Table 4.4 that those in the low sensitivity column are relatively young, that is, between 20 to 35 years, have less than 4 dependents, are indigenous people and also have a relatively high educational status that is, secondary education. On the contrary, respondents who are highly sensitive to climate change are old, that is, between 55 to 70 years, have above 4 dependents, are migrants and have no education. Respondents who were placed in the medium range however were between the ages of 36 to 46 years, have at most 4 dependents, have primary education and are indigenes. ANOVA analysis was used to determine whether differences exist between the mean sensitivity scores of low, medium and high vulnerable groups. The results suggested that a statistically significant difference exist between the mean sensitivity scores of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 85 the three vulnerability groups at 95 percent confidence intervals (F=775.69, df=290, p<0.05). Table 5.1 presents the Bonferroni pairwise comparison of the vulnerability groups in terms of the difference between their mean vulnerability scores. Table 5.1: Bonferroni pairwise comparison between sensitivity groups Row mean – Column mean Low medium Medium 0.244792 (0.000) High 0.527933 (0.000) 0.283141 (0.000) Source: Computations from field data, 2015. The results indicate that a significant difference exist between all the vulnerability groups. It however can be concluded that most of the women crop farmers in the locality are in the medium vulnerability group. 5.4 Agona West Municipality women crop farmers’ adaptive capacity to climate change impacts Indicators used in determining the adaptive capacity of the respondents include experience in farming, availability and accessibility of the weather forecast, availability of Farm Based Organizations (FBOs), training from FBOs, accessibility of loans, extension support, access to irrigation facilities, access to storage facilities and adaptive strategies on floods. About 68.1% of the respondents have been farming between 5 to 14 years with only 2.6% of the population experiencing over 33 years of farming. Farming experience enables a famer to equip herself with the necessary information needed to increase University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 86 their adaptive capacity. In agreement to Nhemachena et al. (2014), farmer experience increases the probability of uptake of all adaptation options. Highly experienced farmers are likely to have more information and knowledge on changes in climatic conditions and crop and livestock management practices. Experienced farmers are usually leaders and progressive farmers is rural communities and these can be targeted in promoting adaptation management to other farmers who do not have such experience and are not yet adapting to changing climatic conditions. Making use of local successful lead farmers as entry points in promoting adaptation among smallholder farmers can have significant positive impacts in increasing use of various adaptation options. About 60.1% of the farmers indicated that they had access to the weather forecast through the media especially by radio, extension officers, neighbours and spouses whilst 39.9% of them specified that they receive no prior information of weather conditions. With over 60% having access to weather forecast, most of the surveyed women farmers would have improved and high adaptive capacity. This confirms an assertion by Madison (2006) that farmers who are aware of changes in climatic conditions have higher chances of taking adaptive measures in response to observed changes. A study by Deressa et al. (2009) also discovered that information on climate change increased adaptation which contributes to a reduction in vulnerability to climate change. Baethgen et al., (2003) also support the findings by asserting that availability of better climate and agricultural information helps farmers make comparative decisions among alternative crop management practices and this allows them to better choose strategies that make them cope well with changes in climatic conditions. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 87 About 44% of the surveyed women crop farmers indicated that they had access to farm based organizations and were actually members. Their membership to farm based organizations provides them access to social, economic, and financial facilities. This finding is similar to that of Salifu et al., (2012) who stated that the goal of an FBO is to make the members economically better off; guiding them to economically viable activities may be more beneficial than building capacity through training. Moreover the most common training received by groups are in agricultural practices, bookkeeping, and leadership. With about 47.1% of the respondents having access to loans, they are able to acquire the needed services and assistance when climate stress occurs. In similar manner, Nhemachena et al., (2014) asserts that access to affordable credit increases financial resources of farmers and their ability to meet transaction costs associated with the various adaptation options they might want to take. Also, with more financial and other resources at their disposal, farmers are able to change their management practices in response to changing climatic and other factors and are better able to make use of all the available information they might have on changing conditions both climatic and other socioeconomic factors. This finding also concurs with the study of Nhemachena et al. (2014) which proved that access to affordable credit increases financial resources of farmers and their ability to meet transaction costs associated with the various adaptation options they might want to take. With more financial and other resources at their disposal farmers are able to change their management practices in response to changing climatic and other factors and are better able to make use of all the available information they might have on changing conditions both climatic and other socioeconomic factors. