Evaluating Rural Farmers Knowledge, Perception, and Adaptation Strategies on Climate Change in Ghana: A case study of the Wa West District, Ghana

Abstract

Climate change is a phenomenon that has received significant international attention over the past years due to its profound negative effects on community livelihood especially in developing countries like Ghana where rain-fed agriculture is the main source of employment and livelihood for the majority of the population. Various studies have shown that knowledge and perceptions of people on climate change can have a significant influence on their adaptation and mitigation options, it is vital for researchers to, therefore, undertake regular assessments to gather concrete information on climatic trends and its impact so as to prescribe the best mitigative remedies. This work, therefore, evaluates the perceptions of farmers, their level of knowledge on climate change and the various strategies they employ in Wa West District of the Upper West region of Ghana. Based on findings from this study, a fervent recommendation for the building of resilience interventions in the study area that will target farmers especially women with low adaptive capacity to help boost their capacity in dealing with climate change was proposed.

Keywords: Adaptation strategies, Barriers, Climate Change, Knowledge, Rural farmers.