GeoJournal (2021) 86:2367–2385

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-020-10191-7 (0123456789().,-volV)
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Women smallholder farmers off-farm adaptation strategies

to climate variability in rural Savannah, Ghana
Gordon Yenglier Yiridomoh . Divine Odame Appiah . Victor Owusu .
Samuel Ziem Bonye

Published online: 27 April 2020

 Springer Nature B.V. 2020

Abstract Climate variability presents an additional descriptively using Statistical Package for Social
challenge to the agricultural sector and society’s Science while the interviews were analyzed using
livelihood due to persistent low rainfall and high thematic approach. Climate vulnerability perception
temperatures. Women smallholder farmers who index (CVPI) was performed to determine the sensi-
depend on agricultural production and have limited tivity and exposure of women to climate variability
natural resources are observed to suffer the more from and the need for off-farm adaptation. Again, Kendall’s
climate-related adverse effects. The aim of the study Coefficient of Concordance, test of linearity and
was to investigate women smallholder farmers’ off- Adaptation Strategy Index (ASI) were performed to
farm adaptation strategies to climate variability in establish off-farm adaptation strategies that were
rural savanna, Ghana. The study adopted a case study effective and of importance to the women. The results
design method with a sample of 187 women small- of the CVPI revealed that women were vulnerable to
holde farmers. Multi-stage sampling was used to select drought, flood and bush fires in their communities. The
the communities and women respondents for the results further indicated that, due to women sensitivity
study. Questionnaires and interviews were used to and exposure to climate variability, they have engaged
collect the data. Quantitative data was analyzed in multiple off-farm adaptation strategies to include
petty business, poultry and livestock keeping, and
agro-processing to respond to the varying climate
G. Y. Yiridomoh (&)
Department of Community Development, University for system. The test of linearity revealed that, most of the
Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana off-farm adaptation strategies were significantly asso-
e-mail: [email protected] ciated with climate variability. The ASI results
revealed that, women farmers placed agro-processing
D. O. Appiah
Department of Geography and Rural Development, as the most effective off-farm adaptation strategy to
KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana climate variability. Contrarily, women mentioned
e-mail: [email protected] limited financial resources, poultry and livestock
diseases and pests, and low market demands as
V. Owusu
Dpartment of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and constraints in their response to climate variability.
Extension, KNUST, Kumasi, Ghana The practical and policy implications of the study are
discussed.
S. Z. Bonye
Department of Governance and Development
Mnanagement, UDS, Tamale, Ghana Keywords Climate variability  Off-farm
e-mail: [email protected] adaptation  Women farmers  Rural savannah  Ghana

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Introduction variability in this paper refer to livelihood activities

by women farmers’ aside food crops production in
Today, sustainable development is a must to benefit response to or in order to cope with or adapt to climate
current generation without bankrupting the genera- variability when they occur (Yiridomoh et al. 2018).
tions to come. However, one of the many threats to Climate variability is observed to bring untold hard-
achieving sustainable development especially in ship to global society and therefore, call for both
developing countries is climate variability. Climate scientific and indigenous adaptation measures to
variability for this paper refers to the shift or departure respond to the yearly variation of the climate system.
of climate variables such as rainfall and temperature Noted in this hardship brackets are women small-
on all temporal and spatial scales either above or holder farmers partly due to low adaptive capacity and
below the average value (Codjoe and Owusu 2011). limited adaptation resources (Yiridomoh et al. 2018;
The change in climatic conditions across the globe has Abuloye and Moruff 2016; Essandoh-Yeddu 2014).
become a major concern to policy makers, citizens Nellemann et al. (2011) reported that women on daily
groups, local authorities, and the private sector basis face the challenge of harsh climate and environ-
(Oluwatayo 2018; Ayanlade et al. 2018; Damptey mental conditions particularly cyclones, drought,
and Essel 2014). This is because, today, climate flood and sea level rise. Studies in Nigeria (e.g.,
variability dictates to society and individuals what to Abuloye and Moruff 2016) and Ghana (e.g., Essan-
consume. Climate variability is noted to be a yearly doh-Yeddu 2014) reported on how seasonal climate
phenomenon and its occurrence, frequency, intensity variability (flood, dry spelt, drought and excessive
and severity are happening in the agricultural sector temperatures) have affected women smallholder
which has the responsibility to feed the world popu- farmers to include low crop yields and trekking of
lation (IPCC 2014). Undoubtedly, agricultural sector miles to collect water for domestic use. Seasonal
faces seriously threat to water stress and water changes in rainfall and temperature are predicted to
shortages, flood in some areas, increase in frequency double in coming years. As already observed with the
and severity of drought and increased incidence of historical climate data across the globe, temperature
pests and diseases partly due to variation in the climate has risen by about 1 C, reduction in mean annual
system (Mubiru et al. 2015; Niang et al. 2014; Omoyo rainfall and sea level rise of about 2.1 mm (IPCC
et al. 2015). With high confidence, variation in rainfall 2014) over the past decade placing constraints on
pattern and increases in temperature are projected to agricultural activities with on-farm activities the main
bring considerable challenges to the agricultural sector culprit. This presupposes that identifying off-farm
that is already experiencing the severity of risks activities of women smallholder farmers will help in
associated with climate variability (McSweeney et al. promoting and sustaining such activities towards
2012; Sarpong and Anyidoho 2011). Already, the climate variability adaptation and resilience building.
impacts of climate variability are manifested in Ghana Few studies have reported on the economics of off-
with devastating effects. The severe drought that farm adaptation strategies to climate variability and its
occurred in the 1980s which resulted in severe role in facilitating sustainable development in rural
reduction of food crops yield and death of livestock Africa (Niang et al. 2014; Badjeck et al. 2010). Off-
demonstrate a projected threat of climate variability to farm adaptation strategies has gained importance
the country’s agricultural sector (World Bank 2011). recently for women since they have little interest in
In East Africa, climate variability affected nearly nine farming as yields have become unpredictable with
million people in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia in increasing disasters (Damptey and Essel 2014). Gon-
2010–2012 (World Food Program 2011; Mubiru et al. zalez et al. (2011) study in Burkina Faso found a close
2015). Agricultural adaptation to climate variability in link between climate variability and off-farm adapta-
developing states have been given a serious focus tion strategies of women. In their study, they reported
(Mulwa et al. 2017; Fisher et al. 2015; Esham and that women farmers have adapted to petty business,
Garforth 2013; Below et al. 2012). However, under- agro-processing and livestock keeping to supplement
standing off-farm adaptation strategies to climate household income especially in the dry season when
variability in developing countries are relatively they were ran short of household food and income.
limited. Off-farm adaptation strategies to climate Codjoe et al. (2012) and Constable (2015) studies in