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 88 Extension support is extended to about 128 surveyed women farmers which helped them improve upon their adaptive capacity and also gain firsthand information that increases their knowledge and builds on their adaptation options. In congruence with Nhemachena et al., (2014), extension services provide an important source of information on climate change as well as agricultural production management practices. Farmers who have high extension contacts have better chances to be aware of changing climate conditions and also of the various management practices that they can use to adapt to changes in climatic conditions. Nhemachena et al., (2014) further agree that farmers who have significant extension contacts have better chances to be aware of changing climatic conditions and also of the various management practices that they can use to adapt to changes in climatic conditions. Improving access to extension services for farmers has the potential to significantly increase farmer awareness of changing climatic conditions as well as adaptation measures in response to climatic changes. About 43% of the respondents accepted having access to irrigational facilities which enable them to continue production throughout the year. It also improves their adaptive capacity against climate change vulnerability. Farmers‘ involvement in irrigation management and decision making delivers direct benefits at farm household level, and indirect benefits at system level. Household-level benefits accrue in terms of higher water productivity, profitability, and labor savings due to higher water use efficiency, improved maintenance, and accountability in system management. These effects may translate into system-wide benefits, thereby improving the overall performance of irrigation systems and promoting its sustainability University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 89 It can also be inferred from the findings that access to irrigation empowers the farmers as it helps to reduce low productivity. Similarly, Hussain and Hanjra (2004) assert that access to irrigation facilities helps improve participation and decision making by the poor, at both micro- and meso-levels. About 175 respondents mentioned having access to storage facilities such as barns. According to the research, availability of storage facilities could help reduce post- harvest losses and encourage farmers to continue to increase their level of productivity. It also increases their income and enables them to build a strong adaptive capacity against climate change impacts. In agreement to these findings by the National Sustainable Agricultural Coalition (2014), on-farm storage facilities can help farmers succeed financially by giving them greater control over their products and their timing of marketing. The research revealed that about 30.3% of the women crop farmers surveyed have built some sort of resilience against floods. These included construction of channels to allow run off to drain away from their farmlands and delay in planting their crops. Findings from the research indicate that farmers develop these minor strategies to protect themselves from the devastating effects of flooding even before other bodies come to their aid. In concurrence with Moench and Dixit (2004), the ability to reduce vulnerability to disasters is related to the robustness of the systems. These systems include: the presence of diversified media and accessibility of information about weather in general and hazards in particular and access to a range of economic and livelihood options. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90 The ANOVA analysis was done to determine whether differences exist between the mean adaptive capacity scores of the low, medium and high vulnerable groups. The results suggested that no statistically significant difference existed between the mean sensitivity scores of the three vulnerability groups at the 95 percent confidence intervals ( F=2.91, df=290, p>0.05). At the 90 percent confidence interval however, a statistical significant difference was observed between some of the groups. Table 5.2 presents the Bonferroni pairwise comparison which is intended to detect the source of the differences. The results indicate that a significant difference exist only between all the adaptive capacity scores of the Low and High vulnerable groups. It can therefore be concluded that the low vulnerable group has a better adaptive capacity than the high vulnerable group. This observation should be worrisome since the most vulnerable group are the most ill prepared on the event of risk occurring. This could be due to the fact that most of the farmers in the low vulnerable group were younger and more active. Another possible explanation could be that the farmers are not generally aware of the risk situation which will make them prepare adequately. Table 5.2: Bonferroni pairwise comparison between adaptive capacity groups Row mean – Column mean Low Medium Medium -0.04888 (0.116) High -0.057446 (0.070) -0.008566 (0.992) Source: Computations from field data, 2015. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 91 5.5 Conclusion It is important to note from the analysis that most of the women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality have a medium level of vulnerability to climate change impacts. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 92 CHAPTER SIX SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 6.1 Introduction This final chapter recaps the study in the summary and conclusion and provides a section of recommendations which would be beneficial to the stakeholders of this research. 6.2 Summary Over the past century, climate change related temperature and erratic rainfall patterns with its consequences on physical and biological systems are increasingly being observed. Socio economic consequences, especially with respect to gender disparities on how society is able to cope with climate challenges are being observed. Women, the youth and children are worst affected. Motivated by the need for a means to assess the vulnerability of women farmers due to their multifaceted roles in society, this research describes the level of sensitivity and exposure to climate change impacts as well as determine the level of adaptive capacity of the women crop farmers. The first chapter of this thesis is introductory and explains the basic terminologies used in the thesis, problem statement, research questions, relevance of the study and organization of the report. The second chapter which contains the literature review was done under the following sub headings: Meaning and Impacts of Climate Change, Climate Change in Ghana, Women and Climate Change, Climate change vulnerability, Components of Vulnerability, Exposure to climate change, Sensitivity University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 93 to climate change impacts, Adaptive capacity to climate change impacts, Vulnerability of climate change impacts and Conclusion. The third chapter is an embodiment of the methodology. The conceptual framework in this chapter deals with an interactive compilation of the indicators, concepts and the major components of climate change leading to vulnerability. In compliance with IPCC‘s definition of vulnerability as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity, indicators selected were based on how they