Show simple item record

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

dc.contributor.authorMichalscheck, M.
dc.contributor.authorKizito, F.
dc.contributor.authorKotu, B.H.
dc.contributor.authorAvornyo, F.K.
dc.contributor.authorTimler, C.
dc.contributor.authorGroot, J.C.J.
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-22T09:47:08Z
dc.date.available2023-08-22T09:47:08Z
dc.date.issued2023
dc.identifier.citationMichalscheck, 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.
dc.identifier.issn1473-5903
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12478/8243
dc.description.abstractSmallholder 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.
dc.description.sponsorshipUnited States Agency for International Development
dc.format.extent1-28
dc.language.isoen
dc.subjectSustainable Intensification
dc.subjectVulnerability
dc.subjectSmallholders
dc.subjectFarmers
dc.subjectGhana
dc.titlePreparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana
dc.typeJournal Article
cg.contributor.affiliationWageningen University and Research Centre
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Institute
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture
cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Center for Tropical Agriculture
cg.coverage.regionAfrica
cg.coverage.regionWest Africa
cg.coverage.countryGhana
cg.coverage.hubHeadquarters and Western Africa Hub
cg.researchthemeSocial Science and Agribusiness
cg.identifier.bibtexciteidMICHALSCHECK:2023
cg.isijournalISI Journal
cg.authorship.typesCGIAR and advanced research institute
cg.iitasubjectAgribusiness
cg.iitasubjectFood Security
cg.iitasubjectSmallholder Farmers
cg.journalInternational Journal of Agricultural Sustainability
cg.notesOpen Access Article; Published online: 15 Aug 2023
cg.accessibilitystatusOpen Access
cg.reviewstatusPeer Review
cg.usagerightslicenseCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 0.0)
cg.targetaudienceScientists
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2023.2241283
cg.iitaauthor.identifierBekele Hundie Kotu: 0000-0001-5788-6461
cg.futureupdate.requiredNo
cg.identifier.issue1: 2241283
cg.identifier.volume21
cg.contributor.acknowledgementsWe would like to thank the Africa RISING team in Tamale, notably Nurudeen Abdul Rahman, Dukurugu Fuseini and our enumerator and translator for Duko, Iddrisu Baba Mohammed. For the Focus Group Discussions in the Upper East, we were grateful to have had the support of Roger Awpone and in the Upper West of Rufus Tampuori. I would also like to thank Dorien Jansen for her company during the field work and her complementary work on nutrition.


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Name:
Preparing for coping with and ...
Size:
5.290Mb
Format:
PDF
Description:
Journal Article
View/Open

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record