Impact of Climate Change on farmers

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With the unpredictable rainfall pattern due to climate change, some Ghanaian farmers are missing out on their production target.

Delays in rains and excessive rainfall are not only bringing losses to these farmers, but also threatening food security in the country.

This article shares experiences of some farmers in the Ashanti Region. It assesses how farmers’ income is reducing owing to the impact of climate change.

Cocoa farms in Aponaponso not yielding expected results

Young plants dying, most trees not having pods on them due to the dry spell is what you will see when you visit the 4-acre cocoa farm of Pius Amponsah at Aponaponso in the Ashanti Region.

The devastating effect of climate change is making farming unattractive for the 27-year-old.

His farm had to bear the brunt of delays in rainfall in 2023.

At a time he was expecting the trees to bear fruit; none was on any of the trees.

“In 2022, I was able to get 20 bags of cocoa but I couldn’t even get 3 bags in 2023 because of the change in weather pattern. So, government should find a way of supporting us by mitigating the effect of climate change else we will continue to record losses and eventually quit farming”, Pius said.

Climate change does not only bring a change in rain pattern, but a surge in pest resistance and invasion on crops.

Crops farmers at Bosomkyeye losing their investment

Kwadwo Safo would’ve quit farming last year, but for the advice of his family.

The crop farmer lost about ninety percent of his entire investment on his 5-acre maize farm due to pest invasion.

He has to also tackle the challenge of fighting cattle from grazing and destroying his farm.

“The delays in rains has brought us a great loss. It has not been easy for myself and other farmers as we lost almost all our investments in the farming business. Per my investment, I should’ve gotten more than 100 bags of maize but due to pest invasions, I managed to get about 7 bags only. I’m trying to study the weather pattern this time around to avoid any losses.

“Another thing we (farmers) here at Bosomkyeye have to deal with is the destruction of our crops by cattle. They often come to our farms to graze. I have to visit my farm even on days we are not supposed to go farming just to ensure that the cattle do not destroy the crops”.

Like Kwadwo, many other farmers at Bosomkyeye have and continue to suffer the devastating effect of climate change.

Evans Kyere-Mensah is a commercial farmer and has about 500-acre cassava farm.

He has so far trained about 600 youth in agriculture entrepreneurship to encourage them to embrace agriculture-related activities to minimize youth unemployment in Ghana.

“The effort farmers are putting in production is not what they’re reaping. Initially, you grow cassava on an acre and get 30 tons, but now you sometimes get between 10 and 15 tons. So, we are really going through a lot because of climate change. We implore government and all stakeholders to really look at the impact of climate change so we can adopt a resilient approach in solving this crisis”, Evans noted.

The Ghana Country Climate Development Report (CCDR) indicates that, without urgent climate action, an additional one million Ghanaians risk falling into poverty by 2050.

Already, most farmers are unable to get the expected yields due to climate change.

A Research Scientist’s intervention

For institutions like Crop Research Institute, they are intensifying their research activities to introduce more improved seedlings to minimize the impact of climate change on farmers.

Dr Charles Afriyie-Debrah is a Senior Research Scientist at Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

“We really have to beat the environmental condition that is pertaining now. We are trying to battle it from all angles so that the farmer can enjoy his farming activities. That is why we continue to introduce drought tolerant crops, high-yielding crops that can do well with the little amount of water, crops that can withstand pest, diseases, and viruses.

“Farmers contribute to climate change by clearing trees in their quest to expand their farms. With the high-yielding seedlings we introduce, a farmer does not need a big land size before harvesting more yields”.

The Senior Research Scientist entreated farmers to observe the change in weather pattern before planting to prevent huge losses.

“Climate change has come to stay, so it is important that we also learn and study the patterns that we are in now. We need not to rush in planting, not to rush land preparation but learn by studying weather patterns. For instance, when did the rain set in last year, so they don’t lose everything”, Dr Afriyie-Debrah advised.

According to a World Bank report, agriculture yields, and labor productivity would drop, and incomes could be reduced by up to 40% for the poorest households if climate change is not tackled.

For now, it appears adoption of climate smart agriculture and good agronomic practice by farmers would sustain food security and improve the income of farmers.