directly affected these components of climate change. Indicators for measuring sensitivity included age, educational status, number of dependents and residence status. Indicators for adaptive capacity included experience in farming, access to loans, extension services, FBOs storage facilities, irrigational facilities and adaptive strategies to floods. Exposure was also determined by intensity of flooding. Data collection was from primary, secondary, and tertiary sources. Primary source of data was derived by administering questionnaires; secondary sources were derived from books, journals, articles and the internet. Tertiary data was also derived from satellite images, land use and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs). Employing Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination models, 291 women crop farmers were surveyed from the municipality and the Human Development Index was adopted to normalize the data collected using the questionnaire with a scale of 0 and 1. Data derived from the research were analyzed into three groups with each group showing low, medium or high vulnerabilities which were extensively displayed in chapter four. The study also showed that the women farmers had varying levels of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 94 sensitivity to climate change: about 60 respondents had low sensitivity, 138 had medium sensitivity and 93 respondents had high sensitivity. Similar results were recorded for adaptive capacity. Respondents‘ exposure to climate change was shown by a flood risk map which depicted areas within the high, medium and low flood risk zones. The fifth chapter is an embodiment of the interpretations obtained from the results. Respondents in the low sensitivity column are relatively young, that is, between 20 to 35 years, have less than 4 dependents, are indigenous people and also have a relatively high educational status that is, secondary education. On the contrary, respondents who are highly sensitive to climate change are old, that is, between 55 to 70 years, have above 4 dependents, are migrants and have no education. Respondents who were placed in the medium range however were between the ages of 36 to 46 years, have at most 4 dependents, have primary education and are indigenes. In addition, surveyed farmers who were ranked low in adaptive capacity had relatively very little access to the indicators discussed above. Those ranked medium had moderate access and those ranked high had very good access to all the indicators aforementioned. With exposure, a critical study of the map shows that farmlands in areas demarcated as medium risk areas are larger than the high and low risk zones. 6.3 Conclusion Globally, climate change has become a major environmental problem affecting the future survival and the development of mankind in particular the vulnerable, and it has attracted widespread attention of governments, organizations and the academic community. Agriculture is one of the sectors most sensitive to climate change and any University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 95 degree of climate change will pose a potential or significant impact to agricultural production and related processes. Climate change has impacted agriculture in Ghana significantly, and it will inevitably have a huge impact on agricultural production in the future. With the initial marginalization against women in the socio-cultural settings of the country, this research sets out to explore the concept of climate change vulnerability and how it affects the livelihood of women crop farmers located in the Agona West Municipality. The study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. To what extent are women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality sensitive to climate change impacts? 2. To what extent are women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipality capable of adapting to climate change impacts? 3. How exposed are the women crop farmers of the Agona West Municipality to floods? The main findings of the research were explained specifically based on these research questions. The sensitivity of the respondents were analysed based on indicators such as age, educational status, number of dependents and residence status. About 51.9% of respondents were above 45years which implied that most respondents were old and about retiring from farming. Only 21.6% had undergone secondary education signifying low rate of education amongst respondents. Moreover, about 65% of respondents were migrants which also meant that if such respondents secure more lucrative jobs, farming would be abandoned. These findings increased the level of sensitivity of these women farmers in the municipality. In effect most households showed signs of increased sensitivity to climate change. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 96 A measure of adaptive capacity was done using the following indicators: experience in farming, weather information availability and accessibility, availability of Farm Based Organizations (FBOs), training received from FBOs, access to loan facilities, access to extension services and support, access to irrigational facilities, access to storage facilities and availability of adaptive strategies to floods. According to the research finding, about 2.6% of the respondents had a farming experience of above 33 years indicating their high capacity to adapt. About 60.1% had access to weather information which increases their ability to adapt. Also, about 44% had access to FBOs, 47.1% had access to loans, 128 had access to extension support, 43% and 60.1% had irrigational facilities and storage facilities respectively at their disposal and 30.3% had built some resilience against floods. The surveyed women crop farmers‘ exposure to climate change was also unevenly distributed across the municipality with farmlands falling within high, medium and low risk zones. Farmlands very close to water bodies are likely to be flooded earlier and more intensely than those far from the water bodies. The Analysis of variance test performed on the level of sensitivity and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts revealed that most of the respondents fell within medium sensitivity and adaptive capacity ranges. This was because, though education seeks to reduce sensitivity and increase adaptive capacity, it was found that most respondents were uneducated. More so, access to weather information which increases adaptive capacity was not accessible by all and this also leads to a reduced adaptive capacity. In addition, access to loan facilities is crucial in enhancing farmers‘ adaptive capacity. Combining access to extension and credit ensures that farmers have University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 97 the information for decision making and the means to take up relevant adaptation measures. Consequently, future policy should focus on increasing adaptive capacity and reducing sensitivity and exposure to climate change impacts through different sources, such as facilitating credit, irrigation and storage facilities. 