Climate change/variability and food systems ...

Reg Environ Change DOI 10.1007/s10113-011-0211-3

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Climate change/variability and food systems: evidence from the Afram Plains, Ghana Samuel Nii Ardey Codjoe • George Owusu

Received: 7 June 2010 / Accepted: 27 February 2011 Ó Springer-Verlag 2011

Abstract While there are many studies of the impacts of climate change and variability on food production, few studies are devoted to a comprehensive assessment of impacts on food systems. Results of a survey of food systems and household adaptation strategies in three communities in the Afram Plains, Ghana, reveal how extreme climatic events affect rural food production, transportation, processing and storage. Adaptation strategies implemented by the three communities during past droughts serve as a foundation for planning responses to future climate change. Results of this study suggest that food security in this region—where droughts and floods are expected to become more severe due to climate change—could be enhanced by increasing farmbased storage facilities; improving the transportation system, especially feeder roads that link food production areas and major markets; providing farmers with early warning systems; extending credit to farmers; and the use of supplementary irrigation. This study also indicates that some cultural practices, particularly those that prohibit the consumption of certain foods, may reduce the resilience of some individuals and ethnic groups to food system disruptions. Understanding the local context and the responses of households is critical to the development of effective strategies for reducing the potential adverse impacts of climatic change on food security in rural Ghana.

S. N. A. Codjoe (&) Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 96, Legon, Ghana e-mail: [email protected] G. Owusu Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 74, Legon, Ghana e-mail: [email protected]

Keywords Climate change Climate variability Food systems Vulnerability Adaptation Ghana

Introduction It has now been widely established that the pervasive societal emphasis on modes and volume of food production in developing countries has been detrimental to resolving problems relating to food distribution, affordability and accessibility. The singular focus on production has consequently amplified food insecurity in many parts of the world (Amthor 2001; Fuhrer 2003). Food security is defined as the physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious foods, which meet the individual’s dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO 1996). Thus, solving food insecurity requires a comprehensive approach that incorporates numerous fields of planning and considers a wide range of factors, which could be socio-economic, political or environmental in nature (Clover 2003; Dilley and Boudreau 2001; Ericksen 2008; Leary et al. 2007; Vogel and Smith 2002). Global models and projections of food supply and demand into the new millennium showed supply of food meeting or, in some instances, exceeding demands (Devereux and Edwards 2004). A major shortcoming of these modelling efforts, according to Stephen and Downing (2001), was their inability to capture regional inequalities in food production and the absence of the whole new phenomenon of global environmental change and more specifically, climate variability and change. Yet, variability in climatic conditions has been argued to be a stumbling block to food security in most developing countries and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. This is because, first,

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S. N. A. Codjoe, G. Owusu

Sub-Saharan Africa already experiences high temperatures and low (and highly variable) precipitation; second, because the economies are highly dependent on agriculture and; third, because there is low adoption of modern technology (IPCC 2001; Jones and Thornton 2003; Kurukulasuriya and Rosenthal 2003; Kurukulasuriya et al. 2006; Pearce et al. 1996; Rosenzweig and Parry 1994). While there are numerous studies of the impacts of climate change and variability on food production (Amthor 2001; Fuhrer 2003; Gregory et al. 1999), studies of the impacts on food systems have been few and far between (Downing 2002; Ziervogel and Calder 2003). This paper first provides a short review of the concept of food systems and their relationship to food security. It then proceeds with a description of the potential influence of climate change and variability on food systems and local adaptation strategies to drought in the Afram Plains based on three community case studies. The paper then describes the potential impact of climate change and variability on food systems in the study area and, more generally, sub-Saharan Africa. Methods for assessing food security, the effects of climate extremes on food systems, and adaptation strategies in the three communities are followed by a discussion of the study results. The paper ends with several conclusions and policy recommendations relating to food security in the Afram Plains and, in broad terms, poor agricultural regions that experience climatic change. Concept of food systems and its relationship to food security Food systems comprise certain activities, resources, and infrastructure that collectively determine the food security status of a region or a group of people. Three distinct elements of a food system are food availability (production, distribution and exchange), food access (affordability, allocation and preference) and food utilisation (nutritional value, social value and food safety) (USAID 1992; Ingram et al. 2005). Within the context of food systems, food availability refers to the existence of food stocks for consumption, which can be influenced by the state of the transportation network. Food access is the ability to acquire sufficient quality and quantities of food to meet all nutritional requirements of the members of the household. Factors that determine food accessibility include financial income or other means to purchase, barter, or gather food; market price and availability of credit; and food transfers from relatives, community or government. Food utilisation relates primarily to food processing, storage, sanitation, apportionment of food and frequency of meals, and the nutritional value of food stocks. One constraint to food utilisation encountered in this study involved cultural practices and taboos. For a state of food security to be

