Dynamics of Climatic Factors: Implications on Household Food Security in the Jirapa Municipal of The Upper West Region, Ghana

Abstract

The study assessed the implications that climatic factors has on the food security of rural household within the Jirapa municipality. The perception of 180 rural farm households on climate change was analyzed using a quantitative approach. The study also examined some climate variables using time series data from the Ghana Meteorological Authority for a period of 57 years. Pattern examination of precipitation and temperature were done using Simple Linear Regression (SLR) and Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) over the 57 year interval. The results showed that, most of the individual respondents (69.5%) experienced a rise in temperature over the past years and a decline in rainfall (65%). Data from the Ghana Meteorological Authority (GMA) showed an increasing trend for temperature (1.28ºC) over the 57 year period and 0.224 ºC rise per decade with a decline in rainfall and eratic rainfall distribution over the past 57 years. The presence of climatic extremes had serious implications for food availability, stability, accessibility and utilization. It is recommended that policy and development measures should therefore concentrate on promoting the resilience and adaptive capacity of rural households towards climate change to promote food security.

Keywords: Climate change, Food Security, Livelihood, Agricultural Productivity, Ghana

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-4-04

Publication date: February 28^th 2022