Research ArticleSmallholder Farmersrsquo Livelihood Security Options amidstClimate Variability and Change in Rural Ghana

Sampson Yamba Divine O Appiah Lawrencia Pokuaa-Siaw and Felix Asante

Department of Geography and Rural Development Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Kumasi Ghana

Correspondence should be addressed to Sampson Yamba samytulegmailcom

Received 17 May 2017 Accepted 25 October 2017 Published 3 December 2017

Academic Editor Sveinn Are Hanssen

Copyright copy 2017 SampsonYamba et alThis is an open access article distributed under the Creative CommonsAttribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited

Farming as a livelihood activity in the Bosomtwe District is threatened by climate change This paper ascertained the alternativelivelihood options of smallholder farmers against climate variability and change in the Bosomtwe District Using a cross-sectionalsurvey 152 smallholder farmers were sampled from 12 communities using a multistage sampling procedure The quantitativedata collected were subjected to binary logistic regression analysis contingency tables frequencies and Nagelkerke tests ofassociation embedded in the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) v17 The results indicate that farmers are resorting toalternative livelihood activities that are less capital intensive and require less skill in order to secure income and household foodsupply Significant determinants of farmersrsquo alternative livelihood are age household size and household food supply which weresignificant at 119901 lt 030 119901 lt 019 and 119901 lt 012 respectively At a 95 confidence interval (CI) these variables had lower to upperCIs for each of the EXP (119861) respectively at CI = 1134ndash12524 CI = 1359ndash30224 and CI = 1781ndash104561 respectively The paperrecommends that government institutes policies that will create opportunities and draw on various localgrassroots opportunitiesand resources to expand farmersrsquo asset base for sustainable livelihood strategies

1 Introduction

Climate change threatens the livelihood of millions indeveloping countries especially the very poor because itdirectly affects their livelihood sources [1 2] Diverse cul-tural systems socioeconomic conditions and environmentalexposures make householdrsquos sources of income vulnerableover time [3] Variation in the niche of socioeconomicclimatic and environmental factors which livelihood hasadjusted to for years culminates in vulnerability trendsthat jeopardise the sustainability of household income andfood supply Some livelihood assets such as agriculturalproduction knowledge and tools become redundant influ-encing sustainable livelihood strategiesndash ways of combiningand using livelihood assets [4] Amidst such eventualitiesopportunities for livelihood diversification become criticalin determining community and household ability to copewith climate related stresses and shocks [5] Climate changemitigation and adaptation efforts must therefore includelivelihood diversification components to build resilience andlessen vulnerability especially among smallholder farmers

To achieve this a broader understanding of the factorsinfluencing and enabling livelihood decisions as well as theprocesses involved is needed [6]

Climate variability and change through diverse stimuliand intervening factors affect economic social cultural andnatural conditions of individuals and communities alteringthe value and usefulness of various livelihood assets [3]The current trend of climate change and climate variabilityand the resulting effect on agriculture have necessitatedthe adoption of alternative livelihoods opportunities amongfarmers in order to secure their livelihoods Conceptuallyldquolivelihoodsrdquo connote the means activities entitlementsand assets by which people make a living [7] These arespread across social natural financial human and physicalassets as outlined by DFID [4] and therefore the security oflivelihoods is equally influenced by current climate changeand environmental and land degradation

Theneed to strengthen livelihoods has been recognised asbeing very necessary in climate change and climate variabilitymitigation and adaptation efforts [5] Developing adaptivecapacity to minimize the damage to livelihoods from climate

HindawiScientificaVolume 2017 Article ID 1868290 10 pageshttpsdoiorg10115520171868290

2 Scientifica

change is to this end a necessary strategy to complementclimate change mitigation efforts In the Bosomtwe Districtof the Ashanti region of Ghana smallholder agriculturecontinues to be the main economic activity that sustainsthe livelihoods of most farmersrsquo households In the midst ofclimate variability and climate change farmersrsquo householdsand indeed the districtrsquos food security seem threatened Untilnow little scientific studies have ascertained the level of thisinsecurity among smallholder farmers in the district It is atruism that farmers over the years have alternatively engagedin some form of livelihood supplements however it remainsunclear as to the attributions of the recent intensificationof the search for alternative livelihood activities amongsmallholder farmers

In parts of Eastern and Southern Africa climate changehas negatively affected agriculture water sources and qualitybiodiversity health and ecosystems which are key com-ponents of local livelihood assets [8] The rate of changehas marginalized already vulnerable livelihoods made thosethat could have adapted more slowly less adaptive andhandicapped new livelihood opportunities in the near term[9]The impact of climate change on livelihoods is anticipatedto be greater in Africa comparedwith other parts of the world[10] In Africa some livelihood alternatives that farmersresort to include seasonal migration of livestock keepers anddistribution of livestock herds in different places rainwaterharvesting doing casual labour to be able to get food andother household needs selling of livestock engagementin small businesses including shops local restaurants andkiosks [11] Vulnerability of an individual depends on hisherassets base and the choice pattern and use of these assetsavailable With limited livelihood assets the response of vul-nerable individuals and communities could be unsustainableor even maladaptive Inefficient institutional policies andprocesses could amplify shocks and stresses at the local level[5] This restricts livelihood strategies and correspondentlylivelihood outcomes

Reduction in rainfall variation in rainfall patternsdroughts and high temperatures are some evidence of cli-mate change in Ghana These have affected the livelihoodsassets of communities exposing them to hunger and poverty[12] Floods and bushfires caused by high temperaturesdestroy farmlands biodiversity and wild life which are thebasic natural capital that rural people depend on for theirlivelihood [13]

Diversification encompassing migration nonfarm workand social support networks in addition to livestock produc-tion according to Roncoli et al [14] has served to moderatefarming households from the adverse effect of climate vari-ability on household income supply in Burkina Faso Huntingand gathering of wild fruits charcoal production and chainsawoperations are important coping strategies and ameans ofbuilding assets that have become common in Ghana [15 16]Armah et al [17] include petty trading (sale of foodstuffspices dye clothing and other basic household needs andequipment at community levels on table tops or small shopsin communities or carried from community to communityon head pans) craftsmanship production of charcoal andselling of firewood and emphasise that in Ghana peoplersquos

livelihood depends on farming and other off-farm incomegeneration activities

Most farmers usually migrate to more vibrant and eco-nomically productive areas to sell their labour To this Nassefet al [18] assert that many pastoralists move to urbansettlements in search of alternative livelihoods Demeke andZeller [19] explain that when the rains are poor farmerscommit more labour resources to less risky alternative liveli-hood activities Hence sale of labour to off-farm livelihoodactivities lessens the effect of climate variability on householdincome and food supply Eshetu et al [20] in their study onincome diversification in Ethiopia report that more than 40increase in household income came from sale wage labour

Migration sale of livestock and fowls and menial jobssuch as weeding the farms of others who are able to buildsome resilience (among men) or fetching water (amongwomen) for income are some of the off-farm adaptationpractices outlined by Gyampoh et al [21] in selected com-munities in the High Forest Coastal Savannah and GuineaSavannah ecological zones in Ghana Also the collection andsale of shea nuts (Vitellaria paradoxa) dawadawa (Parkiaclappertoniana) fuel wood and wild fruits have becomemajor livelihood options especially in the lean season insavanna regions in Africa while small-scale mining harvestof timber for logging and crafts and fruit gathering are someforest livelihood activities that have been intensifying overthe years [12 22] In 2007 the three northern regions ofGhana experienced flooding that destroyed houses displacedfamilies and destroyed farmlands eroding natural socialand physical assets Households lost their livelihoods and theresources to engage in alternative livelihood activities werescarce [13] Amidst such dire situations the collection of sheanuts (Vitellaria paradoxa) and dawadawa served to provide asource of income in the short term

While most farmers have sought alternative livelihoodoptions there have been some exceptions to this trend amongAfrican farmers According toEshetu et al [20] involvementsin alternative income generating activities besides agriculturehad not been prioritised in some parts of Ethiopia Thisthough not clearly outlined could be due to some form ofsecurity that complements such needs The United StatesAgriculture Department [23] purports that the relevance ofalternative livelihoods differs from farmer to farmer reducingas farm output increases Livelihoods analysis focuses on thestructures and systems that determine peoplersquos asset baseand the resulting livelihood strategies and outcomes [4]These strategies and outcomes depend on the stress andshock encountered and the vulnerability context [24] It isthe human (individual and community) environmental andecologically differentiated vulnerability and risk arising fromexposure to current and future climate change and variabilitythat have necessitated global regional and national actionon adaptation and mitigation Such differences in the WestAfrican subregion as coastal forest savannah and Sahelregions should form the basis for appropriate adaptationinterventions in the subregion [25] and hence sustainabilityof livelihoods

Ecosystems serve as a stock of diverse resources providingfood water raw materials medicine and other essential

Scientifica 3

735000000000

730000000000

725000000000

720000000000

715000000000

710000000000

735000000000

730000000000

725000000000

720000000000

715000000000

710000000000

660000000000

666000000000

672000000000

678000000000

684000000000

654000000000

654000000000

660000000000

666000000000

672000000000

678000000000

684000000000

0 15 3 6 9 12 15 18(Km)

Figure 1 Map of the Bosomtwe District in Ghana Source authorrsquos construct (2015)

ecosystem services that support livelihoods directly andindirectly [8] InGhana communities on the fringes of forestsutilize timber and nontimber forest products for a widearray of livelihood engagements Anything that negativelyimpacts these forests equally threatens the livelihood ofthese forest dependent communities [12] Engagements suchas illegal mining and illegal logging however degrade theenvironment and as such undermine the sustainability offorest dependent livelihoods [26] Agriculture and extractionof forest resources are the traditional sources of income forhouseholds within theOffin river basin in GhanaThese havehowever decreased considerably in recent times Althoughmost of the off-farm livelihoods of communities in theriver basin are derived from its forest their activities haveconversely degraded it decreasing the carbon stock of theforest [12] This underpins the need for integrating com-munity needs and participation in policy formulation andimplementation Inclusive and meaningful participation ofall community groups particularly the most vulnerable isneeded as they may be the very ones to spearhead unsustain-able resource use at the community level