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assessed, all three major facets of the food system should be analysed. The conceptual framework adopted in this analysis is based on the ‘livelihoods framework’, which generally defines livelihoods as the capabilities, assets, both material and social resources and the activities required for a means of living (Chambers 1989; Chambers and Conway 1992; Davies 1996; Yaro 2004; FAO 2005). At the centre of this framework are the assets on which households or individuals draw to build their food security (Fig. 1). These assets are influenced by ‘context’, which refers to the sources of food insecurity to which people and their assets are vulnerable including climate change. Vulnerability is seen not simply as the result of an event or stress, but as a function of the socio-economic characteristics of a population (Devereux and Maxwell 2001), which determine the degree to which their life and livelihood is put at risk by a discrete and identifiable event in nature or in society. Access to and use of assets is also influenced by societal policies, institutions, and processes, as well as relationships between individuals and organisations. Adaptation strategies adopted by individuals and households in response to these collective drivers and vulnerabilities produce outcomes that can be assessed in terms of their positive or negative impacts on food security (see Rakodi 2002). Adaptive capacity in relation to climate change impacts refers to ‘the ability of a system to adjust to climate change (including climate variability and extremes) to moderate potential damages, to take advantage of opportunities, or to cope with the consequences’ (Christensen et al. 2007, p 869). A wide range of methods for increasing adaptive capacity in the agriculture sector is described in the recent literature (Bradshaw et al. 2002; Kurukulasuriya and Mendelsohn 2006; Maddison 2006; Nhemachena and Hassan 2007; Christensen et al. 2007; FAO 2010). It is important that adaptations that are implemented to lessen the vulnerability of food systems to climate change do not result in dire consequences for environmental and social outcomes, so as to further aggravate vulnerability in the future (Ericksen 2008).

Climate change/variability and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa with reference to Ghana Climate change is a long-term change in the statistics of weather expressed as a probable change in mean or extreme weather conditions. The UNFCC’s (1994) definition specifically refers to climate change as the influence of human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere, which is in addition to natural climate variability. Climate variability refers to variations in the climate on all temporal

Climate change/variability and food systems Fig. 1 Food security and livelihoods framework. Source Rakodi (2002)

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES IN COMMUNITIES (e.g. transportation networks)

CLIMATIC CHANGES (VULNERABILITY CONTEXT OF INDIVIDUAL/ HOUSEHOLD) • • •

Food availability Food access Food utilisation

LIVELIHOOD ASSETS OF INDIVIDUAL/ HOUSEHOLD: • • • • •

HUMAN SOCIAL FINANCIAL NATURAL PHYSICAL

FOOD POLICIES, INSTITUTIONS, PROCESSES Structures/Organisations • Levels of government (local & central governments) • Traditional authority • Family/Clan heads • Private sector Processes • Laws • Policies • Culture • Institutions

FOOD AND LIVELIHOOD ADAPTIVE CAPACITY

FOOD SECURITY OUTCOMES

and spatial scales beyond that of individual weather events (Christensen et al. 2007). Agricultural production and food security in Africa are expected to be placed under considerable additional stress by climate change (FAO 2007, 2010). With about 27% of the population of Africa and 16% of West Africa being undernourished (FAO 2004), hunger is inextricably linked to poverty. Predictions of African food security remain bleak. For instance, it is estimated that crop production (grains, roots and tubers) must increase by 40% and meat products by 58% by 2020 to meet expected demand caused by population growth and increased incomes (PinstrupAndersen et al. 1999). Impacts of global climatic changes could particularly exacerbate the already poor performance in food production being experienced in most parts of subSaharan Africa. Food insecurity, then, is expected to undermine people’s potential adaptive responses, as poorly nourished social actors are usually too weak to carry out otherwise effective adaptation strategies. An ensemble of 21 climate models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report project increases in mean surface air temperature of 3–4°C for the period 2080–2099 when compared with the 1980–1999 period for the African continent under a mid-range emission scenario (i.e. the A1B emissions scenario in Nakicenovic et al. 2000) (Christensen et al. 2007). The IPCC model ensemble also indicates a possible decrease and increase in mean monthly precipitation of 80 mm in the northern and southern parts of Ghana,

respectively, over the summer months of June, July and August. Furthermore, inter-annual variability in rainfall is expected to increase, with a rise in the intensity of highrainfall events but an overall decrease in the number of rain days (Christensen et al. 2007; Hulme et al. 2001). These translate to a 30–50% decrease and increase in precipitation, respectively, in April, the start of the rainy season, and in July, the month between the major and minor rainy seasons. These seasonal variations suggest a shift in the bi-modal rainfall pattern which has several implications for rain-fed agriculture (Boko et al. 2007; Kunstmann and Jung 2005). The effects of a warming climate could amplify problems that have persisted for several decades relating to food availability, access and utilisation in Ghana. In the first decade following independence in 1957, the first Ghanaian government used agricultural wealth as a springboard for the country’s overall economic development. Several food processing factories and numerous storage silos were constructed across the country. As a result, the proportion of food consumed out of the total produced was 79.5% in the 1960s (only 60.3% in the 2000s) and the proportion that was wasted due to lack of transportation, storage and processing was 19.0% (22.7% in the 2000s) (Codjoe 2007). In addition, financial institutions such as the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) were established to offer credit to small-scale farmers. However, as a result of a drop in commodity prices beginning in the late 1960s and general deterioration of necessary infrastructure and services, farmers were faced

