Determinants of Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change among Smallholder Rural Households in the Bongo District, Ghana

Abstract

This study examined the determinants of adaptive capacity of smallholder rural households to climate change in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana. It employed a mixed method approach involving questionnaire survey of 150 households randomly selected from two communities within the district, focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The results of a binary logistic regression model indicates that five predictor variables (education of the household, farming experience, farm size, belief system and training) out of 11 tested determinants were significant at 1%, 5% and 10% probability levels. Forward stepwise (likelihood ratio) showed that these five variables had explained 61% of the total variances in households’ adaptive capacity. The study concludes that attempts to support household adaptation strategies to climate change should pay considerable attention to understanding socio-economic factors, including education and belief systems, in order to develop sustainable strategies that will be culturally accepted by communities.

Keywords: Adaptation, Education and Training, Experience, Livelihood, Socio-cultural Factors