Mantukwa, Meta and Amponsakrom No. 2 located on the fringe of the Afrensu Brohuma Forest Reserve in the transition zone were randomly chosen for the study (see Figure 1). The transition zone is between the savannah woodland of Northern Ghana and the forest belt of the South. It is a zone covering an area of 6,630 ha with an annual rainfall of 1,300 mm of the bi-modal growing season characterised by annual food and cash crops such as maize, cassava, yam, cocoyam and plantain ( MOFA-SRID, 2011). The soil resource is classified as Offinso-Ejura series with a pH range of 5.3–7.8, organic matter and nitrogen percentage range of 1.5–3% and 0.2–0.3%, respectively and available phosphorus and calcium of 0.12–12 mg/kg soil and 50–100 mg/kg soil respectively (ibid). Soils with such properties may be considered to be of good fertility so long as proper management protects them. However, as a zone lying between the forest and savannah zones, land degradation continues to intensify, shifting the zone more to the savanna as a result of charcoal burning, overgrazing by nomadic Fulani herdsmen and annual bush-burning. Climate change scenarios based on a forty-year data projection indicated an average annual temperatures increase of about 0.6°C, 2.0°C and 3.9°C for the years 2020, 2050 and 2080 respectively ( EPA, 2007). For forest-savannah transition an annual temperature of 0.80°C, 2.5°C and 5.4°C are predicted for the years - 2020, 2050 and 2080 respectively ( Minia, 2004). Within the same period, average annual rainfall total is estimated to decline by 2.8%, 10.9% and 18.6% ( EPA, 2007) and specifically for the transition zone it will decline by 2.2%, 8.8% and 14.6% ( Minia, 2004). Historical analysis indicated that in this zone, rainfall variability may be the single largest component of rainfall changes affecting all agro-ecological zones in Ghana. In the transition zone, for instance, the short dry spell (July and August) which is crucial for preparing the land for the second crop is increasingly becoming wetter and the short rainy season terminating early. There is a progression toward a uni-modal regime for the transition zone with serious consequences for rain-fed agriculture ( Minia 2004; Owusu & Waylen, 2009).

The study ensured ethical consideration and consent in data collection and analysis. Three key ethical issues considered were: voluntary participation, which was clearly stated in the preamble in the survey questionnaire ( Supplementary File 1) (completion of the questionnaire was considered consent); anonymity and confidentiality with respect to data analysis in collective manner were ensured. Furthermore during a community meeting, the people were openly told of the purpose of the study and consent was sought verbally.

The researcher (MD) presented the study proposal to the Regional Institute of Population Studies at the University of Ghana. Since this research was not biologically related and therefore low risk, the consent of the respondents, review of the protocol by supervisors at the University of Ghana, and feedback from the University community provided the study approval.

The study employed focus group discussions and household survey in the study communities as shown in Table 1. The study adapted some of the key guiding questions (see Supplementary File 1) in the vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCAs) framework designed by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) ( Macchi, 2011). The primary data was through focus group discussions (FGDs) among men and women and a household survey. The field data collection began in June 2015 with reconnaissance to enable the researcher and team to familiarize themselves with the biophysical features of the communities and also make arrangements for the actual data collection. The actual data gathering began in June to August 2015. As a guide to the use of the VCA, caution was taken not to mention the term “climate change and variability” during the data collection but to explore among the male and female smallholder farmers the different livelihoods prevailing, the benefits and the challenges confronting them. Furthermore, the community meetings made up of male and female farmers of different age categories were engaged in the discussion during the focus group. Problems confronting the communities and their livelihoods were listed. In each community, two groups made up of 10 men and 10 women were nominated by their people to represent them. Thus, a total of 60 respondents (30 men and 30 women) in all the three communities were asked to rank the problems in terms of their severity and urgency of intervention using a number of maize grains (where 5 represents most severe and 1 least severe) from a gender perspective (see Table 1).

The household population size data for the survey in Meta and Mantukwa were accessed from the Planning Officer of the Offinso North District Assembly confirmed by newly gathered population data and the household data from students from the University of Development Studies having their community trimester in Mantukwa community at the time of data collection. For Amponsakrom No. 2, the elders of the town provided the household data during the reconnaissance visit and this was confirmed during the focus group meeting. In the survey data collection, a sampled percentage of 20 percent were selected as shown in Table 1.