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with fewer incentives to produce. By the late 1970s, farmers also had to deal with increasingly expensive inputs, such as fertilizer, because of overvaluation of the cedi. Food production therefore fell, with a decline in the food self-sufficiency ratio from 83% in 1961–1966 to 71% in 1978–1980, coupled with a fourfold increase in food imports in the decade prior to 1982. By 1983, when drought hit the country, food shortages were widespread, and export crop production reached an all-time low. To a large extent, the challenges of food production, storage and distribution inherited from previous decades largely prevail in Ghana. For instance, the most recent estimate of post-harvest storage losses for cereals and maize are 8% and 14%, respectively (Sarpong et al. 2008). Farmers store the bulk of their food crops in traditional structures which are highly ineffective. Transportation has been estimated to contribute up to 70% to food marketing costs in Ghana (Nyanteng and Dapaah 1993). These challenges place heavy burden on households in terms of food availability, access and utilisation.

Study area and methodology In order to explore empirical linkages between climate change and food security, we selected the Afram Plains, one of the poorest districts in Ghana. The Afram Plains are located in the transition zone between the northern Sudan savannah and the more southern Guinea savannah. The plains comprise a mosaic of forest and savannah vegetation with a total land area of about 5,754 km2 of which about 2,725 km2, representing 47.4% of the plains, was submerged after the construction of the Volta Dam in the 1960s (Codjoe 2010). To obtain a cross section of typical livelihoods and food systems in this region considering geographical location, predominant economic activity and demographic composition, three communities in the Afram Plains were selected for individual household surveys (Fig. 2). Twelve households were surveyed in each of the three communities: Xedzodzoekope, Mim Kyemfere and Boakyekrom. Xedzodzoekope is located along the shoreline of an inlet in the Afram arm of Lake Volta approximately 8 km from the town of Fori–Fori along the main road. The predominately Ewe community was officially established in 1968, and contains nearly 600 inhabitants.1 Fishing is the 1

Linguistically, the population of Ghana can be divided into four broad divisions: Akan (comprise about 20 sub-ethnic groups with similar cultural, social and political institutions and customs); MoleDagbani, Ewe, Ga-Dangme and Other minority ethnic groupings. As of 2000, the Akan represents the largest ethnic group with about 49% of the total population; Mole-Dagbani (16.5%); Ewe (12.7%); Ga-Dangme (8%) and Others (13.7%).

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predominant livelihood while farming, herding and charcoal production supplement incomes (Dietrich 2010). The major crops grown in Xedzodzoekope are yam, cassava, groundnut and maize. Vegetable (okro, pepper, tomatoes, garden eggs) cultivation along the banks of the Afram River is also predominant. Mim Kyemfere is located 15 km to the southeast of the district capital Donkorkrom, and within 4 km west of the main channel of the Volta River. This predominately Ewe community was established in 1964 as a Volta River Authority (VRA) resettlement community. Cultivation in Mim Kyemfere includes basic crops such as cassava, pepper, groundnut, cowpea and maize, as well as experimental crops including cashew, citrus, sweet potato, acacia and palm. While some members of the community are herders, a few are engaged in charcoal production. Finally, Boakyekrom is located about 7 km from the Afram River along the main road which passes from Ekye Amanfrom at the southern ferry crossing to the district capital, Donkorkrom. It is a migrant community and a variety of ethnic groups are represented in the community, the most prevalent being the Kwahu (a sub-ethnic group of the Akan) and Dagarti (a sub-ethnic group of the Mole-Dagbani). Yam cultivation remains the most prominent crop for the community. Intercropping occurs in most yam farms, allowing some farms in the community to cultivate up to eight or nine crops. Most community members participate in some form of charcoal production. A survey was conducted in January and February of 2008 in the three study communities. A structured and open-ended questionnaire was employed and the administration of the questionnaires was by direct interview with the respondents. This technique was used because some of the respondents had no formal education. The survey elicited information on household socio-demographic characteristics, assets, income and expenditure. It also contained questions about food crops grown, harvested sold and consumed as well as farm inputs in the last farming season. Other questions related to techniques of food processing and storage. Information on flora and fauna species that were previously consumed but no longer available was also elicited. In addition, there were questions about other sources of food, the person responsible for providing food in a household and the number of meals eaten per day. Respondents were asked about their perceptions regarding the nutritional value of food consumed by the household, how often foods were eaten and the availability of the right quality and quantity of food to meet the household’s demand. There were also questions on observed changes and variability in climate and the impact on food production. In addition to the surveys, community focus groups and historical matrices (Freudenberger-Schoonmaker

Climate change/variability and food systems

Digya National Park

MimKyemfere

Boakyekrom Xerdzodzoekope

Tel 23 3 2150 0301 Fax 233 21 50 03 10

N

W

E

S

Fig. 2 Map of the Afram Plains District

1995) were used to identify periods of extreme climatic events. Finally, adaptation strategies used by households during extreme climatic events and future ones were also recorded. With regard to the sampling procedure, opinion leaders and elders of the communities aided in the design of criteria to determine the wealth status of households. Advice was solicited through a participatory approach, which in some cases resulted in hours of deliberations. Wealth was used as a means for sampling a cross section of households within each community. The following items and categories were used to establish a measure of household wealth: size of farm holding ([10 acres per season—rich, 2–10 acres—non-rich, \2 acres—poor); ownership of cattle ([10—rich, 2–10— non-rich,\2—poor); sheep/goat ([40—rich, 10–40—non-rich, \10—poor); chicken/duck ([40—rich, 10–40—non-rich, \10—poor). In addition, a regular source of income from a job or trade was also used to measure wealth status. Finally, a fishing household with an outboard motor and more than two canoes was classified as rich. A total of four

households were randomly (all households were assigned numbers and put in a bowl which was later drawn) selected from each of the three wealth categories in the three study communities totalling 36 households. The household is defined as ‘a person or group of persons who live together in the same house or compound, share the same housekeeping arrangements and are catered for as one unit’ (O’Laughlin 1999).

Results and discussion The discussion of the study results is structured to take account of three critical facets of the food system which have serious implications for food security and the subsequent adaptation strategies of communities. Our discussion of results begins with an analysis of local perceptions of climatic changes and significant climatic events recorded through their memory. Perceptions were compared with the climate trends and events that have been derived from meteorological data collected in West Africa and

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what is harvested. This analysis gives an idea of the food stock available to households for consumption. While households in Mim Kyemfere harvested the most cassava (16,300 kg), and Xedzodzoekope harvested the most maize (1,900 kg), Boakyekrom harvested the most groundnut (3,200 kg) and yam (13,300 tubers). With regard to the sale of farm produce, with the exception of groundnut (75%) that was mainly sold by households in Mim Kyemfere, all the other crops, namely, cassava (50%), maize (100%), and yam (33%) were mainly sold in Boakyekrom. Finally, while Mim Kyemfere had the most stock of cassava (14,575 kg), and Xedzodzoekope the most stock of maize (1,850 kg) available for household consumption, Boakyekrom had the most stock of groundnut (2,400 kg) and yam (8,230 tubers) available for household consumption. In addition, Boakyekrom sold the most of three of the four crops, namely cassava, maize and yam. Climate change appears to be affecting food availability in multiple ways. Almost all the heads of households interviewed alluded to the fact that the rains were better in previous times (1960s) compared to contemporary times (2000s). This was expressed in several ways. For example, one respondent stated that the rain does not come as it formerly used to; rains these days do not fall at the appropriate time; previously started in February but now in March; and the weather is now hotter than in the past. These perceptions are all consistent with the meteorological record for this region of Africa. Heat waves were mentioned as causing destruction to farm products (especially, pepper, cassava, garden eggs and maize), creating hard soils and, therefore, low yields and non-pollination of maize. In addition, intensity of rain for all the communities were said to be very high and therefore resulting in floods. Some of the reported consequences of floods were rotten yams on farms, reduction in sizes of harvested yam, diseased crops, loss of crops and low yields. Some survey respondents also noted that high rains in the Afram Plains result in foot rot, skin diseases, colds, digestive disorders, hair loss and even death of cattle, sheep and goats.

Ghana (EPA 2001; Boko et al. 2007; Christensen et al. 2007; Hulme et al. 2001; Tschakert et al. 2010). One basic goal of this analysis was to ascertain whether local people recognise climate trends and extremes and, in particular, their impact on food security. Local perceptions of climate change Survey respondents in all three communities reported a delay in the onset of the major rainy season in recent years, with little or no heavy rainfall occurring until the month of July and occasionally heavy rainfall in August that saturates farmland and causes several crops to fail. In addition, community members have observed a trend in the bimodal precipitation pattern in which the two separate rainy seasons are being replaced by a single rainy period beginning later in the year and ending sooner. Furthermore, the significant climatic events recorded through the memory of participants include the following: (a) January–July 1976: Very hot weather conditions, (b) 1983–1984: Drought—A year long of bush fires, (c) October–December 1989: Very hot weather conditions, (d) 1991: Lots of rains throughout the year, (e) 1995: About 40 days of intensive rains, (f) 2004: Very cold winds experienced during March– April (Easter) and November–January was very cold, (g) 2005: Cold periods resulting in animal deaths, (h) August 2006: 1 week of intensive rains, and (i) 2007: Lots of rains in August and September. Food availability Table 1 shows food production and marketing characteristics as well as food availability status of households, for the various crops in the three communities. Food availability status is calculated by subtracting the food sold from Table 1 Household food availability by study community Xedzodzoekope C Cropped (%)