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Ghana and Jamaica respectively, observed that when Ghana partly due to climate variability and its impact
women experience livelihoods risks, their key manag- of food crop production (Ghana Living Standard
ing and adjustable strategies include diversification, Survey 2017).
mobility and communal pooling.
Testfay (2014) study on adaptation to climate
variability in Ethiopia reported that, despite the Literature review and conceptual perspective
significant role of off-farm adaptation strategies to
climate-induced risk management among rural Women, climate variability and off-farm
women, they were found to have limited access to adaptation strategies
adaptation resources to that effect. In assessing the
adaptation strategies of farmers using a pooled dataset The vulnerability to seasonal climate variability varies
on the perceived effect of climate variability revealed according to the exposure, sensitivity and adaptive
that smallholder farmers were more likely to adapt if capacity (Yiridomoh et al. 2018; Guloba 2014). Jost
they had access to financial resource, and agricultural et al. (2016) observed that less access to education,
extension services. The study recommends that, to less information on yearly variation in the climate
create an enabling environment for climate variability system and lack of financial and material resources has
adaptation, policies and programs should tailor increased the exposure and sensitivity of many human
towards providing credit and markets, increase access population to climate-induced events. Notably, Cli-
to climate variability information and making the most mate variability is observed to worsen gender inequal-
effort to get in touched with the women especially ity, create additional work for women and increase the
those with limited resources to fight climate variabil- vulnerability of women in poor households (Mulwa
ity. Concerns have heightened by recent studies with et al. 2017). In Ghana, Uganda and Bangladesh,
regards to the undesirable result of climate variability studies have documented that women have less access
on food production (Owombo et al. 2014). For to very important weather information, climate-smart
example, the beginning of the rainy season is no agriculture and cropping patterns, and therefore,
longer predictable due to climate variability which constraint women adaptive capacity to climate vari-
makes it difficult for farmers who are directly ability (Oluwatayo 2018; Jost et al. 2016). In Sub-
depended on rainfall to plan their cropping seasons Sahara Africa, Valerie-Ndaruzaniye (2013) observed
which affects crop yield (Obirih-Opareh and Onumah that, women and girls are identified to severely face
2014), suggesting that off-farm measures to support the ramifications of climate extremes not just because
livelihood will be an extra boost to women. of their poor income level but also due to low adaptive
In the Wa West district, climate variability and its capacity to position them well to response to climate
associated risks are observed to drastically affect crop and other related environmental issues. Annual rain-
farming (Yiridomoh et al. 2020; Antwi et al. 2014; fall and temperature have projected to be sporadic with
Dayour et al. 2014). Studies in the district have found hard implication on agricultural activities. Human
that farmers have adopted to some on-farm adaptation activities are observed to facilitate the process due to
strategies to climate variability to include; multiple burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other forms
cropping, changing of planting dates and plating of of land use change (FAO 2012). For instance,
early maturing crop varieties (Yiridomoh et al. 2018; historical data, between 1961 and 2000 had shown a
Dayour et al. 2014). However, there exists no study in progressive rise in temperature and decrease in mean
the district that investigated farmers’ off-farm adap- annual rainfall in all of Ghana’s agro-ecological zones
tation strategies to climate variability which is a major and in other countries in Sub-Sahara Africa. Average
issue in the district. To fill in the literature gap, the annual temperature, for instance, has risen up to 1 C
study sought to robustly investigate off-farm adapta- in the last 30 years and projected to increase between
tion strategies of women in the district that over the 0.8 C and 5.4 for the years 2020 and 2080 respec-
years have been used to respond to climate-induced tively in the agro-ecological zones. Rainfall would
shocks and disasters. Again, the study aims to con- also continue to be erratic, declining between 1.1 and
tribute to adaptation policy of the district which is 20.5% in the agro-ecological zones (MEST 2013).
always ranked among the 1% poorest districts in Agricultural production serves as the main economic

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activity, employing about 56% of the labour force in As part of risk reduction and a response strategy to
Ghana and depends heavily on rainfall and changes in climate variability (Khanal et al. 2018), off-farm
the pattern greatly affects it performance. Recent adaptation strategies should be seen as an alternative
climate trends in the country show highly variable to reducing vulnerability. Off-farm adaptation is
and decreased inter-annual and inter-decadal rainfall acknowledged as a key component of any plan in
amounts in all the agro-ecological zones with drought reacting to climate variability as studies have shown
and flood dictating the pace of development (Nkrumah that adaptation helps control vulnerability to, and
et al. 2014). Crop production and by extension the effects of climate variability (Fagariba et al. 2018;
livelihoods of farmers in the country are hugely Nyadzi 2016). Di Falco et al. (2011) indicated that
affected since rain-fed agriculture is predominant. farmers who had reported adapting to climate vari-
Rainfall mostly declines from the south to northern ability were more secure in terms of food as adapters
part of the country, the wettest area is the far end of produced more than in the counter-factual case where
southwest. Annual average rainfall in the wettest area they hadn’t adapted. Literature has observed that
for instance, is over 2000 mm. However, annual farmers across the globe have identified off-farm
average rainfall in the extreme part of the Northern adaptation strategies as a way of livelihood addition to
Savannah is lower than 1100 mm ( Arndt et al. 2015; their on-farm activities (Mertz et al. 2009; Mot-
De Pinto et al. 2013). sholapheko et al. 2011). Off-farm adaptation strategies
Women in rural communities are double burdened have a significant role to increase wealth, decrease
by their triple role to include reproduction, production farmers vulnerability to climate extremes, while
and community management. Yiridomoh et al. (2018) enhancing livelihood diversification. To achieve suc-
observed that in the in Sub-Sahara Africa, although cessful livelihood diversification, Badjeck et al.
women are responsible for feeding their families and (2010) recommend private and public insurance
households, and are therefore more dependent on schemes to help communities rebuild after extreme
natural resources such as land, fuel wood and water, events, and education and skills upgrading to enable
their access to these resources are limited for positive broader choices when agricultural activities can no
response to climate variability. Adaptation to climate longer be sustained due to climate variability. It is
variability among women smallholder farmers obvious adapting to climate variability may have
remains important. What that means is that climate accompanied constraints (Deressa et al. 2009). This
variability adaptation should be seen as priority may requires proper livelihood and environmental
towards achieving sustainable development and the scanning to identify new but untapped livelihood
sustainable development goals (Sustainable Develop- strategies or modify ongoing adaptation strategies to
ment Report 2017). In the Sahel, households have be able to stand the test of climate variability (Uddin
reduced their vulnerability and increased their wealth et al. 2014; Chah et al. 2013; Naab and Koranteg
through livelihood diversification, particularly when 2012). Deressa et al. (2009) recommends that educa-
diversifying out of agriculture (Niang et al. 2014). tion, wealth status and accessibility of resources are
Yiridomoh et al. (2020) observed that, diversifying relevant in the process of adaptation and therefore
within cultivation of food crop affects women because agricultural diversification be given a special interest.
most of them in their families or communities do not Climate variability adaptation is polymorphous,
always have much say in such decisions and therefore, regional and location specific. Contemporary studies
off-farm adaptation will go a long way to assist them to characterized climate variability adaptation in terms of
increase their sources of income to care for their type, timing, scale and the factors that have implica-
families. This was noted in Rasquez and Lambin tion for adaptation (Joarder 2013). The study adopted
(2006) meta-study of more than 80 case studies. In the Department for International Development (DFID)
their study, they recommended that the focus of analytical framework for analyzing rural livelihood
smallholder farmers on agricultural food production (Goh 2012). The framework is particlarly relevant for
should be expanded to include other off-farm activities this study as the study seeks to understand how in a
such as migration, trade and other opportunities that given vulnerability context (climate and environmen-
present themselves for diversification. tal-induced hazards), what combination of adaptation
assets (human, physical, natural, financial, and social)

