Conservation agriculture as a response strategy to climate change in resource-scarce settings in North Western Ghana

Agriculture remains the food supplier of many households globally. In Africa, agriculture helps many farm households to meet their household food needs. Given the importance of agriculture in achieving food security in many farming households globally, and particularly in Africa, several approaches to improve agricultural productivity have been developed and implemented across all regions of the world, especially locations that depend heavily on agriculture for their sustenance. While extensive literature exists on farmers' agricultural response strategies to climate change in Ghana, conservation agriculture as a response approach to climate change adaptation is the least investigated in Ghana. To address this gap, this article draws on twenty-five (25) interviews and four (4) focus group discussions (FGDs) with smallholders in Daffiama-Issa-Busie District to offer a nuanced analysis of conservation agriculture as a response strategy to climate change and related stressors. The theory of adaptive capacity is used to guide the study. Thematic analysis of the interviews and the FGDs revealed that farmers have adopted varieties of conservation agricultural practices such as intercropping, green manuring, cover crops, crop rotation, and minimal tillage. These practices, according to the study, help minimize soil disturbance and improve soil health for enhanced crop yield amidst climate change. The study recommends the need for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and its partners to constantly monitor the progress of these adopted practices by the farmers and continuously build farmers' capacities for the sustainability of these adopted practices.