M 92

No yield (%)

Mim Kyemfere G

58

Y 33

25

C

Boakyekrom

M 75

G 75

Y

42

C

25

M 67

G

25

Y 50

83

33

–

–

–

17

8

–

–

17

–

–

8

2,325

1,900

1,755

0

16,300

1,225

625

916

4,900

250

3,200

13,300

Households sold (%)

25

14

60

0

44

63

75

0

50

100

33

33

Harvest sold (kg)

50

50

1,280

0

1,725

525

425

0

2,375

125

800

5,070

2,275

1,850

475

0

14,575

700

200

916

2,525

125

2,400

8,230

Harvest (kg/tubers)

Available (kg)

C cassava, M maize, G groundnut, Y yam (measured in tubers) Households surveyed = 36

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Regarding transportation network, there are two main entrances into the Afram Plains by road. The first one is from the south through Nkawkaw-Mpraeso-Bepong-Kwahu Tafo and Adawso from where the 3 km wide Afram River is crossed to Ekye-Amanfrom by ferry operated by the Volta Lake Transport Company. The second entrance is from the east through Kpandu-Torkor in the Volta Region from where the Volta Lake is again crossed to Agordeke. While Boakyekrom is located on the main trunk road that runs through the Afram Plains, Xedzodzoekope and Mim Kyemfere are not (Fig. 2). This makes accessibility of Boakyekrom by road the easiest compared to the other two communities. As a result, the availability of food that is not produced in the community is enhanced. In addition, excessive flooding sometimes destroys the feeder roads to Mim Kyemfere and Xedzodzoekope cutting them off from the rest of the communities in the Afram Plains.

Table 2 Household social characteristic, physical asset, income, expenditure, remittance and farm input by study community

The analysis further shows that, in the opinion of community members, there have been substantial reductions in the availability of certain flora and fauna species as a result of several factors including extreme dryness and flooding. The species include; cocoyam, plantain, grasscutter, bush rat, snail, mushroom, antelope, wild pig, yellow yam, porcupine, deer, banana, squirrel, pawpaw, crab and orange. It is important to note that overharvesting, which could be related to inclement weather and a reduction in the productivity of crops, could have been an important factor in the decline of these consumable species. Food access According to the results shown in Table 2, Boakyekrom has 64% of male household members compared to 53% for

Xedzodzoekope

Mim Kyemfere

Boakyekrom

Household social characteristic (%) Proportion males

52

53

Dependent population

45

45

33

Good health

82

85

87

Farming as major occupation

46

34

84

Absentee members

18

21

49

Mean household size

64

8

6

7

66

89

66

18

0

0

0

8

8

Bicycle

73

67

75

Sewing machine

46

42

33

9

25

8

91 27

92 25

83 17

Members with education Household asset (physical) (%) Car Motorbike

Refrigerator Radio TV Stove

9

0

8

Mobile phone

64

50

25

Land ownership

48

91

27

Household asset (livestock) Mean Cattle per household

7

2

1

Mean Sheep per household

1

3

4

Mean Goat per household Mean Chicken per household Household livestock score

2

4

7

11

8

10

522

365

441

Income, expenditure, remittance and farm input (%)

Households surveyed = 36

More income than expenditure

73

75

83

Have expenditure on food

50

64

83

Household income spent on food

6

2

1

Received remittance

0

33

25

18

6

19

Farm input (fertilizer, weedicide)

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Mim Kyemfre and 52% for Xedzodzoekope. In such African communities, higher proportions of men could be advantageous in terms of food access. While women typically devote a high proportion of their energy and time to agricultural production, some studies suggest that males in parts of Africa have better access to land, farm equipment, technical assistance, and information (Doka and Monimart 2004; Njuki et al. 2004). Boakyekrom also has a relatively low dependent population with only 33% of children under 15 years and adults aged 65 years and older compared to 45% for both Mim Kyemfre and Xedzodzoekope. Hence, there are more people in the active work force producing food to feed fewer children and the aged in the community of Boakyekrom. Among the three communities, Boakyekrom has more members with good health (87%) and more members with farming as the major occupation (84%), and these factors influence labour availability that could translate into higher food production. Finally, Boakyekrom has the most absentee members (49%), which is considered an indicator of migration. Thus, it is expected that there would be remittance inflows to this community that could be invested into the farms for more food production, or used to supplement household income in times of low food production. However, with respect to the communities with the highest remittances, Boakyekrom (25%) was second to Mim Kyemfere (33%). Education level was also highest in Mim Kyemfere where 89% of households had members with some level of formal education. Physical household assets and livestock holdings (Table 2) are highest in Boakyekrom across most of the asset categories surveyed in the three communities. Eightythree per cent of households in Boakyekrom had more income than expenditure. Boakyekrom also had the lowest percentage of household expenditures on food and the highest utilisation of products such as fertilizers and

Table 3 Sources of food and perception of the availability of sufficient quality and quantity of food to meet household requirement by study community

herbicides. All of these factors culminate in having easier access to food in Boakyekrom. Each of the twelve households surveyed in Boakyekrom indicated that the most important source of food was their household farm. However, two of the households in Xedzodzoekope and one in Mim Kyemfere, purchased the majority of the food they eat. Other sources of food apart from those produced on farms, perceptions of the availability of sufficient quality and quantity of food to meet household requirements and the ability to acquire food are shown in Table 3. Food utilisation The most nutritious foods as perceived by community members in Boakyekrom is fufu (cooked pounded cassava) and vegetable soup, and in Xedzodzoekope and Mim Kyemfere it is akple (cooked maize dough) and vegetable soup. These perceptions and utilisations may be related to the ethnic compositions of these communities. Boakyekrom is predominantly Akan and fufu is the main staple food of the Akan, and Xedzodzoekope and Mim Kyemfere are predominantly Ewe and akple is the staple food of the Ewe. Table 4 shows the type of food consumed in the three communities by nutritional status. This information was obtained by asking the respondents to state the household menu (breakfast, lunch and supper) in the last seven days preceding the survey. Generally, the food consumed by the communities consists mainly of grains, cereals and starchy foods (carbohydrates) which are combined with soups or sauces containing vegetables, leguminous crops, animal products (sources of minerals, vitamins, proteins, calcium, iron and fats) and oils. Out of the 35 food combinations, Boakyekrom utilises the highest number of combinations (24), followed by Mim Kyemfre (22) and Xerdzodzoekope (17),

Xedzodzoekope

Mim Kyemfere

Boakyekrom

Source of food Farm

100

91

92

Market

50

55

50

Stock

28

15

24

Transfer from relatives

6

20

14

Transfer from community

–

5

6

Transfer from government

–

–

6

17

5

–

100

83

92

Barter Perceptions Sufficient quality of food


123

Sufficient quantity of food

92

75

92

Ability to acquire sufficient food

50

83

75

Climate change/variability and food systems Table 4 Type of food consumed by nutritional status and study community Type of food/nutritional status

X

M

B

Grains and cereals, vegetable sauces/soups (carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins) Cooked maize dough (banku/akple), blended pepper, tomato, onion

X

X

X

Cooked maize dough (banku/akple) and tomato soup

X

X

X

Cooked maize dough (banku/akple) and okra sauce/soup

X

X

X

Cooked fermented maize dough (kenkey,) and blended pepper, tomato, onion

X

X

X

X

X

Rice and garden egg sauce Rice and tomato sauce

X X

Grains and cereals, leguminous sauces/soups (carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, protein) Rice and beans sauce

X

Cooked maize dough (banku/akple) and beans sauce

X

Cooked mashed rice (omotuo) and groundnut soup Cooked millet flour (tuo zaafi) and groundnut soup

X X

Grains and cereals, animal products as sauces/soups (carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, protein) Cooked maize dough (banku/akple) and egg sauce

X

Grains and cereals as beverages (carbohydrates) Maize porridge (coco) and bread

X

X

X

Rice porridge and sugar

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Grains and cereals, fats and oils (carbohydrates, fats and oils) Cooked maize dough (banku/akple) and palm nut soup Starchy foods, vegetable sauces/soups (carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, iron) Cooked pounded cassava (fufu) and spinach soup Cooked pounded cassava (fufu) and tomato soup

X

Cassava (boiled) and blended pepper, tomato and onion

X

X

Yam (boiled/roasted) and tomato soup

X

Yam (boiled/roasted) and tomato sauce

X

Yam (boiled/roasted) and spinach sauce

X

Plantain (boiled/roasted) and spinach sauce Yam (boiled/roasted) and garden egg sauce

X

Plantain (boiled) blended tomato, onion, garden egg

X

X

X X

X

X

X

Starchy foods, leguminous sauces/soups (carbohydrates, minerals, protein, vitamins, fats and oils) Cooked pounded cassava (fufu) and groundnut soup

X

Cassava (boiled) and groundnut soup

X

Cassava (roasted) and groundnut soup

X

Cooked dried cassava flour (kokonte) and groundnut soup

X

X

Yam (boiled/roasted) and groundnut soup

X

X

Yam (boiled/roasted) and beans sauce

X

Fried grated cassava (gari) and beans sauce

X

Plantain (boiled/fried) and beans sauce

X

X

X

Starchy foods, animal products as sauces/soups (carbohydrates, protein) Yam (boiled/roasted) and egg sauce

X

Starchy foods as beverages (carbohydrates, protein, calcium) Fried grated cassava (gari), sugar and milk Starchy foods, fats and oils (carbohydrates, fats and oils, iron) Cooked pounded cassava (fufu) and palm nut soup Plantain (boiled and mashed) and palm oil (oto)

X X

X

X

X

X Xerdzodzoekope, M Mim Kyemfre, B Boakyekrom Type of fish (mainly herrings) and meat (cow, sheep, goat, pork, chicken, grasscutter and other game) main sources of protein used for soups and sauces have not been included because they do not vary significantly in the three communities. Italicised word in parentheses is local name of food

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further showing that community members in Boakyekrom consumes the widest array of foods, and may therefore have the best nutritional status. Furthermore, 83, 75 and 67% of the households in Mim Kyemfere Xedzodzoekope and Boakyekrom, respectively, have members that eat three times per day. Finally, community members identified certain cultural practices including taboos that could further aggravate food insecurity. In Boakyekrom, pregnant women are particularly forbidden from eating ripe plantains. In Mim Kyemfere, community members are forbidden from eating tortoise, alligator and cocoyam, while in Xedzodzoekope the eating of snails, alligators and certain fish species is abhorred. Processing and storage were also considered under food utilisation and respondents described how these were undertaken for the various crops. In the case of Cassava, it can be cut into pieces when harvested and grinded into dough and put in sacks. Heavy objects are placed on the sacks for 3 days to allow the starch content to drain. A mesh is then used to separate the chaff from the dough. The dough is then fried in a pan into gari (fried grated cassava) which is a staple food in the communities. Cassava could also be cut into pieces after harvest and dried for about a month. It is later pounded in a mortar or grinded with a machine into powder which can be used for kokonte (cooked dried cassava flour), another staple food in the communities. In addition, cassava could be left in the field without harvesting for up to about 6 years as a storage strategy. Maize could be dried and milled into powder or dough for use as banku (cooked maize dough), another staple. It could also be dried, sprayed and stored in bags or could be left on the cobs and put in barns to dry. Groundnut could be dried and stored in bags and can stay for a year, or it could Table 5 Past and future adaptation strategies to drought by study community

be roasted and grinded into paste for soup. While cowpea is mainly dried and put in sacks for storage, pepper is first boiled, then dried and stored in sacks or could be grinded into powder or paste. Finally, fish could be smoked or salted and can sometimes stay for about 10 years, and yam is mainly stored in barns. According to the respondents climate change provides mixed opportunities in terms of processing and storage of food. This is because drying is a key component of most of the storage techniques. Thus, extreme dryness will aid processing and storage, while flooding may hamper food storage. Adaptation strategies In the 1983/1984 farming season, Ghana experienced what could be described as the most severe drought condition in recent memory. The adaptation strategies used during this drought along with additional strategies that might be used in future severe droughts are shown in Table 5. This analysis shows that Mim Kyemfere, Boakyekrom and Xedzodzoekope, respectively, used four, three and two of the five past adaptation strategies. However, while the majority of households in Boakyekrom (73%) and Mim Kyemfere (36%) relied on previous harvest and stored food, which could be described as the most efficient strategy, the majority in Xedzodzoekope (71%) engaged in barter for food. Boakyekrom was the only community in which respondents (9%) indicated reliance on other family relations during the 1983–1984 drought, while 18% of the households in Mim Kyemfere bartered for food and gathered food from the wild during that period. In future, the households surveyed in Boakyekrom plan to continue to rely on stored food and food purchases from the market. However, respondents in Boakyekrom stated that they will

Xedzodzoekope

Mim Kyemfere

Boakyekrom

Past adaptation strategy Previous harvest and stored food

29

36

73

Purchase food from market

–

28

18

Supported by family relations

–

–

9

Barter

71

18

–

Gathered from wild

–

18

–

Future adaptation strategy


123

Previous harvest and stored food

30

55

75

Purchase food from market

–

–

17

Barter

60

9

–

Gathered from wild

–

9

–

Irrigation

10

–

–

Start rice cultivation

–

–

8

Migrate

–

9

–

Reduce food intake

–

9

–


not rely on family during future droughts, but will rather start rice cultivation. Households in Mim Kyemfere indicated that they will rely on adaptation strategies used in the past to confront future extreme climatic events, however, two new adaptation options, migration and the reduction of food intake, were mentioned. The use of irrigation farming was cited as a new adaptation strategy that will be used in future extreme droughts in Xedzodzoekope.