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GeoJournal (2021) 86:2367–2385 2371

Vulnerability context Adaptation zone

Information
Bio-physical
and
characteristics Adaptation
institution Adaptation
assets strategies

Environmental Resources
conditions control and
ownership
Figure 2.3
Adaptation
outcome and
well-being

Fig. 1 Conceptual framework for the study. Source: Adopted from Goh (2012)

result in the ability to follow what combination of change information, environmental conditions and
adaptation strategies (agricultural intensification or resources control and ownership will lead to what
extenfication, livelihood diverstification or migration) adaptation strategies to climate variability with what
with what results (Ashley and Carney 1999). The adaptaion assets that an individual or society is
analytical framework pay special interest to the exposed to. In otherwords, given the vulnerability
society’s structures and processes such as laws, context as indicated by the framework, what adapta-
policies, culture and institution which mediate the tion assests are available to the individual or society to
ability to carry out such strategies and achieve or not influence the decision of the individual or society for
such outcomes. The framework establishes the inter- adaption? (Fig. 1)
play among the various components within it (vulner-
ability context, society’s structures, adaptation assets,
adaptation options and adptation results) as all the Research method
components determine a successful or unsuccessful
adaptation strategies. The theory postulates that the Study area
higher the vulnerability context, the plausible demand
for more combination of resources and adaptation Wa West district of Ghana was the study setting. The
options or strategies to reach a successful adaptation district is one of the eleven districts in the Upper West
results for ensured well-being. In the same vein, the region with Wechiau as its administrative capital. It is
theory argues that systems that are more exposed to located approximately between longitudes 9400 N and
environmental and climate-related disasters are likely 10100 N and also between latitudes 2200 W and
to face climate or environmental adaptation problems 2500 W. the district is located south to Northern
if immediate strategies are not soliccited from other region, north west from Nadowli-Kaleo district, east
sources. Strict understanding of the framework means from Wa municipality and west from Cote’dIvoire
that systems, household and individuals with limited (Ghana Statistical Service 2014). The district covers a
resources, particluarly resources for responding to total land population of 1856.0 square km, which
climate-induced disasters are more vulnerable to occupies approximately 10 percent of the total area of
climate variability and other environmental disasters. the region (GSS 2010). The district is home to a
This particularly can not discount the poor and the population of 81,348 which represents 11.6 percent of
marginalized and people who highly depend on the the total population of the region.
envionment for survival. As shown in the framework, Wa West District is located within the Guinea
the vunerability context which comprised of vunera- Savanna zone domiminated by grasslands and shrubs
bility elements such as bio-physical characteristics of with dispersed small sized trees. The district lies
the individual or society, climate variability and within the tropical continental woodland characterized

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by shrubs and grassland with scattered medium sized could be promoted to position the people better to
trees. Dawadawa (Parkiabiglobosa), Shea (Vitellaria respond to the yearly variation of climate variability.
paradoxa), mango (Mangiferaindica), Kapok (Ceiba To fill this literature gap in the district, the study
pentandra), Baobab (Adanso-nia dipitata) and neem sought to investigate women farmers’ off-farm adap-
trees are the trees found in the area (Antwi et al. 2014). tation strategies to climate variability in the district.
These trees are a major source of income to house- The study was conducted with women on CAPECS
holds particularly women who play important roles in Greater Rural Opportunity for Women project
the provision of household needs. Women in the (GROW-Project) to examine income generating activ-
district hugely rely on these trees as off-farm strategies ities women involved themselves into during the lean
in responding to the changing climate system in the season to support household income and food security.
area. For instance, the shea tree and the dawadawa in GROW was a rural development intervention devel-
particular are used to process shea butter and oped by Mennonite Economic Development Associ-
dawadawa products for markets during the off-farm ates of Canada (MEDA) with CAPECS the gross root
season (Yiridomoh et al. 2018). The district over the implementer, specifically, to improve women farmers
years has been characterized by sporadic rainfall. livelihood and wellbeing. The project trained women
Annual rainfall in the district is observed to confine to on improved farming practices for soya and other
6 months starting from May to September. Over the crops production. From CAPECS database, there were
past decade, mean annual rainfall in the district ranges 56 communities which were beneficiaries of the
between 750 to 1100 mm, whereas temperature varies project and the study select four communities (Gbaal-
between 15 C at night during the harmattan period wob, Bukyuulteng, Kuukyileteng and Sempuoteng)
and 40 C at day during the hot season especially in for the study (Fig. 2).
March (Yiridomoh et al. 2020; McSweeney et al.
2012). The unreliable and spatial discrimination of The study design
rainfall in the district has brought food insecurity and
hardship to the residents of the district especially The study adopted an explorative case study using a
women who rely so much on the environment for their mixed method approach. The researchers adopted the
basic needs (Yiridomoh et al. 2018; Antwi et al. 2014). case study method of inquiry because of the interest to
Thus, the economy of the Wa West District is mainly understand in details women experience with climate
agrarian and wholly a rural area and has a high variability but with no intention of learning the
proportion of agriculture households (Kusakari et al. characteristics of other cases involving men (Stake
2014). In the district, 10,524 which represented 91.6 1995). Thus, case study offered the researchers the
percent of the total households of 11,486 were found to opportunity to discuss the nature of climate variability
engage in subsistence agriculture (Antwi et al. 2014). of women specifically and the need for adaptation.
With the households that engaged in agriculture, 97.2 Multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to
percent are into crop farming (grains such as millet, select the sample respondents. With multi-stage
sorghum and maize; roots and tubers, particularly sampling, a sample is selected using a combination
yams, and legumes, including groundnuts and beans) of different sampling techniques at different stages.
followed by livestock rearing (69.5%), with only 1.2 Saunder et al. (2012) recommends that to overcome
percent and 0.1 percent in tree planting and fish the problem of geographically dispersed population
farming respectively. Female dominated economic especially when face-to-face contact is required,
activities include shea butter processing, dawadawa multi-stage sampling technique is considered very
processing, fuel wood gathering, and petty trade. Most useful in that regard. At the first stage, systematic
of these activities are seasonal due to raw materials sampling method was applied to select the communi-
shortage (Kusakari et al. 2014). With literature ties involved. Before the systematic sampling was
establishing the implication of climate variability on done, all the 56 communities that CAPECS worked
agriculture which is the main stay of livelihood among with were compiled with the assistance of CAPECS
residents, it is important that studies begin to inves- data management team. A reconnaissance survey was
tigate deep into what off-farm activities are available then conducted on 23/05/17 to confirm that these
to the people in the district and how such strategies communities were actually beneficiaries of the project.

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Fig. 2 Map of Wa West District showing study communities. Source: Ghana Statistical Service (2010)

After the ground checks, all the 56 communities were n = N/1 ? N (e)2 as indicated in Table 1 below. This
arranged alphabetically and then 1 in 14 sample approach according to Kothari (2004) can make the
fraction was applied to obtain Gbaalwob, Kuuky- sampling procedure relatively easier and increase the
ileteng, Sempuoteng and Bukyuulteng for the study. efficiency of field work, especially in the case of
To avoid biases in the communities’ selection process, personal interviews.
a simple random sampling was applied to determine The data was collected through interviews and
the starting position for the selection of the commu- structured questionnaires. Questionnaires and in-depth
nities. The second and last stage, simple random interviews were personally administered to the women
sampling technique was employed to select the respondents in their homes using their local language
individual respondents for the study. The researchers (Brifor). The questionnaires were developed based on
used the simple random sampling by first assigning the study objectives; to find out what off-farm
consecutive numbers from 1 to n, next to each of the adaptation strategies were used by women farmers in
women in each community under study (i.e., n = the response to climate variability in an area noted to be
population of women in each of the study community). prone to climate extremes and what were the possible
Second, a list of random numbers were manually challenges women farmers were faced to adapt to
developed to enable the researcher select the number climate variability. Questionnaires designed were
of women respondents in each community from the pilot-tested by the researchers to make sure it was
total list of women of that community. A total of 187 understandable and acceptable to the women farmers.
women farmers were selected for the study using The process ideally involved administering the devel-
Yamane (1967) sample size calculation formula: oped questionnaires to few women farmers and then

Table 1 Sample size

Name of community Number of women under CAPECS GROW in each community Sample size

Bikyuulteng 56 49
Gbaalwaob 56 49
Kuukyileteng 70 60
Sempuoteng 31 29
Total 213 187
Source: Field survey, 2017

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followed up to get responses on the questions (Chris phenomenon. Therefore, we designed the question-
and Diane 2004). Data was then collected using two naire and asked women to assign scores to them based
weeks. Fortunately, the research team could speak the on effectiveness and importance. A 4-point likert scale
local language (Brifor) and data collection and was used for rating the adaptation strategies: 4
interaction with the women was excellent. This gave representing high and 0 being not important at all.
them more freedom and interest to speak out their Through the household survey, we assessed the actual
minds and therefore, provided rich information that off-farm adaptation measures used by the women in
has contributed well to the success of the paper. The respond to the climate variability. Following Uddin
use of the questionnaires helped capture large number et al. (2014), we calculated the adaptation strategy
of women farmers’ opinions on climate variability and index (ASI) as the sum of the weighted adaptation
the interview helped get into details women farmers’ practices of women:
experience and perception about changes or variations
ASI ¼ ASn þ 0 þ ASi  1 þ ASm  2 þ ASh  3
in the global climate. With the interviews, audio
recordings were done which were transcribed imme- ð1Þ
diately after field work. Before this was done, women where ASI = Adaptation strategy index, ASn = fre-
consent were sought and the research team was given quency of farmers rating adaptation strategy as not
the go-ahead to do that. All the interviews conducted effective, ASi = frequency of farmers rating adapta-
using the mobile device were then transcribed for tion strategy as less effective, ASm = frequency of
initial coding and themes identification. Overall, 13 farmers rating adaptation strategy as moderately
interviews were conducted with women who were effective, ASh = frequency of farmers rating adapta-
identified during the questionnaires administration tion strategy as highly effective.
process to be excellent in issues related to climate
variability in the area. Determination of climate vulnerability perception
index (CVPI)
Data analysis
To determine women vulnerability to predictable and
Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quan- unpredictable seasonal shock such as floods, drought
titative data (percentages, frequencies and rankings) and changes in temperature induced by climate
while thematic analysis was used to analyze the variability, our study developed a climate vulnerabil-
qualitative data. For the quantitative analysis, raw data ity perception scale to assess the level of exposure of
collected from the field was well sorted out and fed women farmers to shocks and the need for off-farm
into Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS) for adaptation strategies to respond to climate variability.
analysis. Women were asked in the four communities to
indicate which climate-induced event is obvious.
Determination adaptation strategy index Thus, the magnitude in which women experienced
and perceived the occurrence and severity of drought,
To determine off-farm adaptation strategies that were flood, bush fires and change in temperature. A likert
perceived effective and of importance to the women scale (ranging from very high (4), high (3), moderate
farmers over others, an adaptation index analysis was (2) and very low (1)) was developed under each
conducted. To perform the adaptation index of the indicator. The vulnerability ranking of very high, high,
women, the study first identified off-farm adaptation moderate and very low were classified accordingly. To
strategies that were adopted by women in response to calculate the vulnerability score, the mean for each
climate variability through review of literature and climate extreme was determined. Vulnerability scores
recognizance study in the respective communities. which were more than 0.5 for each climate extremes
The pre-study using interviews with the women found were considered very high for the women and their
that while women have adopted various off-farm livelihood, those extremes with mean score less than
adaptation measures to dealing with climate variabil- 0.5 were considered moderately high while those with
ity, the practices have not been equally effective and mean score less than 0.1 were considered low. The
important in reducing the impacts and risks of the

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level of vulnerability for each category (i.e. drought, first two steps (familiarization with the transcript and
flood, bush fires and changes in temperature) was identification of themes) for thematic analysis were
calculated using the Eq. (2) below. then used to analyze the transcript to support the
X descriptive statistics.
Vulnerability ¼ Kank ð2Þ
k¼0

where n = sample size, a = impact factor of the Results

climate extremes and k = 2.5 = (1 ? 2 ? 3 ? 4/4).
Total climate vulnerability perception in (TCVPI) was Demographic characteristics
calculated estimated from sum of drought, flood,
bushfires and temperature vulnerability perception as Results on the demographic characteristics of the
women revealed, majority of them were within
TCVPI ¼ R ðdrought vulnerability index
30–45 years category which represented 42%. This
þflood vulnerability index was followed by the age group of 46–60, which also
ð3Þ
þbush fires vulnerability index represented 26%. The results further revealed that,
þtemperature vulnerability indexÞ 19% of the women respondents were within the age
category of 15–29 while 13% of the women respon-
dents were above 60 years. On the level of education
Kendal’s Coefficient of Concordance of the women farmers, 74% of them had no formal
education, 21% had basic education, eight and two
For the challenges faced by the women in their efforts percent had secondary and tertiary education respec-
to adapt to climate variability, Kendall’s Coefficient of tively. For marital status, 65% of the women farmers
Concordance was adopted. The challenges reported by were married, 13% of them were single, (never
the women were graded from the most pressing to the married), 19% of them were widows, two percent
least pressing using numerals 1, 2, 3…..n in that order were separated, one percent each for divorced and
(where n is a positive integer) with 1 representing most consensual union. The analysis shows that majority of
pressing. The overall rank score found was used to the women respondents were within the youthfully age
estimate the Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance group as majority of the women were below 50 years.
(W), a measure of the degree of agreement between What that means is that various age categories except
respondents in the ranking. The coefficient ranges for 65 ? will significantly engage in crop farming in
between 0 and 1, and a high value of W indicates a addition to off-farm adaptation strategies such as
high degree of agreement among the ranking. The keeping of poultry and livestock farms, engage in
equation for Kendall’s coefficient is given as: petty business, migrate where necessary to elsewhere
h 2
i for wage labour and some other livelihood strategies.
12 RT 2  ðTn Þ Again, the high number of women (74%) who had no
W¼ ð4Þ
nm2 ðn2  1Þ formal education as revealed by the study depicts
negative characteristics of a resilient community and
whereby W = Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance,
hence presents a critical cause for building women
T = Sum of ranks for constraints being ranked,
resilience towards sustainable development. What
m = Total number of respondents, n = Total number
particularly would hold well for the high number of
of constraints being ranked.
women who had no formal education to engage in
The Coefficient of Concordance (W) was tested for
better off-farm activities would be informal education
significance in terms of the F – distribution. The F –
and training as training and development is found to be
ratio is given by F = [(m – 1) W/ (1 – W)], with
positively correlated with high productivity in all
numerator and denominator degrees of freedom of (n –
sectors of the economy.
1) – (2/m) and m – 1[(n – 1) – 2/m] respectively.
For the qualitative data, transcription was done
through read and re-read to find out emerging themes
within the transcript concepts. Attride-Stirling (2001)

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Table 2 Women responses on perceived severity and frequency of climate extremes

Variable Very high (%) High (%) Moderate (%) Low (%) M SE SD

Drought 50 40 3 8 4.67 0.2458 1.2288

Flood 2 11 36 51 3.08 0.20753 0.7376
Bushfires 49 41 8 3 3.36 0.2072 1.0360
M mean, SE standard error and SD standard deviation. Source: Field survey, 2017

Women farmers perceived occurrence and severity perception about the occurrence and severity of
of climate extremes climate extremes.

Table 2 presents women responses on the occurrence Determination of climate vulnerability perception
and severity of climate extremes. The results indicated index of women
that two of the climate extremes (Drought = 1.2288;
Bushfires = 1.0360) had standard deviation more than The results of the climate vulnerability perception
1.0, which implies that there were extremes in the index revealed that, women were vulnerable to all the
scoring by the respondents. Flood was observed to climate-induced events in the district. As indicated in
have a standard deviation of 0.7376, which means that the method section for estimating the vulnerability
women hold a positive perception about it occurrence perception index, all variables which had mean more
and severity. In percentage terms, 50% of the respon- than 0.5 is considered a serious risk factor to women
dents indicated that drought over the past one decade and their livelihood. From Table 3, drought had a
was very high while 40% observed that drought was mean of 0.660 which is above 0.50, likewise bush fires
high. Again, eight percent based on their indigenous (0.684) and flood (0.575). This implies that women
observation hold the perception that drought was low exposure and sensitive to the climate events is on the
while three percent also observed that drought was very high side especially bushfires. The overall
moderately low. For bush fires, 90% of the respon- climate vulnerability perception index (0.650) also
dents hold a very high perception about its occurrence revealed high sensitivity and exposure to drought,
and severity while 10% hold a positive view of the flood and bush fires.
occurrence and severity of bush fires. Again, when
respondents were asked about the occurrence and Off-farm adaptation strategies of women
severity of flood over the past one decade, 87% of the to climate variability
respondents responded in the positive while 13% of
the women responded in the negative. This implies In determining the off-farm adaptation strategies of
that flood over the last one decade was low. The women to climate variability, 30% of the women
highest mean was 4.36 with the lowest being 3.08. The indicated that they engaged in petty business, 35% of
results revealed that women took a positive position the women reported that they involved in agro-
(above 2.0). All the statements had mean of above 3.70 processing and 26% of the respondents mentioned
which indicate that generally, women had a very high that they engaged in poultry and livestock keeping as

Table 3 Climate vulnerability perception index

STAMENTS Very high (1) High (0.5) Moderate (0) Low (-0.5) Very low (-1) Mean

Drought 93 (49.7) 75 (40.1) 5 (2.7) 14 (7.5) 0(0) 0.660

Bush fires 92 (49.2) 76 (40.6) 14 (7.5) 5 (2.7) 0(0) 0.684
Flood 74 (39.6) 75 (40.1) 30 (16) 6 (3.2) 2 (1.1) 0.575
Overall climate vulnerability perception index 0.650
Values in parenthesis are percentages. Source: field survey, (2017)

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Women off-farm adaptation strategies were engaged in pito brewing (local wine) popularly
35 known among them as ‘‘da-zie or da-gyie’’. They
40 30
26 added that the activity is one of the commonest petty
20
businesses among women farmers especially during
4 5
the off-farm season. To better implement the strategy,
0 women farmers revealed that, they formed what they
call ‘‘susu’’ (women group) where they alternate the
business among themselves to ensure that every
woman get involved. Women farmers mentioned
cakes frying, buying and reselling at a later date, and
retail business such as selling of soup ingredients (keta
Fig. 3 Women off-farm adaptation strategies. Source: Field
school boys, tomatoes, okra, pepper, salt, oil ground-
survey, 2017 nut paste etc.). For instance, one of women at
Gbaalwob reported that:
represented by Fig. 3 below. Again, the results
revealed that four percent of the women were engaged I have been engaged in petty business for the past
in migration while five percent of the women were five years…. I brew pito and do cakes frying and
involved in stone quarrying/ selling. sometimes too I buy some ingredients and come
In the interview section with the women, most of and resell to the village folks. Though, it is that
the women indicated that they engaged in most of the not lucrative, but I am able to get something
activities and labelled the adaptation strategies as small to cater for my children. For pito brewing,
common practices among most of them. For instance, one problem is how to get the grains because
most of the women indicated that they engaged in over the past three years our crops yield (millet,
agro-processing and mentioned shea butter and maize and Guinean corn) has been so bad due to
dawadawa processing as the common off-farm activ- bad weather.
ities they engaged in. Women explained that to Also, in the interview section, women farmers
implement the strategy, wild fruits such as ‘‘Nyuuno’’ reported that they were engaged in poultry and
(sheanut) and ‘‘duor’’ (dawadawa) which are the major livestock keeping. Women mentioned that they
and commonest fruits in the study areas are collected engaged in poultry, goats, sheep and pigs keeping to
and processed for market. When women farmers were supplement family income for sustained household
quizzed on the relevance of the strategy to food livelihood. For instance, a 45 year old widow at
security in their households, they were quick to Bukyuulteng reported that:
indicate that agro-processing particularly the shea
butter processing aids them with supplementary For me, I will not hide the truth. I have engaged
income to buy food for themselves, children and in poultry and pig farming over a decade now.
households as put it by a 49 year old widow in The benefits are enormous, I am able to pay my
Kuukyileteng: wards school fees, provide food for my children,
buy them clothes and enroll them onto the
Shea butter processing is very good. My children national health insurance scheme. For every
and I would have found ourselves in difficult Nyoli (nearby community) market day, I send
situation: food crisis, inability to farm, inability my fouls there and sell and butchers who want
to buy ourselves clothes. Our food crops for the pigs also come around to buy for the market. It is
past years have not been doing well… so we rely quite good in my opinion.
on the shea nut for survival. Last year, I was able
to get enough shea nuts from the bush to enable As a potential numerator for improved household
me process for our local market. We are praying income for improved livelihood, poultry and livestock
that next year should be better. keeping among the women should be encouraged so as
to cushion them when their farm produce fail them due
When women farmers were asked about the petty to climate variability and its related-adverse impacts.
business they were involved, they mentioned that they

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For migration, few women reported that they Test of linearity of farmers off-farm adaptation
migrate to engage in wage labour during the off-farm strategies and climate variability
season. The few women who engaged in the activities
mentioned Kumasi, Techiman, Sunyani and Prestea as Results of the test of linearity revealed that, three of
finally destination for which they moved to and the adaptation measures were highly significant with
engaged in such activities. They particularly men- climate variability as represented by Table 4. Specif-
tioned farming as the major activity they involved in ically, the study found that petty business, poultry and
when they moved to their new destinations. The fewer livestock keeping and agro-processing were signifi-
women involvement in migration as an off-farm cant at 1% with Chi-square values of 6.771, 4.434 and
activity suggests that migration is not a known 6.458 respectively. What that implies is that as women
adaptation strategy for women especially women experience climate variability, there is 68%, 44% and
who are married as women are noted to be caretakers 65% possibility of them using petty business, poultry
of home when their husbands are away. Lastly, the and livestock keeping and agro-processing respec-
interview results revealed that, women engaged in tively to adopt to climate variability. The study also
stone quarrying/ selling as a survival strategy. This observed that stone quarry/selling as an adaptation
activity was practiced in Gbaalwob as majority of the strategy has an inverse relationship with climate
respondents reported that they gathered stones and variability. This could be attributed to the negative
sold to either builders or contractors. They ascribed implication of the livelihood activity on environmen-
their engagement in the activity to the recent con- tal management and sustainability. Finally, the study
struction works going on in the community as people found that there was a disassociation between migra-
have resorted to putting up block and concrete houses tion as adaptation strategy and climate variability.
in the village. Though the activity was a temporal, but This could also be associated to the perception that
guaranteed income for the women during the off- married women are caretakers of their families and
season where they have virtually nothing doing. therefore, are not allowed to migrate.

Table 4 Chi-Square Non- Adopters Total Chi square Sign

analyses of farmers’ adopters
adaptation strategies to
climate variability Agro-processing 23 (12.3) 164(79.1) 187 (91.4) 6.458* 0.001
6 (3.2) 10 (5.3) 16 (8.6)
29 (15.5) 158 (84.5) 187 (100)
Petty business 43 (23) 86 (46) 129 (69) 6.771*** 0.009
27(14.4) 31(16.6) 58 (31)
74(39.6) 113(60.4) 187 (100)
Poultry and livestock keeping 17 (9.1) 112(59.9) 129 (69) .44.34*** 0.000
23 (12.3) 35 (18.7) 58(31)
52 (27.8) 135(72.2) 187 (100)
Migration 76(40.6) 53 (28.3) 129 (69) 4.99*** 0.125
***
44(23.5) 14 (7.5) 58( 31)
is significant at 1%, ** is
120 (64.2) 16(35.8) 187 (100)
significant at 5% and * is
significant at 10%. Values Stone quarrying/selling 99 (52.9) 67 (35.8) 166 (88.8) 5.412 -0.078
in parenthesis are in 18 (8.6) 3(1.6) 21 (11.2)
percentages. Source Field 117 (62.6) 70 (37.4) 187 (100)
survey, 2017

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Table 5 Perceived Adaptation measures High Medium Low No ASI Position

importance of women off-
farm climate adaptation Agro-processing 180 7 0 0 552 1
strategies
Petty business 72 34 58 23 342 3
Poultry and livestock keeping 123 37 27 0 470 2
Migration 32 45 51 59 237 4
Stone quarrying 12 21 34 120 112 5
Source: Field survey, 2017

Perceived importance of off-farm climate Women off-farm adaptation constraints

adaptation strategies among women
Low market
Climate demand for
From the analysis, women farmers rated agro-process- variability itself locally made
ing as highest which implies that women farmers 19% products
perceived agro-processing as an effective adaptation 11%
measure to climate variability. The highly rated agro-
processing could be attributed to women high depen-
Poultry and Limited financial
dence on wild fruits particularly shea fruits and livestock diseases resources for
dawadawa for butter and dawadawa processing. Shea and deaths adaptation
fruits and dawadawa, though arguably are the life 27% 43%

sustaining wires of majority of women farmers in the

study communities especially from May to July where
hunger is so pronounced in the district and at the same
time the period in which these wild fruits are matured
and can be processed in any form to meet the food
needs of the women and their households. Also, poul- Fig. 4 Women off-farm adaptation constraints. Source: field
try and livestock keeping were ranked second by the survey, 2017
women farmers as a response strategy to climate
variability. What that means is that women farmers adaptation strategies, revealed that poultry and live-
recognize the importance of keeping poultry such as stock diseases and deaths, limited financial resources,
guinea fowls, chicken and livestock such as goats, low market demand and climate variability were their
sheep including pigs as a response strategy to climate major setbacks in responding to climate variability.
variability. This means that women should be organized For poultry and livestock diseases and deaths, 27% of
and their capacity built on poultry and livestock pro- the women farmers reported to be a constraints in
duction to fight climate variability for improved income keeping poultry and livestock, 43% of the women
and livelihood. Again, petty business such as cakes farmers reported that, limited fund constraints them
frying, pito brewing and buying and reselling at a later from successful adaptation to climate variability, 19%
date in the year was rated third by the women farmers. of the women farmers indicated that climate variabil-
Migration was rated last but second which implies that ity itself play an antagonist role in adaptation process
migration is not a common climate response strategy while 11% of the women indicated that, low market
among the women farmers and lastly, stone quarrying demand of locally produced pito and shea butter
and selling was considered not effective and hence not affects their petty business (Fig. 4).
important to women’s alternatives responses to changes In the interview section, women farmers reported
in climate variables (Table 5). that poultry and pigs, for instance, are the most
common ones that are susceptible to pests and
Women off-farm adaptation constraints diseases. Diseases and pests of poultry that were
mentioned during the interview included coccidiosis,
The assessment of the women farmers’ adaptation infections, worms, and lice. Women indicated that the
constraints to successful implementation of their after-mentioned diseases and pests have serious

