Ghana's Cocoa; Farmers' Perceptions of Climate Change and Its Effect on Yield and Livelihood

Authors

  • John Tennyson Afele Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8847-6577
  • Olivia Agbenyega Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7684-0215
  • Victor Rex Barnes Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
  • Steve Amisah Department of Fisheries and Watershed Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5894-9241
  • Finn Plauborg Department of Agroecology Climate and Water, Aarhus University, Denmark
  • Søren Marcus Pedersen Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Torsten Rødel Berg Department of Agroecology Climate and Water, Aarhus University, Denmark
  • Joseph Anokye Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8298-6552
  • Stephen Yaw Opoku Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana
  • Richard Asante Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana https://orcid.org/0009-0003-4486-3860
  • Eunice Nimo School of Natural Sciences, Bangor University, UK https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1706-3476
  • Evans Dawoe Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5972-5749

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewGLCE42023218

Keywords:

cocoa farmer livelihoods, cocoa production, cocoa yields, food security, farmer income

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of cocoa farmers in Offinso and Adansi Districts, Ghana, regarding the impact of climate change on their yields, income, and food security. The findings aim to inform policy development and potential mitigation and adaptation strategies. A total of 282 cocoa farmers participated alongside Key Informants. The results indicate a strong consensus among farmers that climate change has negatively affected their yields (0.518 ± 0.501), increased pest and disease prevalence (0.518 ± 0.501), and contributed to cocoa tree mortality (0.482 ± 0.501). This perception is reinforced by the ranking of challenges, where poor yields and increased pest/disease emerged as the most prominent challenges (Relative Importance Index of 0.87 and 0.79, respectively). Interestingly, farmers' perceptions diverged regarding food security. They expressed neutrality towards statements suggesting a negative climate change impact on their food security status (Perception Index = 2.89). These findings highlight the critical challenge of reduced cocoa yield due to climate change for farmers. It is therefore recommended that the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), through its extension division, implement immediate actions to educate farmers within the two districts on climate change mitigation strategies. This intervention aligns with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), and 13 (Climate Action).

 

Received: 26 April 2024 | Revised: 18 June 2024 | Accepted: 6 August 2024 

 

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

 

Data Availability Statement

Data available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

 

Author Contribution Statement

John Tennyson Afele: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Visualization. Olivia Agbenyega: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Resources, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition. Victor Rex Barnes: Conceptualization, Resources, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Steve Amisah: Conceptualization, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Finn Plauborg: Writing - Review & Editing. Søren Marcus Pedersen: Writing - Review & Editing. Torsten Rødel Berg: Conceptualization. Joseph Anokye: Methodology, Data Curation. Stephen Yaw Opoku: Methodology, Data Curation. Eunice Nimo: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Writing - Review & Editing, Visualization. Richard Asante: Methodology, Data Curation. Evans Dawoe: Conceptualization, Supervision.


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Published

2024-08-15

Issue

Online First

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Afele, J. T., Agbenyega, O., Barnes, V. R., Amisah, S., Plauborg, F., Pedersen, S. M., Berg, T. R., Anokye, J., Opoku, S. Y., Asante, R., Nimo, E., & Dawoe, E. (2024). Ghana’s Cocoa; Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change and Its Effect on Yield and Livelihood. Green and Low-Carbon Economy. https://doi.org/10.47852/bonviewGLCE42023218