Conclusions and policy recommendations A survey of individual households was effective in assessing the relative status of food systems (availability, access and utilisation) and climate change adaptation strategies in three rural communities (Boakyekrom, Xedzodzoekope and Mim Kyemfere) in the Afram Plains of Ghana. The majority of the households in all three communities were of the opinion that they had sufficient quality and quantity of food at the time of the survey and, to a lesser extent, the ability to acquire enough food to meet the household’s nutritional requirements in the future. Among the three communities, Boakyekrom has the highest food availability status in terms of food stocks and transportation networks. The most important source of food for this community is the household farm, which may minimise household vulnerability to many exogenous factors but can be devastating if production of food on the household farm fails. Even in drought situations Boakyekrom households appear to have the best access to food due to a combination of extended family relationships and a food storage capacity that is much better developed than in the other two communities. Extreme climatic events, however, have hampered food production and transportation networks with a reduction in food availability in Boakyekrom as well as the other two communities. Regarding food utilisation, community members in Boakyekrom consume the widest array of foods, and may therefore have the best nutritional status. Members of all three communities identified certain cultural practices including taboos that could aggravate food insecurity. The results also revealed several techniques that the communities use to process and store food. The projected increase in temperature in this region could have mixed impacts on food processing and storage. Drying is a key component of most of the food storage techniques used in this region. Extreme dryness could aid processing and storage, while flooding and cold conditions may hamper food storage. Household members in all three communities indicated that they would use similar adaptation strategies in the past to confront future extreme climatic events, with a few new additions. If this survey and analysis had concentrated solely on food production, which is only one component of food

availability, our understanding of vulnerability in the three Ghanaian communities would be incomplete and could, possibly, foster ineffective adaptation to climate change. If governments perceive that becoming food secure is dependent on food production alone, other prerequisites for effective and sustainable food systems may not be attained. Based on the findings presented in this study, it is evident that addressing food security in Ghana will require an expansion of farm-level, small-scale storage facilities. The National Food Buffer Stock Company, established in 2010 to replace the defunct Ghana Food Distribution Corporation, has announced plans to increase storage capacity and reduce post-harvest food wastes in Ghana. However, adequate resources must be provided to enable the new company to carry out its mandate to ensure food security and to insulate farmers against post-harvest losses and natural disasters. Secondly, the transportation system—especially feeder roads that link food production areas and major markets— is presently inadequate and is highly vulnerable to the intense climate extremes that are anticipated during the coming decades. Post-harvest storage losses of all cereals are estimated to be between about 8%. Improvements in rural transportation will help enable farmers to market surplus production. Thirdly, farmers should be provided with early warning systems to aid them in identifying the appropriate time in the season to plant in the face of extreme climate variability. Fourthly, irrigation in the dry months between October and April allows all-year round cropping and increases productivity. Supplementary irrigation could therefore be used to reduce the risks of crop failure. It has been estimated that Ghana has a potential area of 500,000 ha for irrigation; however, only 2% of this potential has been developed so far. Finally, cultural practices that prohibit the consumption of nutritional foods should be reversed through the influence of knowledgeable, influential local people. One FAO study concludes that ‘a speech by the president or a cabinet minister, the sight of a respected tribe leader eating some forbidden food and coming to no harm or the return to the village of educated and enlightened local people will prove much more effective than the preaching or goading of an outsider’ (Latham 1997) It can be argued that while rural agricultural communities may exhibit certain similar characteristics, they are not homogenous and as such the impact of climatic changes on food security and households’ adaptation strategies of these communities would differ. More importantly, while climatic changes are largely assumed to impact on agriculture and other livelihood activities in Ghana, empirical research studies on the phenomenon are limited. As such, a local specific research such as the present study on the Afram Plains offers opportunities for analysing the

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effects of climatic changes on food security in a specific locality and the adaptation capacity of households and communities. Understanding the local context and the responses of households is critical to any solutions to address the challenges of climatic changes and food security in Ghana. Acknowledgments We are grateful to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) for providing funds for the Food Security and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Afram Plains Project (# CCP 07 08). Further support from the Climate Change and Learning Observatory Network in Ghana Project (EEM-A-00-6600014) sponsored by the United States Agency for International Development is also acknowledged. We are also grateful to Petra Tschakert of the Penn State University, Regina Sagoe, Lucy Atidoh, Gifty Ofori-Darko, and Kirk Anderson, of the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana for assisting with data collection. We also want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the anonymous reviewers, Dr. Virginia Burkett of the United States Geological Survey, and the Editor-in-Chief for their useful and constructive suggestions, which has greatly enhanced the quality of this paper.

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