Climate variability and food crop production in the Bawku Municipality.
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Date
AUGUST, 2016
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Abstract
Climate variability threatens the sustainability of food crop production. It is therefore important to understand the interaction between climate variability and food crop production. This study examined the effect of climate variability on food crop production in the Bawku Municipality. Five farming communities were selected in the Bawku Municipality as the study sites. Quantitative and qualitative data were sourced from both primary and secondary sources. Questionnaires, focus group discussions and oral narratives were used as data collection tools to assess the situation. Quantitative data were analysed with SPSS and E-views and the results presented in the form of charts and tables whiles qualitative data were analysed thematically to support the quantitative data. The results indicate a significant variation in annual rainfall for the 15 year period (1999 to 2013) but mean temperature variation in the Municipality was relatively stable. The results of the regression model revealed that rainfall significantly explains variation in maize production while temperature was not significant in explaining the variation of rice, maize and millet production. The study revealed that farmers are particularly vulnerable to climate variability owing to their low capital assets, exposure to frequent drought, floods and wind storms. As copping strategies, some farmers have resorted to migration, trading, crop and livelihood diversification to enhance their living conditions. These strategies are however, not sufficient to sustain food crop production in the Municipality in the long term. To sustain and enhance the livelihoods of food crop farmers, the study recommends that urgent financial, education, capacity building, infrastructure and institutional support are needed to improve food crop production and make farmers’ livelihoods resilient to climate variability.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography and Rural Development in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) degree in
Geography and Rural Development. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi ,College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Geography and Rural Development,