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Table 6 Rankings of Constraints Mean rank Ranks

women off-farm adaptation
constraints to climate Limited financial resources 2.31 1
variability
Diseases/death of poultry and livestock 3.19 2
Low market demand for locally made products 3.87 3
Climate variability itself 3.91 4
Note: N = 187
Kendall’s Coefficient
Degree of Freedom (Df) = 4
Chi2 = 472.578
P-value = 0.00
Source: Field survey, 2017

implications for their poultry and livestock business. just pray… may be someday, who knows, might
For instance, one of the women in Bukyuulteng be better.
reported that:
Lastly, women indicated that, low market demand of
Hmmm, over the years we have been battling locally produced pito and shea butter affects their petty
with diseases and pests of our poultry and business. This according to the women invariably
livestock. Last year, I lost almost all my fouls affects their income and household food security. To
to infections. I was also having seven big pigs, as ensure action to mitigate the adverse effects of climate
I speak with you now, I have one left….. Just variability, end poverty and hunger through achieved
praying that it does not die also. food security and improved nutrition and sustained
livelihood for healthy lives and well-being which are
Again, women farmers in the interview indicated that
at the heart of sustainable development and sustain-
due to their weak financial resource base, they could
able development goals, women petty business should
not engage in a better and sound agro-processing, petty
be promoted so as to contribute better to society and
business and purchasing and rearing of improved
climate variability adaptation.
varieties of sheep, goats, fowls, piggery and cattle.
They added that lack of funds to support their business
Ranking of challenges hindering implementation
activities have affected their business seriously espe-
of adaptation Measures by women
cially pito brewing, and poultry keeping which are the
areas in which women foot sprints dominate. For
The analysis of the women off- farm constraints to
climate variability as a constraint by itself, women
climate variability revealed that lack of financial
respondents reported that, they are into a battle with
resources with a mean rank of 1.29 was ranked as the
climate variability as its unpredictable yearly varia-
topmost of all the constraints. Diseases and death of
tions affect their livelihood. Women farmers added
livestock was the second most pressing constraint of
that the exposure of the wild fruits and food crops to
the cocoa farmers in the study area as it attained a
harsh climatic conditions affects their shea collection
mean rank of 2.93. Again, low market demand for
and processing. For instance a 53 year old woman in
locally made products with a mean rank of 2.98 was
Sempuoteng reported that:
ranked 3rd among the constraints of the women.
Huum…. these days we do not get shea nuts due Finally, women ranked climate variability itself as the
to climate variability. Rainfall and drought have fourth constraint with mean value of 3.14. Using the
been affecting them year in and year out. Where scores from Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, the
the shea tree expects to get rain to fruit and level of agreement between the women with regards to
mature, it would not fall. The little fruits it may the constraints ranked was calculated. The estimated
even bear, would be brought down by heavy Kendall’s W was 0.569, suggesting that there is 56.9%
rainstorm. Last year like this, we did not get degree of agreement amongst the women in the study
much shea nuts due to lack of rain. We have to area (Table 6).

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Discussion strategies to climate variability. Women responses

inveterate literature. Uddin et al. (2014) found that
Climate variability over the past decades has been farmers have begun to engage in off-farm adaptation
observed to significantly affect food crop farming due strategies to include petty business and livestock and
to its dependence on favorable climate for improved poultry keeping as support strategy to their yearly poor
productivity and yield. In this study, women reported harvest of food crops.
that climate extremes such as drought, flood and bush For petty business as a response strategy to climate
fires were rampant in the last decade with grave variability, several studies have reported on the
implication on their food security. The climate importance of it to adaptation (Ndamamani and
vulnerability perception index revealed that women Watanabe 2015; Kemausuor et al. 2011). In Center
were vulnerable to drought, flood and bushfires in the for Climate and Ecosystem Change Adaptation and
area. The result was in agreement with Huho and Resilience [CECAR] (2016) work, they found that
Mugalavai (2010) and Ramakrihna et al. (2014) on the women have begun to diversify their activities to
effects of drought and flood on food security. In their include petty business such as pito brewing and cakes
studies, the found that drought and flood over the last frying. As reported by the women, pito brewing is one
three decades had increased in frequency and severity of the commonest petty businesses among women
with number of people affected increase exponen- farmers especially during the off-farm season and
tially. Bush fires in Ghana are noted in literature to be labelled it as an old age business activity among them.
every year event especially in Northern Ghana with What that means is that women capacity should be
devastating effects on the environment, agriculture enhanced to take advantage of the business due to its
and food security. Social survey indicated that bush potential of providing sustainable income for the
fires has brought untold hardships to individuals and women and their households (Dinye and Deribile
sometimes a whole community or household either 2010). In addition, the promotion of business will not
through loss of lives or a property, particularly farm only accelerate growth of rural communities, but build
crops such as maize, rice, cassava, guinea corn, millet women capacity towards reducing rural poverty as
and cashew (Kusimi and Appatu 2012). What that defined by the sustainable development goal (1) of the
means is that as climate continues to vary every year, United Nations.
sustainable agricultural production will be triggered Also, women mentioned that they were engaged in
with the most vulnerable population especially women poultry and livestock keeping to support their house-
farmers continue to be sensitive to climate variability. holds when they were hit by the perils of climate
This therefore suggests the need to engage some off- variability. Women engagement in livestock and
farm adaptation measures in response to the climate poultry farming were in agreement with a study
variability. conducted by Chah et al. (2013) which reported that,
Off-farm adaptation to climate variability has most women keep poultry, goats, sheep and pigs to
become necessary in recent years (Mertz et al. 2011; supplement family income for sustained household
Chah et al. 2013; Uddin et al. 2014). Off-farm livelihood. Similar results were obtained by Dayour
adaptation serves as collateral to risk reduction and a et al. (2014) in Ghana. In their study, they reported that
response strategy to climate variability (Yiridomoh rearing of goats and fowls were found to be common
et al. 2020), and hence must be given the necessary and useful to women farmers as they sell some for food
attention and treated as an alternative to reducing when they experience low food crop yield. New
vulnerability. In this current study, women farmers Partnership for Africa Development [‘] (2014)
reported that off-farm adaptation such as petty busi- reported that rural women smallholder farmers have
ness, agro-processing, poultry and livestock keeping, started to keep livestock and poultry in Ethiopia so as
off-season migration and stone quarrying/ selling have to respond to adverse impact of drought and flood
aided them reduce the risks of climate variability in an which over the years dictate the yield of their food
area noted to be vulnerable to climate variability. The crops. What that means that, women farmers capacity
adaptation strategy index indicated that agro-process- need to be developed so as to better position them
ing, petty business and poultry and livestock keeping engage in the activity for improved livelihood. Agro-
were the important off-farm adaptation response processing as alternative livelihood strategy in