6.4 Recommendations Women are essential contributors to the food basket and as such the issues they face in their field of work must be effectively addressed. It can be concluded from this research that most of the women crop farmers of the Agona West Municipality are not well prepared in developing adaptation measures against floods and other defects that climate change presents to them. In a bid to help the farmers equip themselves with measures to combat the negative effects of climate change, the women farmers should be encouraged to form farm based groups to strengthen and empower them to be able to secure funds and even micro insurance from financial institutions to boost their resilience or improve upon their adaptive capacity against climate change impacts. The women farmers should be provided with irrigational facilities to enable them practice all year round farming. Reservoirs and dams should also be built to collect and retain water when it rains to be used on the farms when the rains cease. Storage facilities should also be provided for the women farmers to enable them reduce postharvest losses and also increase their earnings. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 98 Farmers should also adjust planting dates to avoid crop failure due to late onset and early cessation of rains. Furthermore, farmers should be encouraged to go into dry season farming with support from relevant agencies. The government should identify means of managing climate change stresses such as droughts and floods to ensure food safety through the provision of dams to collect surface runoff in times of floods and also as a form of water supply in times of drought. It would be necessary for the government through the extension services to ensure improvement in the mass education of farmers to enlighten them on new technologies employed in farming and new crop varieties that are resistant either to floods or droughts since these two extremes are the most prevalent in the Agona West Municipality and Ghana as a whole. Extension agents should also be trained on climate change science to enable them pass adequate information to farmers on appropriate adaptation measures or strategies. 6.5 Recommendation for further research Based on the findings from the study, conclusions and recommendations, it is suggested that further research be conducted into the exposure of individual farmer‘s farmlands to better ascertain the overall vulnerability of each farmer to climate change impacts. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 99 REFERENCES Aandahl, G., & O‘Brien, K. (2001). Vulnerability to climate changes and economic changes in Indian agriculture. Proceedings Nordic Association for South Asian Studies’ (NASA) Biannual Conference. NASA, 15 pp Available at http://www.svf.uib.no/sfu/nasa/papers/Guro%20Aandahl.doc Adebayo, A. A., Onu, J. I., Adebayo, E. F., & Anyanwu, S. O. (2012). Farmers‘ awareness, vulnerability and adaptation to Climate change in Adamawa State, Nigeria. 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Questionnaire used in survey. University of Ghana Institute of Environmental and Sanitation Studies Name of interviewer: ………………………………. Date: ………………………………………………... Hello, I am undertaking a research on ―the level of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change impacts on women crop farmers in the Agona West Municipal Assembly. Recently Climate Change has been a major environmental issue affecting farmers in various ways. The government of Ghana and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture are continually seeking for ways to equip farmers with adaptive measures. To help them do this we are seeking the views of farmers to provide stakeholders with informed choices. We would be grateful if you could spend 10 minutes answering the questions below. IMPORTANT NOTE This questionnaire is completed anonymously. 1. Participation is voluntary. 2. If there is any question which the respondent feels strongly about not to answer, then he/she is not compelled to do so. 3. Information gathered is purely for research purposes. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 111 SENSITIVITY INDICATORS 1. Sex: 0 = female 1= male (Please tick) 2. Age…………………….. 3. Educational Status: None Primary Secondary Tertiary (Please tick the appropriate one) 4. Marital Status: Single Married Divorced Widowed 5. Residence Status: Indigene Migrant 6. Number of dependents…………………………………………. ADAPTIVE CAPACITY INDICATORS 1. How long have you been farming? Pleases indicate number of years………………………………… 2. Is farming your only form of livelihood? 0=Yes 1= No b. If no, what is/are your other forms of livelihood? ……………………………………………. 3. What is the total size of your farmland? ………………………………………… 4. Are you informed about changes in weather conditions? Yes No b. If yes what is the source? Media Extension officers Neighbors Spouse c. What is the channel of communication? TV Radio Farmer based organization 4=cell phone 5. Do you belong to any farmers-based organizations? C C C C C C C University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 112 Yes No b. Have you received any training from the group you belong Yes No c. If yes what type of training? ………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… 6. Do you have access to any loan groups, organizations or companies? Yes No 7. Do you have access to any support institutions such as extension officers from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture? Yes No 8. Do you have access to irrigation infrastructure? Yes No 9. Do you have access to seed and grain storage facilities? Yes No 10. Are there as far as you are aware any strategies for the adaptation of the following climate change issues in your area? a. Floods Yes No b. If yes, what type of strategies? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… C C C C C C C C C C C C University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 113 11. Droughts Yes No b. If yes, what type of strategies? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… C C University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 114 Appendix B: Classified elevation map of Agona West Municipality Source: Author, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 115 Appendix C: Classified map of Agona West Municipality Source: Author, 2015 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh