Record Details

Why “formal” climate adaptation strategies fail in sub‐Saharan Africa: Ignoring adapters’ agency in the case of smallholding agriculture farming practices in Bono East Region of Ghana

CGSpace

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Why “formal” climate adaptation strategies fail in sub‐Saharan Africa: Ignoring adapters’ agency in the case of smallholding agriculture farming practices in Bono East Region of Ghana
 
Creator Quarshie, Philip Tetteh
Abdulai, Abdul‐Rahim
Abdulai, Seidu
Antwi‐Agyei, Philip
Fraser, Evan D.G.
 
Subject climate change adaptation
agriculture
food systems
smallholders-smallholder farmers
africa south of sahara-sub-saharan africa
sustainable agriculture
cambio climático
agricultura
sistemas alimentarios
pequeños agricultores-campesinos
África al sur del sahara-africa subsahariana
agricultura sostenible
 
Description This paper reviewed a body of literature on climate adaptation options in sub-Saharan Africa's (SSA) smallholding agriculture and complemented it with a case study involving experts interviews, focus group discussions, large-scale household surveys, and farmer practices observation while drawing insight from the concept of “everyday adaptation and interrupted agency” and agency theory to assess farmer perceived limitations with climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and climate-wise food systems (CWFS) practices for climate adaptation in the SSA. The study noted that the narrow focus on CSA and/or CWFS as a silver bullet for climate change adaptation suitable for smallholding agriculture ignores food producers’ agency to undermine sustainable and inclusive adaptation solutions. Moreover, smallholder farmers’ everyday climate adaptation practices could be grouped into three categories; on-farm adaptation, off-farm adaptation, and Indigenous agroecological adaptation options. The on-farm adaptation options are usually agriculture intensification and extensification. The off-farm adaptation options include livelihood diversification activities, petty trading, seasonal labor jobs, and migration. The Indigenous agroecological adaptation strategy uses observing nature and weather elements to predict the onset of the rainy season. The study noted that smallholders’ adaptation options, which is an expression of their agency, are motivated by smallholders’ desire to be resilient to changing climate, increase productivity and income, and social network influence but not necessarily because the strategy is being promoted by the government or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Therefore, we propose a sustainable food agency (SFA)—a multifaceted blended constellation of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, as the best approach to addressing the climate crises in the SSA. The SFA allows individuals or groups to decide what climate change adaptation options best work for them to adapt to changing climate and produce and distribute their food without undermining the economic, social, and environmental bases that generate food security and nutrition for present and future generations.
 
Date 2023-05-25
2023-09-14T10:33:24Z
2023-09-14T10:33:24Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Quarshie, P.T.; Abdulai, A.; Abdulai, S.; Antwi‐Agyei, P.; Fraser, E.D. (2023) Why “formal” climate adaptation strategies fail in sub‐Saharan Africa: Ignoring adapters’ agency in the case of smallholding agriculture farming practices in Bono East Region of Ghana. Climate Resilience and Sustainability, Online first paper (25 May 2023). 23 p. ISSN: 2692-4587
2692-4587
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131858
https://doi.org/10.1002/cli2.53
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
Open Access
 
Format 23 p.
application/pdf
 
Publisher Wiley
 
Source Climate Resilience and Sustainability