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response to climate and environmental events such as deaths, NEPAD, (2014) reported similar findings and
drought, bush fires, and other natural catastrophes, attributed prolong drought, increase distance between
similar findings were obtained by Dayour et al. (2014), water and pasture cause problem to the health of cattle,
Ndamani and Watanabe (2015), and Fisher et al. sheep and goats. The importance of poultry and
(2015). Dinye and Deribile (2010) reported that, shea livestock cannot be overemphasized and therefore,
butter processing is an old practice among rural husbandry and veterinary services should be made
women due to its perceived improvement on women easily accessible to women farmers and the rural areas
income. For migration, women reported that they in general to improve upon animal and poultry rearing.
migrate to engage in wage labour during the off-farm
season. This response was in line with a study
conducted by Naab and Koranteng (2012). In their Conclusion and recommendation
study, they found that migration among people is a
known strategy for climate variability adaptation. In conclusion, profiling women farmers’ off-farm
However, the study using gender lens to explore adaptation strategies in response to climate variability
farmers’ adaptation strategies stated that migration to better position them to securing sustainable liveli-
among men folks was higher compared to their women hood and resilient development has received less
counterparts. This implies that migration is not a attention over the years. This sugests the need for
known adaptation strategies for women especially emperical studies to rigorously engage in holistic
women who were married as women are noted to be adaptation research to better position individuals and
caretakers of home when their husbands are away. society adapt to climate variability and its associated
Despite the significant role of off-farm adaptation risks. Women smallholder farmers in this study have
measures to climate variability, women reported that found to engage in agro-processing, petty business,
they faced a lot of constraints to include; low demand stone quarrying and selling, livestock and poultry
for locally made products, limited financial resources keeping and migration. Evidently, women farmers
and poultry and livestock diseases and death. Women labelled agro-processing as the most important adap-
in this study reported that these constraints have tation strategy in response to climate variability.
thwarted their efforts in response to climate variability However, the study observed that women off-farm
especially, for those who engaged in agro-processing adaptation strategies were constrained by limited
and petty business. The results inveterate previous financial access, climate variability itself, poultry
studies which reported that, farmers have limited and livestock diseases and death, and low market
financial resources to enable them adapt to climate demand for their products (pito brewing, shea butter
variability (Banka 2016). Antwi-Agyei et al. (2013) and dawadawa) to counter future climate variability
systematic literature review of 13 published papers on vulnerability considering the projected exacerbation
barriers to climate change adaptation in Sub-Sahara of climate variability. The paper strongly recommends
Africa with Ghana in focus, identified limited financial the need to build women capacity on modern ways of
resource as the major barrier to climate change producing shea butter to meet the needs of the local
adaptation. Women farmers in this study reported that and international markets. Also, the Ministry of Trade
limited financial access have affected their petty and Industry needs to identify and develop the value
business (pito brewing, buying and reselling, shea chain for shea butter business so that women can have
butter processing, poultry and livestock rearing). What ready market for their shea products. The study again,
that means is that women farmers need education on recommends that the Ministry of Food and Agriculture
financial literacy so as to enable them manage the little need to educate women on the symptoms of common
financial resources at their disposal. Again, women poultry and livestock diseases and pests to enable
need to be trained on modern methods of shea butter women deal with emergencies when they come
processing to meet the needs both local and interna- up while the Ministry of Finance and its subsidiary
tional markets. As reported by Dayour et al. (2014), agencies train women on financial literacy and provide
shea butter processing has the potential to reduce them with soft loans to help them engage in their petty
poverty among rural women through improved business.
incomes. For poultry and livestock diseases and

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GeoJournal (2021) 86:2367–2385 2383

In a nutshell, the analysis revealed that women Ayanlade, A., Radeny, M., & Akin-Onigbinde, I. (2018). Cli-
farmers’ lives depend largely on these off-farm mate variability/change and attitude to adaptation tech-
nologies: A pilot study among selected rural farmers’
adaptation strategies and any failure in them, in communities in Nigeria. GeoJournal, 83(2), 319–331.
addition to failure of their farm produce would Banka, M. (2016). Economic Assessment of the Trials and
severely affect their lives. In addition, the global fight Adoption of selected Soil Fertility Management (SFM)
for sustainable development which must start with the Technologies among grain legume farmers in the Northern
and Upper West Regions of Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah
individual, households and their communities, regio- University of Science and Technology, Kumasi.
nal, national and international governments would be Below, T. B., Mutabazi, K. D., Kirschke, D., Franke, C., Sieber,
in jeopardy as women who are noted to be agent of S., Siebert, R., et al. (2012). Can farmers’ adaptation to
change for development are left behind. climate change be explained by socio-economic house-
hold-level variables? Glob. Environ. Change, 22(1),
223–235.
Acknowledgement The authors wish to acknowledge all the Antwi-Agyei P., Dougill, J. A., & Stringer, C. L. (2013). Bar-
smallholder women farmers in Wa West District for their riers to climate change adaptation in subSaharan Africa:
invaluable information provided to support the study. Our evidence from northeast Ghana & systematic literature
thankful appreciation also goes to CAPECS GROW for sharing review. Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy
with us their relevant information which strongly influenced the Working Paper No. 154. University of Leeds, London.
success of this paper and finally, we wish to thank Ompireh Antwi, E. K., Boakye-Danquah, J., Owusu, A. B., Loh, S. K.,
Guruni and Yiridomoh Joshua for their numerous support in Mensah, R., Boafo, Y. A., et al. (2014). Community vul-
producing this paper. nerability assessment index for flood prone savannah agro-
ecological zone: A case study of Wa West District. Ghana
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Badjeck, M.-C., Allison, E. H., Halls, A. S., & Dulvy, N. K.
Conflict of interest The authors declared no conflict of (2010). Impacts of climate variability and change on fish-
interest. ery-based livelihoods. Marine Policy, 34(3), 375–383.
Codjoe, S. N. A., Atidoh, L. K., & Burkett, V. (2012). Gender
Ethical Approval As required in every social research, when and occupational perspectives on adaptation to climate
conducting a study of this kind, there is the need to consider the extremes in the Afram Plains of Ghana. Climatic Change,
ethical codes guiding the study (Creswell 2009). For the purpose 110(1–2), 431–454. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-011-
of this study, at the stage of data collection, the study took into 0237-z.
consideration all ethical issues that brought about the success of Codjoe, S. N., & Owusu, G. (2011). Climate change/variability
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Informed consent Women famers consent were sought and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226233054.
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