The survey data was on demographic characteristics, livelihood trajectories, and perception of environmental and socio-economic changes in livelihoods and coping strategies thereof available to the farmers to enhance their livelihoods. This data was entered manually and analyzed using SPSS version 21, and Microsoft Excel 2010 where frequency and contingency tables and graphs were drawn. The focus groups discussions on the livelihood challenges in the communities and farming systems were analysed using rader charts to project the severity of challenges as perceived by men and women in the three communities.

Respondents’ age and gender characteristics in the study communities. Table 2 indicates the gender and age categories of the respondents in the three study communities (i.e. Mantukwa, Meta and Amponsakrom No. 2).

In respect to gender, 26 male farmers constituting 44% and 33 female farmers (56%) were involved in the survey. In terms of age categorization, most of the respondents (53%) were middle aged range of 36–54 with the least (10%) being 55 and above. The middle age group, active in farming, is a good indication for the sustainability of natural resource-based sectors like agriculture, forestry and fishery in the district which is the lead occupation (75.4%) for the populace from 15 years and above ( GSS, 2013). The educational levels of these smallholder farmers range from tertiary to no formal education. It was observed that majority of the men (65%) have a more formal education than the women (35%). The low formal education observed among the women could be seen as a general trend for females in the district compared to the males ( GSS, 2012). The variation in education was not seen as a hindrance to the effects of climate change on the gender category. Both men and women farmers felt and experience the effects of changes in rainfall pattern, high temperature as well as long drought on their farming systems. However, regarding knowledge and education on climate change and best farming practices, Amponsakrom No. 2 inhabitants during the community meeting revealed that their first awareness of climate change had been as a result of discussions with the Climate Impact Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) ¹ research team.

Livelihood types and land acquisition systems . As agrarian communities, the majority of the farmers (i.e. both men and women) are engaged in full-time food and cash crops. In this respect, more men (73%) participate in full and part-time farming than women (69%). With respect to non-farm activities more women (31%) are engaged in such venture than men (27%) as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.

Some of the common non-farming activities engaged by women rather than men are gari (milled and roasted cassava), konkote (diced and dried cassava) and oil palm processing combined with petty trading. The off-farm activities such as tailoring, driving, corn milling and working in cocoa buying companies are engaged in by the men. From the data, it is deduced that the distribution is highly polarized for men: either full-time farming or off-farm activities. For women, the spread is somewhat more gradual. This observation could be linked to the coping strategies where it was ascertained that women in the three communities have diverse off-farm coping strategies compared to their male counterpart. This, therefore, implies that any intervention for these study communities needs to be gender sensitive. Unfortunately, most international policies and practices designed to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions place little focus on gender differences ( FAO, 2012). Not recognizing these gender differences in research or policy has the potential for prescribing interventions which are often not beneficial to a particular gender category.

Diversification of crops prevails in the study communities. This is a good indicator of coping strategies for food security for the households. Diversification of cropping systems is a traditional farming practice in Ghana. Among the Sahelian Region, it helps reduce and spread risks ( MOFA-SRID, 2011; Sissiko et al., 2011). The common cropping configurations are combinations of maize, yam, vegetables, cassava, beans, groundnuts and plantain, mostly under different land acquisition systems. Land acquisition modes in the three communities are diverse but are categorized under two key major types, namely: the agricultural lands and forest reserves with different tenure arrangements. The majority of the respondents (89.5%) access their farmlands through rented and share-cropping tenure systems which prohibit tenant farmers to engage in tree crops that can withstand climate change compared to annuals crops. It was, therefore, a relief when from 2002 to 2010, the degraded portion of the forest reserve lands were allocated to migrants, as well as natives with or without land under the modified taungya system (MTS) ² by the Forest Services Division of Offinso Forest District. The rationale was to help farmers support in the reforestation programme and ensure food security. According to the respondents during community meetings, engaging in the MTS was a huge support to the migrant and landless farmers. The arrangement was partially continued when FORM Ghana ³ took over in 2010 and 2011 but as at the time of data collection in 2015, it was not functioning. With the discontinuity of the programme, the farmers currently farming in the reserves do so unofficially.

Despite the small land holdings, these smallholder farmers play a significant role in this terrain either in terms of resource use or restoration. According to Altieri et al. (2012), Africa has approximately 33 million small farms, representing 80% of all farms in the region which are managed by the majority of smallholders farmers (many of them are women), with two-thirds of all farms below 2 ha and 90% of farms below 10 ha. Similarly, in Ghana, there is an indication that the foundation of agriculture is predominantly on a smallholder basis, of which 90% of farm holdings are less than 2 ha mostly using a diversified food crop system ( MOFA-SRID, 2011).

