Journal of Ecology & Natural Resources (JENR)

ISSN: 2578-4994

Research Article

Smallholder Farmers On and Off-Farm Gendered Responses to Climate Variability in Southern Rural Ghana

Authors: Divine Odame Appiah*, Ismail O Azeez and Lois Antwi Boadi

DOI: 10.23880/jenr-16000173

Abstract

Smallholder farmers may or may not have access to resources they may need for sustainable cultivation. With climate variability differential impacts, farmers may adopt measures on the farm and off the farm to better cope with the effects of climate variability. This paper examines the gendered differential responses to climate variability in the Offinso Municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Using a sample of 300 respondents from six farming communities, primary data was collected and analyzed with the use contingency tables, frequencies and chi-square tests of association in the SPSS v.16 for Windows applications. Results indicated that both sexes demonstrated different levels of knowledge of climate variability and adopted different strategies to better adapt to the effects of climate variability per their social constructs. The on-farm adaptation methods were similar but the off-farm adaptation measures differed; as the women did not earn higher incomes compared to their male counterparts, who had better alternative income earning avenues than their female counterparts. Women’s access to and control of productive resources such as land should be enhanced at par with their male counterparts.

Keywords: Gendered Responses; On-Farm; Off-Farm; Climate Variability; Offinso; Ghana

View PDF

F1 europub scilit.net

Chat with us on WhatsApp

Welcome to Medwin Publishers. How can we help you today?