Agriculture is the primary occupation in the BosomtweDistrict which employs 626 of the districtrsquos labour forcewith crop farming and fishing respectively constituting574 and 53 In the rural communities more than half(60) of households are agricultural households implyingthat they depend on agriculture for household income andfood supply However most rural households (976) areinvolved in crop farming which essentially contributes tohousehold food and income supply [27] However this roleof agriculture as a primary livelihood activity has beenchallenged in recent times According to the BosomtweDistrict Assembly Profile [27] climate change is increasinglyhaving a negative impact on agriculture through changes in

the onset of rains shifts in peak rainfall months in the majorand minor agricultural seasons droughts and variationsin temperature and flooding with direct impact on cropsand rendering traditional agricultural production practicesineffective The presence of Lake Bosomtwe as a touristsite water and forest resources and fast growing periurbancentres presents opportunities to engage in varied alternativelivelihood activities to safeguard household income andfood supply However this has not received much researchattention This is the basis for making original contributionto literature in general and specifically within the Ghanaiancontext The aim of this paper is therefore to ascertain theextent of climate variability and change-driven alternativelivelihood security dynamics among smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti region of Ghana

2 Materials and Methods

21 Profile of the Study Area The study was conducted in theBosomtwe District which lies within latitude 6∘281015840Nndashlatitude6∘401015840N and longitudes 1∘201015840Wndashlongitude 1∘371015840W at thecentre ofAshanti regionwithKuntenase as the district capitalThe district covers an area of 330 km2 (Figure 1) AtwimaNwabiagya and Kumasi Metropolis are to its north whileEjisu-Juaben Municipal is to the east The south is boundedby Amansie west and east districts [27]

The largest natural Crater Lake in West AfricamdashLakeBosomtwemdashis found in this district which is amajor source oflivelihood for surrounding communities such as fishing andother related trades [28 29]The dendritic pattern of drainageis characteristic of rivers and streams in the Bosomtwe Dis-trict with streams flowing from the surrounding highlandsinto the lake Some of the rivers in the district include SupanButu Oda Adanbanwe and Siso [28]

4 Scientifica

The district is within the moist semideciduous forestecological zone with a major and a minor rainfall regimeThe major rainfall regimes is from March to July while theminor is from September to November The ecological zonehas mean annual rainfall and mean monthly temperatureof about 1900mm and 36∘C respectively Relative humidityalso ranges between 60 and 85 [28] The district hasdifferent tree species that have high economic value includ-ing Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) Onyina (Ceiba pentandra)Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) Asanfena (Aningeria spp)and Denya (Cylicodiscus gabunensis) However due to exten-sive farming activities in the area the original vegetation hasbeen degraded to a mosaic of secondary forest thicket andregrowth with abandoned farms of food crops and vegetables[27]

In certain parts of the district however the originalforest cover has been turned into secondary forest andgrassland through indiscriminate exploitation of timber andinappropriate farming practices such as the slash and burnsystem and illegal gold mining activities [27]The populationof the district according to the Ghana Statistical ServiceCensus is 93910 with an urban to rural population ratioof approximately 1 2 [27] Proximity of the district to theKumasi Metropolis is greatly encouraging the growth ofsettlement in the district Moreover the districtrsquos tourismpotential has drawn a lot of investments in infrastructuredevelopment and other socioeconomic activities into thedistrict [28]

22 Sampling Design Instruments and Data Analysis Thisstudy was one of the objectives of a major study on small-holder farmersrsquo mitigation of and adaptation to climatechange and climate variability in the Bosomtwe DistrictThe specific objective was to analyze alternative livelihoodactivities of smallholder farmers as a means of coping withclimate change in the Bosomtwe District Key areas ofconcern included alternative income generating activitieslength of years of being engaged in these activities effects ofclimate variability on agricultural livelihood and possibilityof switching to alternative income generating activities asprimary occupation There are sixty-six (66) communitiesin the Bosomtwe District These were purposively clusteredinto communities around Lake Bosomtwe (52 communities)and those farther away from the lake (14 communities) Thelake has an outer ridge with an elevation of 50m to 80mwhich is the only unique topographical feature in the districtthat distinguishes communities around the lake from othercommunities in the district Six communities were thereforeselected from each cluster using the lottery method withoutreplacement to aid a comparative analysis of the variousramifications of alternative livelihoods in these clusters inresponse to climate change relative to natural resources anddifferent topographical terrains A total of 152 smallholderfarmers were sampled from these communities and therespective sample for each community was allocated by quotausing the proportionate sampling These are smallholderfarmers who basically produce crops in order to subsist andhave farm sizes ranging within 1 acre to 5 acres They usebasicrudimentary farm tools inputs and technology and

basically rely on household members as farm labour Therespondents for the study were sampled using simple randomsampling technique A semistructured partially precodedquestionnaire was used to gather quantitative data for thestudy The terrain of farmlands and the peculiar physical andbuilt environments of the communities were also observed inrelation to livelihood activities and possibilities

The quantitative data gathered were subjected to multipleregression analysis contingency tables and frequencies andChi-square tests of association and multivariate distributionof variables respectively embedded in the Statistical Productand Service Solutions (SPSS) v17 Windows application Theresults were displayed in tables charts and graphs Thediagrams generated in the SPSS were exported to Excel forediting for better visual presentation

Farmersrsquo disposition to increasingly engage in alternativelivelihoods was ascertained The likelihood of a farmerdevoting more attention and resources to an alternativelivelihood activity other than farming was analyzed usingbinary logistic regression modelling Using the odd ratios forthe likelihood of occupationmodification thismodellingwasto determine whether farmers are more likely to devote moreresources and time to alternative livelihood activities besidesfarming

Hence respondents were to indicate 1 = yes the currentcrop yield encourages them to consider other alternativelivelihoods and 0 = no the current crop yield does notencourage them to consider other alternative livelihoodsThestep-wise logistic regression was run in the SPSS softwareThe model without predictive variables was taken as the nullhypothesis which therefore states that there is no significantdifference between the dummies (yes and no)mdashthe responsevariables In other words the model would better predict theoutcome without the inclusion of the independent variableswhile the alternative hypothesis states that the model wouldnot predict better without the independent variables Thismeans there is significant difference in the dummies in theresponse variables

In the first step of the model (block 0) the model withoutthe inclusion of the predictive variables measured at 119910 =the constant indicated the overall percentage correctness ofprediction was 927 with a probability value of significanceat 119901 lt 000 with an 119861(EXP) = 0079 By adding the predictivevariables to the alternative model (block 1) equation theoverall percentage correctness of the prediction was 933slightly better than the null model at a significant value of119901 lt 000 with a Chi-square value 1205942 = 30119 at 5 degrees offreedom The Nagelkerke 1198772 which is a pseudo coefficient ofdetermination indicates that the model can offer only 446explanation of the variation in the dependent variable

Therewere eight independent variables (noncategorized)entered into the alternative hypothesis equation Howeverthree of them were significant in predicting the farmersrsquodisposition to consider alternative livelihood activities otherthan farming These independent variables were as followsthe age of the farmer size of household and security of house-hold food supply Age was significant in predicting farmersrsquolikelihood of considering alternative livelihood activitiesbecause most of the farmers who were young could not

Scientifica 5

envisage any improvement in the current trend of low cropyield in the near future Another predictive variable is thesize of household Most farmers were of household madeup of six or more members There was hence the need forthose who were of age to contribute towards the upkeepof these households This requires a source of income andhence sustainable livelihood The last significant predictingfactor was security of householdsrsquo food supplyThe insecurityof household food supply due to crop failure or poor cropyield consequently necessitated the adoption of alternativelivelihood activities to ensure a constant supply of householdfood

Qualitative data was gathered from key informants inappropriate institutions through interviews using an inter-view schedule to gain in-depth knowledge on alternativelivelihood activities in the district The key informants werethe District ExtensionOfficer District Crop ResearchOfficerand the Director for Women in Agricultural Development(WiAD)These were purposefully selected because they haveacquired thorough knowledge about agriculture and otherlivelihood activities among farmers in the district This wasconducted in English Their responses were grouped undervarious themes and integrated in the discussions under thevarious thematic treatments of the sections of the paper

3 Results and Discussion

31 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Respondents Analy-sis of the sociodemographic characteristics of the smallholderfarmers revealed that alternative livelihood engagement playsa critical role in the adaptation process of smallholderfarmers Majority of the respondents (46) were of the agegroup 46ndash55 years The next two successive categories werethe 36ndash45 years and 56ndash65 years who represented 33 and21 respectively A total of 79 of respondents were lessthan 56 years implying they were young and energetic andif resourced could engage in active economic activities Mostof the respondents (82) were married and therefore neededto cater for their households through diverse economicactivities Hence engaging in sustainable livelihood activitieswas imperative for them Also 51 of respondents werehousehold heads while 46were spouses of household headsand the remaining 3 were other relations

The communal nature of the societies is such thatinformation is not restricted to household heads Frequentmigration amongmales especially in the lean and dry seasoncoupled with the fact that much of household spending isdone usually by the womenmakes them adequately informedon household spending patterns Okonya et al (2013) foundthat female-headed households in Niger were less likely torespond to climate change than male-headed householdsThis was probably because in the traditional African settingit is a manrsquos duty to ensure that household food supplyis secured and women in most cases are expected to playcomplementary roles This was however not the case in theBosomtweDistrict as bothmale and female headsmade effortto adapt

The study revealed that 63 of the respondents hadformal educational level below senior high school while only

11 were educated up to the senior high school and onlyone percent had tertiary education Also 25 had no formaleducation as is evident A low level of educationwas generallyobserved among farmers and this could affect their ability todiversify into livelihoods in the service and commerce sectorsas was found by Wamsler et al (2012) in El Salvador andBrazil Majority of the farmers (90) had household size of1ndash10 members implying there were many mouths to feed andwith climate change posing a major threat to agriculture as aprimary occupation securing sustainable alternative sourceof income was not optional Apata (2011) likewise found inNigeria that a larger family size increased the need to diversifyincome sources

32 Disposition of Farmers to Consider Changing Occupationfrom Farming In analyzing farmersrsquo disposition to increas-ingly engage in alternative livelihoods it was found that ageof the farmers size of household and security of householdfood supply were significant in the likelihood of predictingthe outcome of response variable These were significant at119901 lt 030 119901 lt 019 and 119901 lt 012 respectively At a 95confidence interval (CI) these variables had lower to upperCIs for each of the EXP(119861) respectively at CI = 1134ndash12524CI = 1359ndash30224 and CI = 1781ndash104561 respectivelyFurthermore six out of the eight independent variableshad (EXP)119861 gt 1 of likelihood to predict the outcomeof the dependent variable of engaging in other alternativelivelihood activities when those independent variables wereused on the response variable at119861(EXP) = 1054ndash13644 times(Table 1) This implies the possibility of farmers engagingin livelihood activities besides farming can be predicted bythe independent variables at thirteen odd likelihoods thusthirteen times likely to happen