Animal husbandry . Livestock (e.g. goats, sheep and local fowls) were observed to play key roles in household livelihoods in the study communities. They are sources of protein according to the respondents and also income safety nets, especially during long dry spell period where food crops do not thrive well resulting in low household income. This assertion was confirmed by FAO (2009) that livestock is a key asset in rural areas, thus are a source of income, wealth accumulation and source of resistance to shocks. In terms of decision making regarding household use, sales, feeding and providing medications in case of diseases of animals, both men and women have equal roles. The distinction is made with respect to sales and vaccination of livestock where men have more say than women.

Respondents main sources of income . The smallholder farmers in the communities sustain themselves mainly from rain-fed agriculture. The respondents’ dependence on rain-fed agriculture is a typical practice. Nevertheless, the rain-fed environment of the smallholder farmer is not static; it is constantly changing over time with driving forces such as population increase and dynamics, global market forces, advances in science and technology, climatic change and variability, consumer demands, agricultural subsidies, and pressures from social movements demanding food sovereignty, land reform, and poverty reduction ( Altieri et al., 2012). The question that remains is whether the smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are also changing their practices in accordance with environmental and socio-economic changes. This brings to the fore what coping strategies farmers have evolved over time to sustain their livelihoods which will be discussed in the ensuing sections.

Climatic changes . 58 of the respondents made up of 26 males and 32 females indicated that they have noticed differences in temperature over the past 10–20 years. Of these, 65% males and 66% females said the changes in temperature were high whilst 35% males and 34% females reported of extremely high temperatures, observed especially in the 2015 planting season ( Table 3).

The observations made by the smallholder farmers are in line with the projected average annual temperature increase in all agro-ecological zones by EPA (2007) and specifically to forest-savannah transition by Minia (2004). These variations in temperature, which have negative effects on crops according to the respondents, could be attributed to several factors of which deforestation was noted as the lead, followed by erratic rainfall and other factors such as drought and annual bushfires. Adjei-Nsiah & Kermah (2012) asserted that the predicted changes in both temperature and rainfall can have an impact on patterns of agriculture production in Ghana especially in areas where the agro-ecological systems are in transition. With respect to changes in rainfall pattern over the past 10–20 years, 36 respondents answered this question represented by 17 males and 19 females. Generally, all the respondents indicated less, erratic, delayed onset and unpredicted timing of rainfall as the observed changes and attributed them to deforestation, past wildfire incidences and prolonged drought. It is ascertained that the arid and semi-arid terrains in the regions are among the most harsh and vulnerable production environments where less and or more variable rainfall, higher temperatures complemented with higher evaporative demand and drought threaten crop production and yield thus leading to a decrease in food availability ( Codjoe et al., 2012; Cooper et al., 2008; Sissiko et al., 2011).

Socio-economic changes . Besides climatic factors, farmers’ agriculture livelihoods are also influenced by socio-economic factors. These factors do affect the communities and the households’ livelihoods. Factors serving as barriers to the development of the communities included: i) poor road network to enhance access to healthcare and market in the nearby towns; ii) no electricity; iii) absence of health post; iv) inadequate potable drinking water. The household livelihood challenges included: i) high prices of farm inputs especially agrochemicals; ii) absence of loan facility; iii) prevalent crop pests and diseases; iv) poor pricing of food crops and limited buyers in view of poor road network v) absence of irrigation system and iv) hunger and starvation. These challenges being felt and experienced by the farmers are common characteristics confronting smallholder farmers in most Sub-Saharan Africa as attested by most studies. The working environment of the smallholder farmers is also influenced by biophysical (e.g. soil characteristics, both physical and chemical, incidences of pests and diseases), socio-economic (population growth rate, migration, low education level, inadequate extension and research services, market conditions, use of chemical fertilizers) and low adaptive capacity factors to enable farmers to realize the actual level of agricultural production ( Cooper et al., 2008; Sissiko et al., 2011). This region of Africa is also characterized by limited social, political, technical and other resources to draw upon to combat problems of scarcity and poverty, constraining the ability to adapt to changing conditions ( UNFCC, 2007; Westerhoff & Smit, 2008).

Prioritized communities’ challenges . These changing climatic and socio-economic factors observed by the survey respondents were not totally different from that of focus groups discussions held with men and women in the three study communities. The objective was to rank the first five challenges confronting the communities in line with severities and urgency. This is shown using the rader chart (see Figure 4– Figure 9) for men and women in Mentukwa, Meta and Amponsakrom No. 2 communities respectively.

