Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana

Smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana regularly face shocks, challenging the sustainability of their farms and livelihoods. Different farm households and household members may be differently affected and respond with different coping strategies. We combined whole-farm modelling and farmer consultati...

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Autores principales: Michalscheck, M., Kizito, Fred, Kotu, Bekele Hundie, Avornyo, F.K., Timler, Carl J., Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Informa UK Limited 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131613
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author Michalscheck, M.
Kizito, Fred
Kotu, Bekele Hundie
Avornyo, F.K.
Timler, Carl J.
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
author_browse Avornyo, F.K.
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Kizito, Fred
Kotu, Bekele Hundie
Michalscheck, M.
Timler, Carl J.
author_facet Michalscheck, M.
Kizito, Fred
Kotu, Bekele Hundie
Avornyo, F.K.
Timler, Carl J.
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
author_sort Michalscheck, M.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana regularly face shocks, challenging the sustainability of their farms and livelihoods. Different farm households and household members may be differently affected and respond with different coping strategies. We combined whole-farm modelling and farmer consultations to investigate the vulnerability, buffer and adaptive capacity of three farm types in Northern Ghana towards severe climate, economic and social shocks. We further assessed intrahousehold differences in respective risk mitigation and coping strategies. Our model results indicate that the drought shock would most severely affect all farm types, drastically reducing their operating profits and soil organic matter balance. The medium resource endowed farm was most affected by shocks, but all farm types could enhance their capacity to recover by adopting technology packages for sustainable intensification. Gendered coping strategies included livestock sales, post-harvest storage, activating social networks, rice processing and the collection, processing and sales of wild nuts and fruits. Farmers reported to aim at becoming more resilient by increasing their herd size and expanding their farmland, thereby risking to increase rather than reduce the pressure on natural resources. New questions arise concerning the carrying capacity of local ecosystems and resilience at community and landscape level.
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institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
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spelling CGSpace1316132025-11-12T05:11:34Z Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana Michalscheck, M. Kizito, Fred Kotu, Bekele Hundie Avornyo, F.K. Timler, Carl J. Groot, Jeroen C.J. sustainable intensification vulnerability smallholders farmers ghana Smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana regularly face shocks, challenging the sustainability of their farms and livelihoods. Different farm households and household members may be differently affected and respond with different coping strategies. We combined whole-farm modelling and farmer consultations to investigate the vulnerability, buffer and adaptive capacity of three farm types in Northern Ghana towards severe climate, economic and social shocks. We further assessed intrahousehold differences in respective risk mitigation and coping strategies. Our model results indicate that the drought shock would most severely affect all farm types, drastically reducing their operating profits and soil organic matter balance. The medium resource endowed farm was most affected by shocks, but all farm types could enhance their capacity to recover by adopting technology packages for sustainable intensification. Gendered coping strategies included livestock sales, post-harvest storage, activating social networks, rice processing and the collection, processing and sales of wild nuts and fruits. Farmers reported to aim at becoming more resilient by increasing their herd size and expanding their farmland, thereby risking to increase rather than reduce the pressure on natural resources. New questions arise concerning the carrying capacity of local ecosystems and resilience at community and landscape level. 2023-12-31 2023-08-22T09:47:48Z 2023-08-22T09:47:48Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131613 en Open Access application/pdf Informa UK Limited Michalscheck, M., Kizito, F., Kotu, B.H., Avornyo, F.K., Timler, C. & Groot, J.C.J. (2023). Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 21(1): 2241283, 1-28.
spellingShingle sustainable intensification
vulnerability
smallholders
farmers
ghana
Michalscheck, M.
Kizito, Fred
Kotu, Bekele Hundie
Avornyo, F.K.
Timler, Carl J.
Groot, Jeroen C.J.
Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
title Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
title_full Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
title_fullStr Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
title_short Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
title_sort preparing for coping with and bouncing back after shocks a nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in northern ghana
topic sustainable intensification
vulnerability
smallholders
farmers
ghana
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/131613
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