Now we substitute the variables in119901= [ 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 490681 + 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 49068]

(1)

The 119861(EXP) values expressed in the equation indicatethat the odd likelihood of prediction is more than thirteentimes the likelihood for the farmers to continuously engage inalternative livelihood activities besides farming if their cropoutput remained as it is currently due to climate variabilityand change

33 Smallholder Farmersrsquo Alternative Livelihood ActivitiesAlternative livelihood activities by smallholder farmers in theBosomtwe District are varied as can be seen in Figure 2These are basically aimed at diversifying the income sourcesof smallholder farmers hence making them less vulnerableto the impact of climate variability

The choice to engage in an alternative livelihood activityfor most of the smallholder farmers in the Bosomtwe Districtis influenced by current crop yield trends as more than half(61) of respondents have resorted to alternative livelihoodactivities due to crop failure and low yield The next highestfigure of 24 also engaged in these livelihood activities

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Table 1 Logistic regression table of variables in the equation

Predictive variables 119861 SE Wald df Sig Exp(119861) 950 CI for EXP(119861)Lower Upper

Age of respondent (119860119892) 1327 613 4685 1 030 3768 1134 12524Type of household 17435 15041198644 000 1 999 37331198647 000 mdashMarital status of respondent 708 456 2413 1 120 2030 831 4958Size of household (119878119911) 1858 791 5510 1 019 6408 1359 30224Location of community minus1783 998 3191 1 074 168 024 1189Increased expenditure on agricultural inputs 053 1070 002 1 961 1054 129 8582Reduced income from agriculture 623 1037 361 1 548 1865 244 14243Insecure household food supply (119867fs) 2613 1039 6326 1 012 13644 1781 104561Constant minus49068 30091198644 000 1 999 000Note Significant at 120572005

0

()

5

10

15

20

25

30

Live

stock

rear

ing

Chai

nsaw

ope

ratio

nCa

rpen

try

Dre

ssm

akin

gCh

arco

al p

rodu

ctio

nTr

adin

gFo

od v

endi

ngSa

le o

f fire

woo

dFi

shin

gH

air d

ress

ing

Driv

ing

Mas

onry

Palm

win

e tap

ping

Slid

ing

door

sN

ot ap

plic

able

3 4 5 5

11

28

6

2

9

14 5

2 2

15

Figure 2 Alternative income generating activities

without any climate related reason while 15 of respondentsdo not engage in any livelihood activity These are farmerswho depend solely on agriculture as a livelihood and relyon remittances and other forms of social support Thedistrict coordinator forWomen in Agricultural Development(WiAD)which serves to help farmers particularly women toengage in alternative income generating activities explainedthat off-farm income generating activities in the district haveincreased in the last fifteen years and have been skewedtowards trading logging and small-scale mining The latterhowever did not come up at all This could be due to thefact that those who engaged in these activities may not haveacquired the legal rights to undertake such activities andhence do not feel safe giving out such information Howeverinteractions with the key informant revealed that it is one ofthemajor alternative engagements that has emerged in recentyears She adds that ldquoin view of weather changes farmers haveincreasingly engaged in other livelihood activities particu-larly petty trading processing and sale of gari (a popular localfood made from cassava) and soap makingrdquo

Simbarashe [30] points out that farming in Bikita inZimbabwe has been adversely affected by climate variabilityresulting in failure of crops and low crop yields Farmers havethereby diversified into alternative livelihood activities suchas firewood trade and brick moulding Smallholder farmersin the BosomtweDistrict point out being limited in resourcesto engage in these activities One would expect trading to beprevalent in communities located in proximity to the lake dueto its tourist attraction In contrast the seasonal patronageor use has not sustained economic activities in this regardAlso fast growing periurban settlements in communitiesfarther away provides a sustained market for petty trading incommunities farther away

The study revealed that most smallholder farmers in thedistrict are into petty trading representing 28 of respon-dentsThis as observed in the communities ranged from thesale of cooked food foodstuff small household appliancesand their accessories and clothes among many others ontable tops and stores while others carried these from onecommunity to another on head pans Its predominance wasbecause it requires relatively less capital to commence aswas also asserted by Mitullah [31] Also 15 of respondentsdid not engage in any alternative livelihood activity Theyrelied on remittances from family members in urban centresand social support systems The next highest alternativelivelihood activity is charcoal production accounting for11 of alternative activities Abundance of trees suitable forcharcoal production was found to be the prime drivingforce for the practice Farmers may be considering makingthe most of the current situation while seeking to secureother sources of income as the sale of foodstuff can earn afarmer enough capital to engage in petit trading This alsoexplains why charcoal production is prevalent since there isan abundance of trees in forests and secondary growth inthe district In tandem with this charcoal production in thenorthern region was graded as the second major occupationto agriculture and also placed second with respect to incomegeneration [32] Agyeman and Lurumuah [33] also confirmcommercial charcoal production to be a major source oflivelihood in the northern parts of Ghana

Charcoal production as the second highest alternativelivelihood activity is a maladaptive practice which serves to

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11

12

1610

8

8

912 15

Number of years of involvement in alternative income activities

1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-8 years9-10 years

11-12 years13-14 yearsAbove 14 yearsNot applicable

Figure 3 Number of years of involvement in alternative incomeactivity

amplify climate variability Local climatic conditions can beexacerbated through the release of carbon sequestered intrees into the atmosphere The 15 of respondents who didnot engage in any alternative livelihood activity correspondsto findings by Shewmake [34] who analyzed the vulnerabilityand impact of climate change in SouthAfricarsquos LimpopoRiverBasin In his study he observed that majority of householdsdid nothing in times of droughts Smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District rather resorted to short term copingstrategies as borrowing food andmoney fromneighbours andrelatives migrating and changing eating patterns to get bythe situation

34 Length of Years of Engagement in These Activities Thenumber of years in which smallholder farmers have engagedin these alternative livelihood activities was categorize intoeight groups as follows The percentage of smallholder farm-ers who have been involved in alternative livelihood activitiesat least within the last 15 years in the BosomtweDistrict as thesum of the years ranges from 1 to 14 years is 73 (Figure 3)

Probing further to ascertain whether the shift from agri-culture to other livelihood activities is likely to persist amongsmallholder farmers they were asked if they were still consid-ering other sources of livelihood and the place of agricultureif such livelihood avenues open up Ninety-three percent(93) of respondent were still considering other sourcesof livelihood activities other than that which they alreadypractice alongside agriculture while only seven percent werecontent with their current economic activitiesmdashagricultureandor current alternative livelihood activity Of those stillconsidering alternative livelihood activities 60 said theywould keep agriculture as their primary occupation and 33intended to rather keep agriculture as a secondary occupationif only the alternative livelihood activity has more prospectsthan agriculture For the remaining seven percent this wasnot applicable Barrett et al [35] espouse that as output

from farms decline farm household in order to reduce riskand vulnerability naturally diversifies into off-farm activitiesThe main reason for diversification in Nigeria as observedby Abimbola and Oluwakemi [36] was limited agriculturalincome

The role of these alternative livelihood activities is evenmore crucial in the district as the level of remittances is verylow among smallholder farmers Only 23 of respondentsreceive remittances and 77 do not Most of those whoreceive remittances only received it on average twice ina year This contextualizes the relevance of these alterna-tive livelihood activities among smallholder farmers in theBosomtweDistrict as being a very critical adaptation strategyThis is also indicative of the fact that given an exposureto a stimulus such as climate change that makes a sourceof livelihood vulnerable smallholder farmers naturally seeksecurity in other livelihood activities that are not directlyaffected by such a stimulus This could be due to the factthat their current exposure to the eminent threat makes themrepulsive to anything that has direct dependence on it Hencesmallholder farmers generally looked in the direction of othersources of livelihood other than that which is directly affectedby climate This concurs with the findings of Roncoli et al[14] who observed in their study of farmers in Central Plateauin Burkina Faso that nonfarm activities were becomingimportant and already formed the main source of income forhouseholds

35 Effects of Climate Variability on Agricultural LivelihoodA cross tabulation of farmersrsquo perceived rainfall trend in thelast 15 years and considerations of practicing agriculture asa primary or secondary occupation revealed the possibilityof farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities astheir main economic activity due to the predictability ofrainfall pattern or otherwise if better livelihood opportunitiesemerge (Table 2) Farmersrsquo perceptions of rainfall trendsin recent times was in agreement with meteorological datawhich revealed that there had been shifts in the onset ofrains considerable variations in the peak rainfall monthsin the major and minor season and abnormalities in thetraditional bimodal rainfall regime demonstrating unimodalrainfall regimes in some years

Only 9 of respondents who intend to keep agricultureas their primary livelihood activity said the rainfall patternhas been consistent and predictable while 91 said it has beeninconsistent and unpredictableThis conforms to the findingsby Ontoyin and Agyemang [37] whose study in northernGhana indicates that smallholder farmers are increasinglyresorting to alternative livelihoods Those intending to keepagriculture as a primary livelihood activity gave reasonsas having comfort in their native communities and lackof finances to venture into the seemingly capital intensivealternative livelihood activities

Of those who intend to switch to alternative livelihoodactivity as their primary livelihood activity only six per-cent perceived the rainfall pattern to be consistent andpredictable while 94 perceived it to be inconsistent andunpredictable This indicates that livelihood activities amidstclimate variability are threatened especially those that are

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

Scientifica 3

735000000000

730000000000

725000000000

720000000000

715000000000

710000000000

735000000000

730000000000

725000000000

720000000000

715000000000

710000000000

660000000000

666000000000

672000000000

678000000000

684000000000

654000000000

654000000000

660000000000

666000000000

672000000000

678000000000

684000000000

0 15 3 6 9 12 15 18(Km)

