Adaptation opportunities and maladaptive outcomes in climate vulnerability hotspots of northern Ghana
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Date
2018
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Science Direct
Abstract
How climate change adaptation practices can constrain development and deliver maladaptive
outcomes in vulnerability hotspots is yet to be explored in-depth using case study analyses. This
paper explores the effects of climate change coping and adaptation responses in three case study
villages across the Central Gonja district of northern Ghana. The study addresses the following
research questions: i) What are the key climatic and non-climatic stressors confronting households
in northern Ghanaian communities? ii) How are households adapting to climatic and nonclimatic
stressors? and iii) What are the outcomes of these coping and adaptation responses on
development? The study employs a mixed-method approach including key informant interviews,
focus group discussions and household questionnaire surveys. Data identified socioeconomic
stressors including a lack of access to (and high cost of) farm inputs, labour shortages and population
growth. Climatic stressors include erratic rainfall, high temperature, droughts and
floods.
Climatic and non-climatic stressors interact to affect agricultural practices and related
livelihoods. The study identified various adaptation measures including extensification and intensification
of agriculture, temporary migration, planting of drought resistant varieties, irrigation,
and livelihood diversification. We show that many coping measures (e.g. livelihood diversifications
activities such as selling of firewood and charcoal production) and adaptation
responses (including intensification, extensification and irrigation) currently deliver maladaptive
outcomes, resulting in lock-ins that could exacerbate future climate vulnerabilities. The paper
contributes to the growing literature on adaptation and climate risk management by providing
empirical evidence showing how coping and adaptations measures can deliver maladaptive
outcomes in vulnerable communities.
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This article is published by Science Direct
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Citation
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2017.11.003