The most severe factor affecting the livelihoods in all the three communities was bad road networks with the exception of men in Amponsakrom No.2 who prioritised lack of potable water as the most severe factor. With regards to climatic factor, only men in Meta and Mentukwa communities prioritise erratic rainfall as 2 and 1 respectively. The women in Meta and Mantukwa as well as respondents in Ampnsakrom No.2 though mentioned erratic or low rainfall as a factor affecting their farming activities but did not prioritise it among the first five challenges. The reason given was that though low or erratic rainfall affects crop yield but they have no absolute control over the changes in the rainfall pattern. This rationale resulted in debate among the participants resulting in supporting and dissenting views of the assertion. For those with the dissenting view they indicated that farmers’ unsustainable activities such as indiscriminate felling of trees, excessive use of agrochemicals and farming along streams are some of the factors resulting in erratic rainfall, but with afforestation and good farming practices, erratic rainfall pattern can be minimised.

Respondents from both household survey and focus group discussions in the three communities revealed that in terms of socio-economic infrastructure to support their wellbeing they lag behind. According to the respondents, the bad state of the road network deprived them of potential buyers of their food crops. This often resulted in high post-harvest losses. This also has an effect on high transportation cost. For these farming communities, not having a health post or community health improvement services (CHIPS) compound exacerbates their hardship because, in the case of any health emergency, conveying the person to the nearest hospital was a challenge. Even though communities like Mantukwa and Meta have some basic assets such as a cassava processing machine to facilitate gari processing, and teachers’ quarters, school feeding programme and construction of basic schools, they were of the opinion that the deplorable state of the road undermines development, thus exacerbating poverty.

The household survey respondents attested to the fact that regular rainfall pattern has positive effects on their farming system. It enhances crops growth, boosts yields, provides more income, and ensures household food security as well as decrease crop pests. Notwithstanding these positive factors, the drastic changes being felt now with respect to erratic rainfall and high temperature characterised by long drought results in low yield of crops and withering/dying of crops as shown in Figure 10. According to the farmers, the 2015 major planting season (April–July) was perceived to be the worst period for the past 10 years where the timing of rainfall was not predictable and frequency was low resulting in huge loss of income. For some of the farmers (n=9) the moderate dry period is good for preparation of the land towards raining season, searching for firewood, growing crops such as water yam and having leisure time, while for the majority (n=50) when the dry period extends beyond normal it results in crops withering and dying leading to low or no income, low yield, household food insecurity, and poverty.

In line with these findings, Mawunya & Adiku (2013) indicated that rainfall characteristics that have negatively affected agricultural output in Ghana included late onset and early end of rains during the cropping season. This according, to the authors, resulted in a reduction of moisture availability to crops, implying the rains may cease when the crops are still growing in the field and in need of water to complete their life cycle thus hampering photosynthesis process (ibid). Furthermore the authors indicated that poor rainfall or drought also leads to insufficient moisture or moisture stress during critical growth periods of crops, insufficient moisture during time of planting, poor seed germination and seedling emergence or sprouting of cut-crops (e.g. cassava, yams planted as cuttings) as well as poor establishment of crops in the field ( Mawunya & Adiku, 2013). Effect of climate change generally in Africa will result in loss of agricultural productivity and lower yield. In Ghana, for example, it is reported that there is a decline in subsistence crops like maize and an expected high rate of hunger among the populace by 2080s ( Fischer et al., 2002). This projection has become the reality in these communities as farmers reported of the withering and poor yield of maize.

Generally, the smallholder farming system in these communities was engaging in crop diversification because of the mixed cropping system, thus safeguarding themselves against pests and diseases infestation on a particular crop. Farmers in these communities combine more than 3 crops on a piece of land. Some of the key food crops are maize, cassava, plantain, yam, cocoyam, groundnuts (mostly grown by the women) and vegetables. Diversification of crops on a piece of land has been revealed to be key adaptation strategy. Adaptation strategies are said to be fundamental in reducing the risk of primary production failure, to diversify the sources of food and livelihoods and to create a buffer against future food and livelihood stress as well as human life and property ( Codjoe et al., 2012). In the smallholders farming system, four key strategies were observed as shown in Figure 10. For most respondents in the survey, during the unexpected long dry spell and uncertainty in the timing of rainfall, they do sow their crops and ‘Do Nothing’ except to lie at the ‘mercy’ of the weather. Burton et al. (1993) termed it as ‘Bear losses’ where those affected have no capacity to respond in any other ways or where costs of adaptation measures are higher in relation to the risks or the expected damages. For these farmers, it is low capacity to deal with these challenges that prevails. Others also grow less water-dependent crops such as cassava and plantain. This practice is also confirmed by Adjei-Nsiah & Kermah (2012). For farmers who engage in vegetable cultivation, they manage to grow them close to streams for ease of water in irrigating the crops. Unfortunately, the irrigation systems which these communities desires were absent in the study communities.