Figure 1 Map of the Bosomtwe District in Ghana Source authorrsquos construct (2015)

ecosystem services that support livelihoods directly andindirectly [8] InGhana communities on the fringes of forestsutilize timber and nontimber forest products for a widearray of livelihood engagements Anything that negativelyimpacts these forests equally threatens the livelihood ofthese forest dependent communities [12] Engagements suchas illegal mining and illegal logging however degrade theenvironment and as such undermine the sustainability offorest dependent livelihoods [26] Agriculture and extractionof forest resources are the traditional sources of income forhouseholds within theOffin river basin in GhanaThese havehowever decreased considerably in recent times Althoughmost of the off-farm livelihoods of communities in theriver basin are derived from its forest their activities haveconversely degraded it decreasing the carbon stock of theforest [12] This underpins the need for integrating com-munity needs and participation in policy formulation andimplementation Inclusive and meaningful participation ofall community groups particularly the most vulnerable isneeded as they may be the very ones to spearhead unsustain-able resource use at the community level

Agriculture is the primary occupation in the BosomtweDistrict which employs 626 of the districtrsquos labour forcewith crop farming and fishing respectively constituting574 and 53 In the rural communities more than half(60) of households are agricultural households implyingthat they depend on agriculture for household income andfood supply However most rural households (976) areinvolved in crop farming which essentially contributes tohousehold food and income supply [27] However this roleof agriculture as a primary livelihood activity has beenchallenged in recent times According to the BosomtweDistrict Assembly Profile [27] climate change is increasinglyhaving a negative impact on agriculture through changes in

the onset of rains shifts in peak rainfall months in the majorand minor agricultural seasons droughts and variationsin temperature and flooding with direct impact on cropsand rendering traditional agricultural production practicesineffective The presence of Lake Bosomtwe as a touristsite water and forest resources and fast growing periurbancentres presents opportunities to engage in varied alternativelivelihood activities to safeguard household income andfood supply However this has not received much researchattention This is the basis for making original contributionto literature in general and specifically within the Ghanaiancontext The aim of this paper is therefore to ascertain theextent of climate variability and change-driven alternativelivelihood security dynamics among smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti region of Ghana

2 Materials and Methods

21 Profile of the Study Area The study was conducted in theBosomtwe District which lies within latitude 6∘281015840Nndashlatitude6∘401015840N and longitudes 1∘201015840Wndashlongitude 1∘371015840W at thecentre ofAshanti regionwithKuntenase as the district capitalThe district covers an area of 330 km2 (Figure 1) AtwimaNwabiagya and Kumasi Metropolis are to its north whileEjisu-Juaben Municipal is to the east The south is boundedby Amansie west and east districts [27]

The largest natural Crater Lake in West AfricamdashLakeBosomtwemdashis found in this district which is amajor source oflivelihood for surrounding communities such as fishing andother related trades [28 29]The dendritic pattern of drainageis characteristic of rivers and streams in the Bosomtwe Dis-trict with streams flowing from the surrounding highlandsinto the lake Some of the rivers in the district include SupanButu Oda Adanbanwe and Siso [28]

4 Scientifica

The district is within the moist semideciduous forestecological zone with a major and a minor rainfall regimeThe major rainfall regimes is from March to July while theminor is from September to November The ecological zonehas mean annual rainfall and mean monthly temperatureof about 1900mm and 36∘C respectively Relative humidityalso ranges between 60 and 85 [28] The district hasdifferent tree species that have high economic value includ-ing Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) Onyina (Ceiba pentandra)Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) Asanfena (Aningeria spp)and Denya (Cylicodiscus gabunensis) However due to exten-sive farming activities in the area the original vegetation hasbeen degraded to a mosaic of secondary forest thicket andregrowth with abandoned farms of food crops and vegetables[27]

In certain parts of the district however the originalforest cover has been turned into secondary forest andgrassland through indiscriminate exploitation of timber andinappropriate farming practices such as the slash and burnsystem and illegal gold mining activities [27]The populationof the district according to the Ghana Statistical ServiceCensus is 93910 with an urban to rural population ratioof approximately 1 2 [27] Proximity of the district to theKumasi Metropolis is greatly encouraging the growth ofsettlement in the district Moreover the districtrsquos tourismpotential has drawn a lot of investments in infrastructuredevelopment and other socioeconomic activities into thedistrict [28]

22 Sampling Design Instruments and Data Analysis Thisstudy was one of the objectives of a major study on small-holder farmersrsquo mitigation of and adaptation to climatechange and climate variability in the Bosomtwe DistrictThe specific objective was to analyze alternative livelihoodactivities of smallholder farmers as a means of coping withclimate change in the Bosomtwe District Key areas ofconcern included alternative income generating activitieslength of years of being engaged in these activities effects ofclimate variability on agricultural livelihood and possibilityof switching to alternative income generating activities asprimary occupation There are sixty-six (66) communitiesin the Bosomtwe District These were purposively clusteredinto communities around Lake Bosomtwe (52 communities)and those farther away from the lake (14 communities) Thelake has an outer ridge with an elevation of 50m to 80mwhich is the only unique topographical feature in the districtthat distinguishes communities around the lake from othercommunities in the district Six communities were thereforeselected from each cluster using the lottery method withoutreplacement to aid a comparative analysis of the variousramifications of alternative livelihoods in these clusters inresponse to climate change relative to natural resources anddifferent topographical terrains A total of 152 smallholderfarmers were sampled from these communities and therespective sample for each community was allocated by quotausing the proportionate sampling These are smallholderfarmers who basically produce crops in order to subsist andhave farm sizes ranging within 1 acre to 5 acres They usebasicrudimentary farm tools inputs and technology and

basically rely on household members as farm labour Therespondents for the study were sampled using simple randomsampling technique A semistructured partially precodedquestionnaire was used to gather quantitative data for thestudy The terrain of farmlands and the peculiar physical andbuilt environments of the communities were also observed inrelation to livelihood activities and possibilities

The quantitative data gathered were subjected to multipleregression analysis contingency tables and frequencies andChi-square tests of association and multivariate distributionof variables respectively embedded in the Statistical Productand Service Solutions (SPSS) v17 Windows application Theresults were displayed in tables charts and graphs Thediagrams generated in the SPSS were exported to Excel forediting for better visual presentation

Farmersrsquo disposition to increasingly engage in alternativelivelihoods was ascertained The likelihood of a farmerdevoting more attention and resources to an alternativelivelihood activity other than farming was analyzed usingbinary logistic regression modelling Using the odd ratios forthe likelihood of occupationmodification thismodellingwasto determine whether farmers are more likely to devote moreresources and time to alternative livelihood activities besidesfarming

Hence respondents were to indicate 1 = yes the currentcrop yield encourages them to consider other alternativelivelihoods and 0 = no the current crop yield does notencourage them to consider other alternative livelihoodsThestep-wise logistic regression was run in the SPSS softwareThe model without predictive variables was taken as the nullhypothesis which therefore states that there is no significantdifference between the dummies (yes and no)mdashthe responsevariables In other words the model would better predict theoutcome without the inclusion of the independent variableswhile the alternative hypothesis states that the model wouldnot predict better without the independent variables Thismeans there is significant difference in the dummies in theresponse variables

In the first step of the model (block 0) the model withoutthe inclusion of the predictive variables measured at 119910 =the constant indicated the overall percentage correctness ofprediction was 927 with a probability value of significanceat 119901 lt 000 with an 119861(EXP) = 0079 By adding the predictivevariables to the alternative model (block 1) equation theoverall percentage correctness of the prediction was 933slightly better than the null model at a significant value of119901 lt 000 with a Chi-square value 1205942 = 30119 at 5 degrees offreedom The Nagelkerke 1198772 which is a pseudo coefficient ofdetermination indicates that the model can offer only 446explanation of the variation in the dependent variable

Therewere eight independent variables (noncategorized)entered into the alternative hypothesis equation Howeverthree of them were significant in predicting the farmersrsquodisposition to consider alternative livelihood activities otherthan farming These independent variables were as followsthe age of the farmer size of household and security of house-hold food supply Age was significant in predicting farmersrsquolikelihood of considering alternative livelihood activitiesbecause most of the farmers who were young could not

Scientifica 5

envisage any improvement in the current trend of low cropyield in the near future Another predictive variable is thesize of household Most farmers were of household madeup of six or more members There was hence the need forthose who were of age to contribute towards the upkeepof these households This requires a source of income andhence sustainable livelihood The last significant predictingfactor was security of householdsrsquo food supplyThe insecurityof household food supply due to crop failure or poor cropyield consequently necessitated the adoption of alternativelivelihood activities to ensure a constant supply of householdfood

Qualitative data was gathered from key informants inappropriate institutions through interviews using an inter-view schedule to gain in-depth knowledge on alternativelivelihood activities in the district The key informants werethe District ExtensionOfficer District Crop ResearchOfficerand the Director for Women in Agricultural Development(WiAD)These were purposefully selected because they haveacquired thorough knowledge about agriculture and otherlivelihood activities among farmers in the district This wasconducted in English Their responses were grouped undervarious themes and integrated in the discussions under thevarious thematic treatments of the sections of the paper

3 Results and Discussion

31 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Respondents Analy-sis of the sociodemographic characteristics of the smallholderfarmers revealed that alternative livelihood engagement playsa critical role in the adaptation process of smallholderfarmers Majority of the respondents (46) were of the agegroup 46ndash55 years The next two successive categories werethe 36ndash45 years and 56ndash65 years who represented 33 and21 respectively A total of 79 of respondents were lessthan 56 years implying they were young and energetic andif resourced could engage in active economic activities Mostof the respondents (82) were married and therefore neededto cater for their households through diverse economicactivities Hence engaging in sustainable livelihood activitieswas imperative for them Also 51 of respondents werehousehold heads while 46were spouses of household headsand the remaining 3 were other relations

The communal nature of the societies is such thatinformation is not restricted to household heads Frequentmigration amongmales especially in the lean and dry seasoncoupled with the fact that much of household spending isdone usually by the womenmakes them adequately informedon household spending patterns Okonya et al (2013) foundthat female-headed households in Niger were less likely torespond to climate change than male-headed householdsThis was probably because in the traditional African settingit is a manrsquos duty to ensure that household food supplyis secured and women in most cases are expected to playcomplementary roles This was however not the case in theBosomtweDistrict as bothmale and female headsmade effortto adapt

The study revealed that 63 of the respondents hadformal educational level below senior high school while only

11 were educated up to the senior high school and onlyone percent had tertiary education Also 25 had no formaleducation as is evident A low level of educationwas generallyobserved among farmers and this could affect their ability todiversify into livelihoods in the service and commerce sectorsas was found by Wamsler et al (2012) in El Salvador andBrazil Majority of the farmers (90) had household size of1ndash10 members implying there were many mouths to feed andwith climate change posing a major threat to agriculture as aprimary occupation securing sustainable alternative sourceof income was not optional Apata (2011) likewise found inNigeria that a larger family size increased the need to diversifyincome sources

