Smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptation in Ghana: A systematic literature review and future directions

Abstract

Efforts to promote adaptation among smallholder farmers in Ghana have yielded a substantial body of research. Despite the growing body of research on climate adaptation in Ghana, existing studies remain fragmented, lacking a comprehensive synthesis of smallholder farmers' adaptation strategies and barriers. This study makes a novel contribution by providing the first agroecology-specific synthesis of climate change adaptation strategies among Ghanaian smallholder farmers. By disaggregating findings across six ecological zones, it reveals context-specific patterns and barriers, offering an evidence base for locally tailored and transformative adaptation planning within Ghana's agricultural sector. A systematic literature review was performed to assess Ghanaian smallholder farmers' adaptation strategies and identify any existing gaps for future research. From the 497 records reviewed, we identified 61 adaptation strategies employed by smallholder farmers. These strategies were organised into two categories: on-farm strategies—agricultural intensification and extensification—and off-farm strategies—livelihood diversification and migration. Additionally, several significant gaps were identified, including limited research on the effectiveness of adaptation strategies, the role of institutions in enhancing adaptive capacity, and how different livelihood capitals are mobilized, transformed, and combined to reduce livelihood sensitivity. Further gaps include the lack of integrated vulnerability analyses of crop-livestock farming systems and insufficient multi-scale research to examine how climatic and non-climatic stressors vary and interact across scales to exacerbate the vulnerability of farming households. Our findings emphasise the need for all stakeholders to increase investment in contemporary research and sustainable development initiatives to foster transformational adaptation in Ghana's agricultural sector.