It was further observed that some women in the study area have adapted to the changes in the weather and safeguard against post-harvest loss of cassava due to poor markets coupled with the bad road network. As individuals and groups, they engage in off-farming activities like gari processing, konkonte (i.e. diced dried cassava) and oil palm processing. Women who regularly processed gari participate in a group based sharing system with the buyers who offer them loans to invest. Unfortunately, men generally were not engaged in off-farm activities and still depended on farming with some adapting to new crops such as beans, cocoa, and cashew. For Meta and Amposakrom No. 2 konkonte women processors, it was ascertained that sales of the products in the weekly market centre of Abofour are done through a communal arrangement where two or three women send the wares of the others to the weekly market for sales. This is rotated among the women thus enhancing shared responsibility of sales. Similarly, group farming and maintenance structure (locally known as 'Noboa') also prevail thus strengthening the shared responsibility and reciprocity among the Northern migrants' men of Meta and Amponsakrom No. 2. Such adaptation strategies in marketing and farming strengthen the social ties, especially in these two predominately migrant communities. According to Kramer et al. (1993), negotiation-either formal or informal plays an important role in regulating social and organizational life. In this case study, the ability of the Konkonte women processors to regulate their marketing of products and the migrant farmers to engage in group farming to support each other might have gone through series of informal negotiations, consensus and compromise before becoming norms that harnessed their livelihoods. This confirms the assertion by Portes (1998:3) that social capital features such as social ties, shared responsibility, and reciprocity is not natural but must be constructed.

Sales of livestock to generate income and consumption of local fowls are also coping strategies employed by households. Food storage as a means of ensuring household food security till the next harvesting period was common among most households in the three communities. The challenge, according to the focus groups discussions was due to the poor harvest especially for maize in 2015 (because of low or erratic rainfall compounded with high temperature resulting in the withering of the crops), they, therefore, envisage food shortage in the course of the year if the minor raining season (mid-August to November) also becomes unfavourable.

Most of the farmers indicated having aspiring adaptation strategies to minimise their vulnerability to climatic factors and overcoming socio-economic challenges. Irrigation system in the form of boreholes at strategic positions in the farms will help overcome the long dry spell period was mentioned during the focus group discussions. Other strategies included growing of dry season resistant crops like cassava and plantain in place of maize and other more water-dependent crops and planting of more trees to safeguard streams and provide a conducive environment for crops. However, one’s ability to adapt depends on the adaptive capacity available which is generally low in these study communities given limited basic physical assets. According to Cooper et al. (2008), the varied livelihood assets namely social-political, physical, financial, human and natural have been seen to play a central role in the adaptive capacity of an individual, households, and institutions thus making them more resilient. In order to enhance the adaptation strategy of these farmers and the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers, the different institutions and actors also do have specific roles and responsibilities. Some steps that calls for policy attention as indicated by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in enhancing adaptation strategies and adaptive capacity of Africa are: First, effective adaptation approaches in this region needs to address a range of environmental stresses and factors linking with coordinated efforts aimed at poverty alleviation, enhancing food security and water availability, combating land degradation and reducing loss of biological diversity and ecosystem services, as well as improving adaptive capacity ( UNFCC, 2007). As observed in the study smallholder farmers were not only confronted with climatic factors but also with socio-economic challenges. Second, adjusting and changing at every level – from the community to national and international. Communities' members need to build their resilience, including adopting appropriate technologies while making the most of the traditional knowledge and diversifying their livelihoods to cope with current and future climate stress. Nevertheless, local coping strategies and traditional knowledge need to be used in synergy with the national government and local government interventions. Third, workable and effective adaptation measures call for collaborative efforts from ministries and governments and non-government organizations making conscious efforts in integrating climate change in their planning and budgeting at all levels of decision-making ( UNFCC, 2007).