32 Disposition of Farmers to Consider Changing Occupationfrom Farming In analyzing farmersrsquo disposition to increas-ingly engage in alternative livelihoods it was found that ageof the farmers size of household and security of householdfood supply were significant in the likelihood of predictingthe outcome of response variable These were significant at119901 lt 030 119901 lt 019 and 119901 lt 012 respectively At a 95confidence interval (CI) these variables had lower to upperCIs for each of the EXP(119861) respectively at CI = 1134ndash12524CI = 1359ndash30224 and CI = 1781ndash104561 respectivelyFurthermore six out of the eight independent variableshad (EXP)119861 gt 1 of likelihood to predict the outcomeof the dependent variable of engaging in other alternativelivelihood activities when those independent variables wereused on the response variable at119861(EXP) = 1054ndash13644 times(Table 1) This implies the possibility of farmers engagingin livelihood activities besides farming can be predicted bythe independent variables at thirteen odd likelihoods thusthirteen times likely to happen

Now we substitute the variables in119901= [ 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 490681 + 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 49068]

(1)

The 119861(EXP) values expressed in the equation indicatethat the odd likelihood of prediction is more than thirteentimes the likelihood for the farmers to continuously engage inalternative livelihood activities besides farming if their cropoutput remained as it is currently due to climate variabilityand change

33 Smallholder Farmersrsquo Alternative Livelihood ActivitiesAlternative livelihood activities by smallholder farmers in theBosomtwe District are varied as can be seen in Figure 2These are basically aimed at diversifying the income sourcesof smallholder farmers hence making them less vulnerableto the impact of climate variability

The choice to engage in an alternative livelihood activityfor most of the smallholder farmers in the Bosomtwe Districtis influenced by current crop yield trends as more than half(61) of respondents have resorted to alternative livelihoodactivities due to crop failure and low yield The next highestfigure of 24 also engaged in these livelihood activities

6 Scientifica

Table 1 Logistic regression table of variables in the equation

Predictive variables 119861 SE Wald df Sig Exp(119861) 950 CI for EXP(119861)Lower Upper

Age of respondent (119860119892) 1327 613 4685 1 030 3768 1134 12524Type of household 17435 15041198644 000 1 999 37331198647 000 mdashMarital status of respondent 708 456 2413 1 120 2030 831 4958Size of household (119878119911) 1858 791 5510 1 019 6408 1359 30224Location of community minus1783 998 3191 1 074 168 024 1189Increased expenditure on agricultural inputs 053 1070 002 1 961 1054 129 8582Reduced income from agriculture 623 1037 361 1 548 1865 244 14243Insecure household food supply (119867fs) 2613 1039 6326 1 012 13644 1781 104561Constant minus49068 30091198644 000 1 999 000Note Significant at 120572005

0

()

5

10

15

20

25

30

Live

stock

rear

ing

Chai

nsaw

ope

ratio

nCa

rpen

try

Dre

ssm

akin

gCh

arco

al p

rodu

ctio

nTr

adin

gFo

od v

endi

ngSa

le o

f fire

woo

dFi

shin

gH

air d

ress

ing

Driv

ing

Mas

onry

Palm

win

e tap

ping

Slid

ing

door

sN

ot ap

plic

able

3 4 5 5

11

28

6

2

9

14 5

2 2

15

Figure 2 Alternative income generating activities

without any climate related reason while 15 of respondentsdo not engage in any livelihood activity These are farmerswho depend solely on agriculture as a livelihood and relyon remittances and other forms of social support Thedistrict coordinator forWomen in Agricultural Development(WiAD)which serves to help farmers particularly women toengage in alternative income generating activities explainedthat off-farm income generating activities in the district haveincreased in the last fifteen years and have been skewedtowards trading logging and small-scale mining The latterhowever did not come up at all This could be due to thefact that those who engaged in these activities may not haveacquired the legal rights to undertake such activities andhence do not feel safe giving out such information Howeverinteractions with the key informant revealed that it is one ofthemajor alternative engagements that has emerged in recentyears She adds that ldquoin view of weather changes farmers haveincreasingly engaged in other livelihood activities particu-larly petty trading processing and sale of gari (a popular localfood made from cassava) and soap makingrdquo

Simbarashe [30] points out that farming in Bikita inZimbabwe has been adversely affected by climate variabilityresulting in failure of crops and low crop yields Farmers havethereby diversified into alternative livelihood activities suchas firewood trade and brick moulding Smallholder farmersin the BosomtweDistrict point out being limited in resourcesto engage in these activities One would expect trading to beprevalent in communities located in proximity to the lake dueto its tourist attraction In contrast the seasonal patronageor use has not sustained economic activities in this regardAlso fast growing periurban settlements in communitiesfarther away provides a sustained market for petty trading incommunities farther away

The study revealed that most smallholder farmers in thedistrict are into petty trading representing 28 of respon-dentsThis as observed in the communities ranged from thesale of cooked food foodstuff small household appliancesand their accessories and clothes among many others ontable tops and stores while others carried these from onecommunity to another on head pans Its predominance wasbecause it requires relatively less capital to commence aswas also asserted by Mitullah [31] Also 15 of respondentsdid not engage in any alternative livelihood activity Theyrelied on remittances from family members in urban centresand social support systems The next highest alternativelivelihood activity is charcoal production accounting for11 of alternative activities Abundance of trees suitable forcharcoal production was found to be the prime drivingforce for the practice Farmers may be considering makingthe most of the current situation while seeking to secureother sources of income as the sale of foodstuff can earn afarmer enough capital to engage in petit trading This alsoexplains why charcoal production is prevalent since there isan abundance of trees in forests and secondary growth inthe district In tandem with this charcoal production in thenorthern region was graded as the second major occupationto agriculture and also placed second with respect to incomegeneration [32] Agyeman and Lurumuah [33] also confirmcommercial charcoal production to be a major source oflivelihood in the northern parts of Ghana

Charcoal production as the second highest alternativelivelihood activity is a maladaptive practice which serves to

Scientifica 7

11

12

1610

8

8

912 15

Number of years of involvement in alternative income activities

1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-8 years9-10 years

11-12 years13-14 yearsAbove 14 yearsNot applicable

Figure 3 Number of years of involvement in alternative incomeactivity

amplify climate variability Local climatic conditions can beexacerbated through the release of carbon sequestered intrees into the atmosphere The 15 of respondents who didnot engage in any alternative livelihood activity correspondsto findings by Shewmake [34] who analyzed the vulnerabilityand impact of climate change in SouthAfricarsquos LimpopoRiverBasin In his study he observed that majority of householdsdid nothing in times of droughts Smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District rather resorted to short term copingstrategies as borrowing food andmoney fromneighbours andrelatives migrating and changing eating patterns to get bythe situation

34 Length of Years of Engagement in These Activities Thenumber of years in which smallholder farmers have engagedin these alternative livelihood activities was categorize intoeight groups as follows The percentage of smallholder farm-ers who have been involved in alternative livelihood activitiesat least within the last 15 years in the BosomtweDistrict as thesum of the years ranges from 1 to 14 years is 73 (Figure 3)

Probing further to ascertain whether the shift from agri-culture to other livelihood activities is likely to persist amongsmallholder farmers they were asked if they were still consid-ering other sources of livelihood and the place of agricultureif such livelihood avenues open up Ninety-three percent(93) of respondent were still considering other sourcesof livelihood activities other than that which they alreadypractice alongside agriculture while only seven percent werecontent with their current economic activitiesmdashagricultureandor current alternative livelihood activity Of those stillconsidering alternative livelihood activities 60 said theywould keep agriculture as their primary occupation and 33intended to rather keep agriculture as a secondary occupationif only the alternative livelihood activity has more prospectsthan agriculture For the remaining seven percent this wasnot applicable Barrett et al [35] espouse that as output

from farms decline farm household in order to reduce riskand vulnerability naturally diversifies into off-farm activitiesThe main reason for diversification in Nigeria as observedby Abimbola and Oluwakemi [36] was limited agriculturalincome

The role of these alternative livelihood activities is evenmore crucial in the district as the level of remittances is verylow among smallholder farmers Only 23 of respondentsreceive remittances and 77 do not Most of those whoreceive remittances only received it on average twice ina year This contextualizes the relevance of these alterna-tive livelihood activities among smallholder farmers in theBosomtweDistrict as being a very critical adaptation strategyThis is also indicative of the fact that given an exposureto a stimulus such as climate change that makes a sourceof livelihood vulnerable smallholder farmers naturally seeksecurity in other livelihood activities that are not directlyaffected by such a stimulus This could be due to the factthat their current exposure to the eminent threat makes themrepulsive to anything that has direct dependence on it Hencesmallholder farmers generally looked in the direction of othersources of livelihood other than that which is directly affectedby climate This concurs with the findings of Roncoli et al[14] who observed in their study of farmers in Central Plateauin Burkina Faso that nonfarm activities were becomingimportant and already formed the main source of income forhouseholds

35 Effects of Climate Variability on Agricultural LivelihoodA cross tabulation of farmersrsquo perceived rainfall trend in thelast 15 years and considerations of practicing agriculture asa primary or secondary occupation revealed the possibilityof farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities astheir main economic activity due to the predictability ofrainfall pattern or otherwise if better livelihood opportunitiesemerge (Table 2) Farmersrsquo perceptions of rainfall trendsin recent times was in agreement with meteorological datawhich revealed that there had been shifts in the onset ofrains considerable variations in the peak rainfall monthsin the major and minor season and abnormalities in thetraditional bimodal rainfall regime demonstrating unimodalrainfall regimes in some years

Only 9 of respondents who intend to keep agricultureas their primary livelihood activity said the rainfall patternhas been consistent and predictable while 91 said it has beeninconsistent and unpredictableThis conforms to the findingsby Ontoyin and Agyemang [37] whose study in northernGhana indicates that smallholder farmers are increasinglyresorting to alternative livelihoods Those intending to keepagriculture as a primary livelihood activity gave reasonsas having comfort in their native communities and lackof finances to venture into the seemingly capital intensivealternative livelihood activities

Of those who intend to switch to alternative livelihoodactivity as their primary livelihood activity only six per-cent perceived the rainfall pattern to be consistent andpredictable while 94 perceived it to be inconsistent andunpredictable This indicates that livelihood activities amidstclimate variability are threatened especially those that are

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

4 Scientifica

The district is within the moist semideciduous forestecological zone with a major and a minor rainfall regimeThe major rainfall regimes is from March to July while theminor is from September to November The ecological zonehas mean annual rainfall and mean monthly temperatureof about 1900mm and 36∘C respectively Relative humidityalso ranges between 60 and 85 [28] The district hasdifferent tree species that have high economic value includ-ing Mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) Onyina (Ceiba pentandra)Wawa (Triplochiton scleroxylon) Asanfena (Aningeria spp)and Denya (Cylicodiscus gabunensis) However due to exten-sive farming activities in the area the original vegetation hasbeen degraded to a mosaic of secondary forest thicket andregrowth with abandoned farms of food crops and vegetables[27]

In certain parts of the district however the originalforest cover has been turned into secondary forest andgrassland through indiscriminate exploitation of timber andinappropriate farming practices such as the slash and burnsystem and illegal gold mining activities [27]The populationof the district according to the Ghana Statistical ServiceCensus is 93910 with an urban to rural population ratioof approximately 1 2 [27] Proximity of the district to theKumasi Metropolis is greatly encouraging the growth ofsettlement in the district Moreover the districtrsquos tourismpotential has drawn a lot of investments in infrastructuredevelopment and other socioeconomic activities into thedistrict [28]

22 Sampling Design Instruments and Data Analysis Thisstudy was one of the objectives of a major study on small-holder farmersrsquo mitigation of and adaptation to climatechange and climate variability in the Bosomtwe DistrictThe specific objective was to analyze alternative livelihoodactivities of smallholder farmers as a means of coping withclimate change in the Bosomtwe District Key areas ofconcern included alternative income generating activitieslength of years of being engaged in these activities effects ofclimate variability on agricultural livelihood and possibilityof switching to alternative income generating activities asprimary occupation There are sixty-six (66) communitiesin the Bosomtwe District These were purposively clusteredinto communities around Lake Bosomtwe (52 communities)and those farther away from the lake (14 communities) Thelake has an outer ridge with an elevation of 50m to 80mwhich is the only unique topographical feature in the districtthat distinguishes communities around the lake from othercommunities in the district Six communities were thereforeselected from each cluster using the lottery method withoutreplacement to aid a comparative analysis of the variousramifications of alternative livelihoods in these clusters inresponse to climate change relative to natural resources anddifferent topographical terrains A total of 152 smallholderfarmers were sampled from these communities and therespective sample for each community was allocated by quotausing the proportionate sampling These are smallholderfarmers who basically produce crops in order to subsist andhave farm sizes ranging within 1 acre to 5 acres They usebasicrudimentary farm tools inputs and technology and

basically rely on household members as farm labour Therespondents for the study were sampled using simple randomsampling technique A semistructured partially precodedquestionnaire was used to gather quantitative data for thestudy The terrain of farmlands and the peculiar physical andbuilt environments of the communities were also observed inrelation to livelihood activities and possibilities

The quantitative data gathered were subjected to multipleregression analysis contingency tables and frequencies andChi-square tests of association and multivariate distributionof variables respectively embedded in the Statistical Productand Service Solutions (SPSS) v17 Windows application Theresults were displayed in tables charts and graphs Thediagrams generated in the SPSS were exported to Excel forediting for better visual presentation

Farmersrsquo disposition to increasingly engage in alternativelivelihoods was ascertained The likelihood of a farmerdevoting more attention and resources to an alternativelivelihood activity other than farming was analyzed usingbinary logistic regression modelling Using the odd ratios forthe likelihood of occupationmodification thismodellingwasto determine whether farmers are more likely to devote moreresources and time to alternative livelihood activities besidesfarming

Hence respondents were to indicate 1 = yes the currentcrop yield encourages them to consider other alternativelivelihoods and 0 = no the current crop yield does notencourage them to consider other alternative livelihoodsThestep-wise logistic regression was run in the SPSS softwareThe model without predictive variables was taken as the nullhypothesis which therefore states that there is no significantdifference between the dummies (yes and no)mdashthe responsevariables In other words the model would better predict theoutcome without the inclusion of the independent variableswhile the alternative hypothesis states that the model wouldnot predict better without the independent variables Thismeans there is significant difference in the dummies in theresponse variables

In the first step of the model (block 0) the model withoutthe inclusion of the predictive variables measured at 119910 =the constant indicated the overall percentage correctness ofprediction was 927 with a probability value of significanceat 119901 lt 000 with an 119861(EXP) = 0079 By adding the predictivevariables to the alternative model (block 1) equation theoverall percentage correctness of the prediction was 933slightly better than the null model at a significant value of119901 lt 000 with a Chi-square value 1205942 = 30119 at 5 degrees offreedom The Nagelkerke 1198772 which is a pseudo coefficient ofdetermination indicates that the model can offer only 446explanation of the variation in the dependent variable

Therewere eight independent variables (noncategorized)entered into the alternative hypothesis equation Howeverthree of them were significant in predicting the farmersrsquodisposition to consider alternative livelihood activities otherthan farming These independent variables were as followsthe age of the farmer size of household and security of house-hold food supply Age was significant in predicting farmersrsquolikelihood of considering alternative livelihood activitiesbecause most of the farmers who were young could not

Scientifica 5

envisage any improvement in the current trend of low cropyield in the near future Another predictive variable is thesize of household Most farmers were of household madeup of six or more members There was hence the need forthose who were of age to contribute towards the upkeepof these households This requires a source of income andhence sustainable livelihood The last significant predictingfactor was security of householdsrsquo food supplyThe insecurityof household food supply due to crop failure or poor cropyield consequently necessitated the adoption of alternativelivelihood activities to ensure a constant supply of householdfood

Qualitative data was gathered from key informants inappropriate institutions through interviews using an inter-view schedule to gain in-depth knowledge on alternativelivelihood activities in the district The key informants werethe District ExtensionOfficer District Crop ResearchOfficerand the Director for Women in Agricultural Development(WiAD)These were purposefully selected because they haveacquired thorough knowledge about agriculture and otherlivelihood activities among farmers in the district This wasconducted in English Their responses were grouped undervarious themes and integrated in the discussions under thevarious thematic treatments of the sections of the paper

3 Results and Discussion

31 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Respondents Analy-sis of the sociodemographic characteristics of the smallholderfarmers revealed that alternative livelihood engagement playsa critical role in the adaptation process of smallholderfarmers Majority of the respondents (46) were of the agegroup 46ndash55 years The next two successive categories werethe 36ndash45 years and 56ndash65 years who represented 33 and21 respectively A total of 79 of respondents were lessthan 56 years implying they were young and energetic andif resourced could engage in active economic activities Mostof the respondents (82) were married and therefore neededto cater for their households through diverse economicactivities Hence engaging in sustainable livelihood activitieswas imperative for them Also 51 of respondents werehousehold heads while 46were spouses of household headsand the remaining 3 were other relations

The communal nature of the societies is such thatinformation is not restricted to household heads Frequentmigration amongmales especially in the lean and dry seasoncoupled with the fact that much of household spending isdone usually by the womenmakes them adequately informedon household spending patterns Okonya et al (2013) foundthat female-headed households in Niger were less likely torespond to climate change than male-headed householdsThis was probably because in the traditional African settingit is a manrsquos duty to ensure that household food supplyis secured and women in most cases are expected to playcomplementary roles This was however not the case in theBosomtweDistrict as bothmale and female headsmade effortto adapt

The study revealed that 63 of the respondents hadformal educational level below senior high school while only

11 were educated up to the senior high school and onlyone percent had tertiary education Also 25 had no formaleducation as is evident A low level of educationwas generallyobserved among farmers and this could affect their ability todiversify into livelihoods in the service and commerce sectorsas was found by Wamsler et al (2012) in El Salvador andBrazil Majority of the farmers (90) had household size of1ndash10 members implying there were many mouths to feed andwith climate change posing a major threat to agriculture as aprimary occupation securing sustainable alternative sourceof income was not optional Apata (2011) likewise found inNigeria that a larger family size increased the need to diversifyincome sources

32 Disposition of Farmers to Consider Changing Occupationfrom Farming In analyzing farmersrsquo disposition to increas-ingly engage in alternative livelihoods it was found that ageof the farmers size of household and security of householdfood supply were significant in the likelihood of predictingthe outcome of response variable These were significant at119901 lt 030 119901 lt 019 and 119901 lt 012 respectively At a 95confidence interval (CI) these variables had lower to upperCIs for each of the EXP(119861) respectively at CI = 1134ndash12524CI = 1359ndash30224 and CI = 1781ndash104561 respectivelyFurthermore six out of the eight independent variableshad (EXP)119861 gt 1 of likelihood to predict the outcomeof the dependent variable of engaging in other alternativelivelihood activities when those independent variables wereused on the response variable at119861(EXP) = 1054ndash13644 times(Table 1) This implies the possibility of farmers engagingin livelihood activities besides farming can be predicted bythe independent variables at thirteen odd likelihoods thusthirteen times likely to happen

Now we substitute the variables in119901= [ 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 490681 + 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 49068]

(1)

The 119861(EXP) values expressed in the equation indicatethat the odd likelihood of prediction is more than thirteentimes the likelihood for the farmers to continuously engage inalternative livelihood activities besides farming if their cropoutput remained as it is currently due to climate variabilityand change

33 Smallholder Farmersrsquo Alternative Livelihood ActivitiesAlternative livelihood activities by smallholder farmers in theBosomtwe District are varied as can be seen in Figure 2These are basically aimed at diversifying the income sourcesof smallholder farmers hence making them less vulnerableto the impact of climate variability

The choice to engage in an alternative livelihood activityfor most of the smallholder farmers in the Bosomtwe Districtis influenced by current crop yield trends as more than half(61) of respondents have resorted to alternative livelihoodactivities due to crop failure and low yield The next highestfigure of 24 also engaged in these livelihood activities

6 Scientifica

Table 1 Logistic regression table of variables in the equation

Predictive variables 119861 SE Wald df Sig Exp(119861) 950 CI for EXP(119861)Lower Upper

