Impacts of changing climate on maize production in the transitional zone of Ghana. A case study of Nkoranza south municipality
2018
Rosina KYEREMATEN (University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana) | Victor ADJEİ (University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana)
Thisstudy sought to assess the challenges and opportunities that come with climatechange and variability impacts on maize farming in the Nkoranza SouthMunicipality in the Transitional Zone of Ghana. The mixed method approach wasused in collecting the data. The results of the study showed that farmers hadobserved changes in climate in the form of decreasing rainfall, rising airtemperatures and seasonal changes in rainfall pattern which were affectingtheir maize farming operations. The major setbacks within the area were deficitin rainy days and intermittent erratic rainfall affecting maize production. Thereduction in rainfall was corroborated by data obtained from GhanaMeteorological Agency (GMet) which indicated that the dry cell between themajor and minor rainy seasons was getting wetter and the two seasons weregradually merging whereas the first and last quarters of the year were gettingdrier for a couple of decades. The situation over the last five years hadworsened as the amount of total rainfall had reduced by 22% compared to the30year period between 1960 and 1982. The major opportunity available to farmersin the face of changing climate in this agroecological zone was cashewproduction. About 76.8% of the respondents had diversified into cashew farming.
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