IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FARMERS IN THE TALENSI DISTRICT OF THE UPPER EAST REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

This paper focuses on the impact of climate change on the lives of rural farmers in the Pwalugu and Balungu communities of the Upper East Region of Ghana since farmers all over the country have been exposed to various adaptation strategies to climate change. From the study which was conducted in 2017, it was revealed that climate change affected respondents negatively resulting in reduced income level, inability to afford three square meals daily, inability to meet their health needs, inability to meet the educational needs of their children as well as inability to save at bank. Also, lack of finance, land tenure, norms/customs, lack of storage facilities, lack of ready markets, damage to crops by Fulani cattle and difficulty in obtaining seeds for farming were some challenges militating against the adoption of other adaptive strategies to climate change. The farmers therefore practiced crop diversification, adjustment in planting date of their crops, irrigation, change method of pr oduction, migration to the southern part of the country during the dry season to work, trading, fishing, among others as their specific adaptive strategies to climate change. The study recommends that, education should be one of the areas for policy intervention by government/stakeholders since access to education is vital in developing specific strategies of rural farmers to the diverse drivers and impacts of climate change on their lives.