Age of respondent (119860119892) 1327 613 4685 1 030 3768 1134 12524Type of household 17435 15041198644 000 1 999 37331198647 000 mdashMarital status of respondent 708 456 2413 1 120 2030 831 4958Size of household (119878119911) 1858 791 5510 1 019 6408 1359 30224Location of community minus1783 998 3191 1 074 168 024 1189Increased expenditure on agricultural inputs 053 1070 002 1 961 1054 129 8582Reduced income from agriculture 623 1037 361 1 548 1865 244 14243Insecure household food supply (119867fs) 2613 1039 6326 1 012 13644 1781 104561Constant minus49068 30091198644 000 1 999 000Note Significant at 120572005

0

()

5

10

15

20

25

30

Live

stock

rear

ing

Chai

nsaw

ope

ratio

nCa

rpen

try

Dre

ssm

akin

gCh

arco

al p

rodu

ctio

nTr

adin

gFo

od v

endi

ngSa

le o

f fire

woo

dFi

shin

gH

air d

ress

ing

Driv

ing

Mas

onry

Palm

win

e tap

ping

Slid

ing

door

sN

ot ap

plic

able

3 4 5 5

11

28

6

2

9

14 5

2 2

15

Figure 2 Alternative income generating activities

without any climate related reason while 15 of respondentsdo not engage in any livelihood activity These are farmerswho depend solely on agriculture as a livelihood and relyon remittances and other forms of social support Thedistrict coordinator forWomen in Agricultural Development(WiAD)which serves to help farmers particularly women toengage in alternative income generating activities explainedthat off-farm income generating activities in the district haveincreased in the last fifteen years and have been skewedtowards trading logging and small-scale mining The latterhowever did not come up at all This could be due to thefact that those who engaged in these activities may not haveacquired the legal rights to undertake such activities andhence do not feel safe giving out such information Howeverinteractions with the key informant revealed that it is one ofthemajor alternative engagements that has emerged in recentyears She adds that ldquoin view of weather changes farmers haveincreasingly engaged in other livelihood activities particu-larly petty trading processing and sale of gari (a popular localfood made from cassava) and soap makingrdquo

Simbarashe [30] points out that farming in Bikita inZimbabwe has been adversely affected by climate variabilityresulting in failure of crops and low crop yields Farmers havethereby diversified into alternative livelihood activities suchas firewood trade and brick moulding Smallholder farmersin the BosomtweDistrict point out being limited in resourcesto engage in these activities One would expect trading to beprevalent in communities located in proximity to the lake dueto its tourist attraction In contrast the seasonal patronageor use has not sustained economic activities in this regardAlso fast growing periurban settlements in communitiesfarther away provides a sustained market for petty trading incommunities farther away

The study revealed that most smallholder farmers in thedistrict are into petty trading representing 28 of respon-dentsThis as observed in the communities ranged from thesale of cooked food foodstuff small household appliancesand their accessories and clothes among many others ontable tops and stores while others carried these from onecommunity to another on head pans Its predominance wasbecause it requires relatively less capital to commence aswas also asserted by Mitullah [31] Also 15 of respondentsdid not engage in any alternative livelihood activity Theyrelied on remittances from family members in urban centresand social support systems The next highest alternativelivelihood activity is charcoal production accounting for11 of alternative activities Abundance of trees suitable forcharcoal production was found to be the prime drivingforce for the practice Farmers may be considering makingthe most of the current situation while seeking to secureother sources of income as the sale of foodstuff can earn afarmer enough capital to engage in petit trading This alsoexplains why charcoal production is prevalent since there isan abundance of trees in forests and secondary growth inthe district In tandem with this charcoal production in thenorthern region was graded as the second major occupationto agriculture and also placed second with respect to incomegeneration [32] Agyeman and Lurumuah [33] also confirmcommercial charcoal production to be a major source oflivelihood in the northern parts of Ghana

Charcoal production as the second highest alternativelivelihood activity is a maladaptive practice which serves to

Scientifica 7

11

12

1610

8

8

912 15

Number of years of involvement in alternative income activities

1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-8 years9-10 years

11-12 years13-14 yearsAbove 14 yearsNot applicable

Figure 3 Number of years of involvement in alternative incomeactivity

amplify climate variability Local climatic conditions can beexacerbated through the release of carbon sequestered intrees into the atmosphere The 15 of respondents who didnot engage in any alternative livelihood activity correspondsto findings by Shewmake [34] who analyzed the vulnerabilityand impact of climate change in SouthAfricarsquos LimpopoRiverBasin In his study he observed that majority of householdsdid nothing in times of droughts Smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District rather resorted to short term copingstrategies as borrowing food andmoney fromneighbours andrelatives migrating and changing eating patterns to get bythe situation

34 Length of Years of Engagement in These Activities Thenumber of years in which smallholder farmers have engagedin these alternative livelihood activities was categorize intoeight groups as follows The percentage of smallholder farm-ers who have been involved in alternative livelihood activitiesat least within the last 15 years in the BosomtweDistrict as thesum of the years ranges from 1 to 14 years is 73 (Figure 3)

Probing further to ascertain whether the shift from agri-culture to other livelihood activities is likely to persist amongsmallholder farmers they were asked if they were still consid-ering other sources of livelihood and the place of agricultureif such livelihood avenues open up Ninety-three percent(93) of respondent were still considering other sourcesof livelihood activities other than that which they alreadypractice alongside agriculture while only seven percent werecontent with their current economic activitiesmdashagricultureandor current alternative livelihood activity Of those stillconsidering alternative livelihood activities 60 said theywould keep agriculture as their primary occupation and 33intended to rather keep agriculture as a secondary occupationif only the alternative livelihood activity has more prospectsthan agriculture For the remaining seven percent this wasnot applicable Barrett et al [35] espouse that as output

from farms decline farm household in order to reduce riskand vulnerability naturally diversifies into off-farm activitiesThe main reason for diversification in Nigeria as observedby Abimbola and Oluwakemi [36] was limited agriculturalincome

The role of these alternative livelihood activities is evenmore crucial in the district as the level of remittances is verylow among smallholder farmers Only 23 of respondentsreceive remittances and 77 do not Most of those whoreceive remittances only received it on average twice ina year This contextualizes the relevance of these alterna-tive livelihood activities among smallholder farmers in theBosomtweDistrict as being a very critical adaptation strategyThis is also indicative of the fact that given an exposureto a stimulus such as climate change that makes a sourceof livelihood vulnerable smallholder farmers naturally seeksecurity in other livelihood activities that are not directlyaffected by such a stimulus This could be due to the factthat their current exposure to the eminent threat makes themrepulsive to anything that has direct dependence on it Hencesmallholder farmers generally looked in the direction of othersources of livelihood other than that which is directly affectedby climate This concurs with the findings of Roncoli et al[14] who observed in their study of farmers in Central Plateauin Burkina Faso that nonfarm activities were becomingimportant and already formed the main source of income forhouseholds

35 Effects of Climate Variability on Agricultural LivelihoodA cross tabulation of farmersrsquo perceived rainfall trend in thelast 15 years and considerations of practicing agriculture asa primary or secondary occupation revealed the possibilityof farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities astheir main economic activity due to the predictability ofrainfall pattern or otherwise if better livelihood opportunitiesemerge (Table 2) Farmersrsquo perceptions of rainfall trendsin recent times was in agreement with meteorological datawhich revealed that there had been shifts in the onset ofrains considerable variations in the peak rainfall monthsin the major and minor season and abnormalities in thetraditional bimodal rainfall regime demonstrating unimodalrainfall regimes in some years

Only 9 of respondents who intend to keep agricultureas their primary livelihood activity said the rainfall patternhas been consistent and predictable while 91 said it has beeninconsistent and unpredictableThis conforms to the findingsby Ontoyin and Agyemang [37] whose study in northernGhana indicates that smallholder farmers are increasinglyresorting to alternative livelihoods Those intending to keepagriculture as a primary livelihood activity gave reasonsas having comfort in their native communities and lackof finances to venture into the seemingly capital intensivealternative livelihood activities

Of those who intend to switch to alternative livelihoodactivity as their primary livelihood activity only six per-cent perceived the rainfall pattern to be consistent andpredictable while 94 perceived it to be inconsistent andunpredictable This indicates that livelihood activities amidstclimate variability are threatened especially those that are

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

Scientifica 5

envisage any improvement in the current trend of low cropyield in the near future Another predictive variable is thesize of household Most farmers were of household madeup of six or more members There was hence the need forthose who were of age to contribute towards the upkeepof these households This requires a source of income andhence sustainable livelihood The last significant predictingfactor was security of householdsrsquo food supplyThe insecurityof household food supply due to crop failure or poor cropyield consequently necessitated the adoption of alternativelivelihood activities to ensure a constant supply of householdfood

Qualitative data was gathered from key informants inappropriate institutions through interviews using an inter-view schedule to gain in-depth knowledge on alternativelivelihood activities in the district The key informants werethe District ExtensionOfficer District Crop ResearchOfficerand the Director for Women in Agricultural Development(WiAD)These were purposefully selected because they haveacquired thorough knowledge about agriculture and otherlivelihood activities among farmers in the district This wasconducted in English Their responses were grouped undervarious themes and integrated in the discussions under thevarious thematic treatments of the sections of the paper

3 Results and Discussion

31 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Respondents Analy-sis of the sociodemographic characteristics of the smallholderfarmers revealed that alternative livelihood engagement playsa critical role in the adaptation process of smallholderfarmers Majority of the respondents (46) were of the agegroup 46ndash55 years The next two successive categories werethe 36ndash45 years and 56ndash65 years who represented 33 and21 respectively A total of 79 of respondents were lessthan 56 years implying they were young and energetic andif resourced could engage in active economic activities Mostof the respondents (82) were married and therefore neededto cater for their households through diverse economicactivities Hence engaging in sustainable livelihood activitieswas imperative for them Also 51 of respondents werehousehold heads while 46were spouses of household headsand the remaining 3 were other relations

The communal nature of the societies is such thatinformation is not restricted to household heads Frequentmigration amongmales especially in the lean and dry seasoncoupled with the fact that much of household spending isdone usually by the womenmakes them adequately informedon household spending patterns Okonya et al (2013) foundthat female-headed households in Niger were less likely torespond to climate change than male-headed householdsThis was probably because in the traditional African settingit is a manrsquos duty to ensure that household food supplyis secured and women in most cases are expected to playcomplementary roles This was however not the case in theBosomtweDistrict as bothmale and female headsmade effortto adapt

The study revealed that 63 of the respondents hadformal educational level below senior high school while only

11 were educated up to the senior high school and onlyone percent had tertiary education Also 25 had no formaleducation as is evident A low level of educationwas generallyobserved among farmers and this could affect their ability todiversify into livelihoods in the service and commerce sectorsas was found by Wamsler et al (2012) in El Salvador andBrazil Majority of the farmers (90) had household size of1ndash10 members implying there were many mouths to feed andwith climate change posing a major threat to agriculture as aprimary occupation securing sustainable alternative sourceof income was not optional Apata (2011) likewise found inNigeria that a larger family size increased the need to diversifyincome sources

32 Disposition of Farmers to Consider Changing Occupationfrom Farming In analyzing farmersrsquo disposition to increas-ingly engage in alternative livelihoods it was found that ageof the farmers size of household and security of householdfood supply were significant in the likelihood of predictingthe outcome of response variable These were significant at119901 lt 030 119901 lt 019 and 119901 lt 012 respectively At a 95confidence interval (CI) these variables had lower to upperCIs for each of the EXP(119861) respectively at CI = 1134ndash12524CI = 1359ndash30224 and CI = 1781ndash104561 respectivelyFurthermore six out of the eight independent variableshad (EXP)119861 gt 1 of likelihood to predict the outcomeof the dependent variable of engaging in other alternativelivelihood activities when those independent variables wereused on the response variable at119861(EXP) = 1054ndash13644 times(Table 1) This implies the possibility of farmers engagingin livelihood activities besides farming can be predicted bythe independent variables at thirteen odd likelihoods thusthirteen times likely to happen

Now we substitute the variables in119901= [ 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 490681 + 119890 1327119860119892 + 1858119878119911 + 2613119867fs minus 49068]

(1)

The 119861(EXP) values expressed in the equation indicatethat the odd likelihood of prediction is more than thirteentimes the likelihood for the farmers to continuously engage inalternative livelihood activities besides farming if their cropoutput remained as it is currently due to climate variabilityand change

33 Smallholder Farmersrsquo Alternative Livelihood ActivitiesAlternative livelihood activities by smallholder farmers in theBosomtwe District are varied as can be seen in Figure 2These are basically aimed at diversifying the income sourcesof smallholder farmers hence making them less vulnerableto the impact of climate variability

The choice to engage in an alternative livelihood activityfor most of the smallholder farmers in the Bosomtwe Districtis influenced by current crop yield trends as more than half(61) of respondents have resorted to alternative livelihoodactivities due to crop failure and low yield The next highestfigure of 24 also engaged in these livelihood activities

6 Scientifica

Table 1 Logistic regression table of variables in the equation

Predictive variables 119861 SE Wald df Sig Exp(119861) 950 CI for EXP(119861)Lower Upper

Age of respondent (119860119892) 1327 613 4685 1 030 3768 1134 12524Type of household 17435 15041198644 000 1 999 37331198647 000 mdashMarital status of respondent 708 456 2413 1 120 2030 831 4958Size of household (119878119911) 1858 791 5510 1 019 6408 1359 30224Location of community minus1783 998 3191 1 074 168 024 1189Increased expenditure on agricultural inputs 053 1070 002 1 961 1054 129 8582Reduced income from agriculture 623 1037 361 1 548 1865 244 14243Insecure household food supply (119867fs) 2613 1039 6326 1 012 13644 1781 104561Constant minus49068 30091198644 000 1 999 000Note Significant at 120572005

0

()

5

10

15

20

25

30

Live

stock

rear

ing

Chai

nsaw

ope

ratio

nCa

rpen

try

Dre

ssm

akin

gCh

arco

al p

rodu

ctio

nTr

adin

gFo

od v

endi

ngSa

le o

f fire

woo

dFi

shin

gH

air d

ress

ing

Driv

ing

Mas

onry

Palm

win

e tap

ping

Slid

ing

door

sN

ot ap

plic

able

3 4 5 5

11

28

6

2

9

14 5

2 2

15

Figure 2 Alternative income generating activities

without any climate related reason while 15 of respondentsdo not engage in any livelihood activity These are farmerswho depend solely on agriculture as a livelihood and relyon remittances and other forms of social support Thedistrict coordinator forWomen in Agricultural Development(WiAD)which serves to help farmers particularly women toengage in alternative income generating activities explainedthat off-farm income generating activities in the district haveincreased in the last fifteen years and have been skewedtowards trading logging and small-scale mining The latterhowever did not come up at all This could be due to thefact that those who engaged in these activities may not haveacquired the legal rights to undertake such activities andhence do not feel safe giving out such information Howeverinteractions with the key informant revealed that it is one ofthemajor alternative engagements that has emerged in recentyears She adds that ldquoin view of weather changes farmers haveincreasingly engaged in other livelihood activities particu-larly petty trading processing and sale of gari (a popular localfood made from cassava) and soap makingrdquo

Simbarashe [30] points out that farming in Bikita inZimbabwe has been adversely affected by climate variabilityresulting in failure of crops and low crop yields Farmers havethereby diversified into alternative livelihood activities suchas firewood trade and brick moulding Smallholder farmersin the BosomtweDistrict point out being limited in resourcesto engage in these activities One would expect trading to beprevalent in communities located in proximity to the lake dueto its tourist attraction In contrast the seasonal patronageor use has not sustained economic activities in this regardAlso fast growing periurban settlements in communitiesfarther away provides a sustained market for petty trading incommunities farther away

The study revealed that most smallholder farmers in thedistrict are into petty trading representing 28 of respon-dentsThis as observed in the communities ranged from thesale of cooked food foodstuff small household appliancesand their accessories and clothes among many others ontable tops and stores while others carried these from onecommunity to another on head pans Its predominance wasbecause it requires relatively less capital to commence aswas also asserted by Mitullah [31] Also 15 of respondentsdid not engage in any alternative livelihood activity Theyrelied on remittances from family members in urban centresand social support systems The next highest alternativelivelihood activity is charcoal production accounting for11 of alternative activities Abundance of trees suitable forcharcoal production was found to be the prime drivingforce for the practice Farmers may be considering makingthe most of the current situation while seeking to secureother sources of income as the sale of foodstuff can earn afarmer enough capital to engage in petit trading This alsoexplains why charcoal production is prevalent since there isan abundance of trees in forests and secondary growth inthe district In tandem with this charcoal production in thenorthern region was graded as the second major occupationto agriculture and also placed second with respect to incomegeneration [32] Agyeman and Lurumuah [33] also confirmcommercial charcoal production to be a major source oflivelihood in the northern parts of Ghana

Charcoal production as the second highest alternativelivelihood activity is a maladaptive practice which serves to

Scientifica 7

11

12

1610

8

8

912 15

Number of years of involvement in alternative income activities

1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-8 years9-10 years

11-12 years13-14 yearsAbove 14 yearsNot applicable

Figure 3 Number of years of involvement in alternative incomeactivity

amplify climate variability Local climatic conditions can beexacerbated through the release of carbon sequestered intrees into the atmosphere The 15 of respondents who didnot engage in any alternative livelihood activity correspondsto findings by Shewmake [34] who analyzed the vulnerabilityand impact of climate change in SouthAfricarsquos LimpopoRiverBasin In his study he observed that majority of householdsdid nothing in times of droughts Smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District rather resorted to short term copingstrategies as borrowing food andmoney fromneighbours andrelatives migrating and changing eating patterns to get bythe situation

34 Length of Years of Engagement in These Activities Thenumber of years in which smallholder farmers have engagedin these alternative livelihood activities was categorize intoeight groups as follows The percentage of smallholder farm-ers who have been involved in alternative livelihood activitiesat least within the last 15 years in the BosomtweDistrict as thesum of the years ranges from 1 to 14 years is 73 (Figure 3)

Probing further to ascertain whether the shift from agri-culture to other livelihood activities is likely to persist amongsmallholder farmers they were asked if they were still consid-ering other sources of livelihood and the place of agricultureif such livelihood avenues open up Ninety-three percent(93) of respondent were still considering other sourcesof livelihood activities other than that which they alreadypractice alongside agriculture while only seven percent werecontent with their current economic activitiesmdashagricultureandor current alternative livelihood activity Of those stillconsidering alternative livelihood activities 60 said theywould keep agriculture as their primary occupation and 33intended to rather keep agriculture as a secondary occupationif only the alternative livelihood activity has more prospectsthan agriculture For the remaining seven percent this wasnot applicable Barrett et al [35] espouse that as output

from farms decline farm household in order to reduce riskand vulnerability naturally diversifies into off-farm activitiesThe main reason for diversification in Nigeria as observedby Abimbola and Oluwakemi [36] was limited agriculturalincome

The role of these alternative livelihood activities is evenmore crucial in the district as the level of remittances is verylow among smallholder farmers Only 23 of respondentsreceive remittances and 77 do not Most of those whoreceive remittances only received it on average twice ina year This contextualizes the relevance of these alterna-tive livelihood activities among smallholder farmers in theBosomtweDistrict as being a very critical adaptation strategyThis is also indicative of the fact that given an exposureto a stimulus such as climate change that makes a sourceof livelihood vulnerable smallholder farmers naturally seeksecurity in other livelihood activities that are not directlyaffected by such a stimulus This could be due to the factthat their current exposure to the eminent threat makes themrepulsive to anything that has direct dependence on it Hencesmallholder farmers generally looked in the direction of othersources of livelihood other than that which is directly affectedby climate This concurs with the findings of Roncoli et al[14] who observed in their study of farmers in Central Plateauin Burkina Faso that nonfarm activities were becomingimportant and already formed the main source of income forhouseholds

35 Effects of Climate Variability on Agricultural LivelihoodA cross tabulation of farmersrsquo perceived rainfall trend in thelast 15 years and considerations of practicing agriculture asa primary or secondary occupation revealed the possibilityof farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities astheir main economic activity due to the predictability ofrainfall pattern or otherwise if better livelihood opportunitiesemerge (Table 2) Farmersrsquo perceptions of rainfall trendsin recent times was in agreement with meteorological datawhich revealed that there had been shifts in the onset ofrains considerable variations in the peak rainfall monthsin the major and minor season and abnormalities in thetraditional bimodal rainfall regime demonstrating unimodalrainfall regimes in some years

Only 9 of respondents who intend to keep agricultureas their primary livelihood activity said the rainfall patternhas been consistent and predictable while 91 said it has beeninconsistent and unpredictableThis conforms to the findingsby Ontoyin and Agyemang [37] whose study in northernGhana indicates that smallholder farmers are increasinglyresorting to alternative livelihoods Those intending to keepagriculture as a primary livelihood activity gave reasonsas having comfort in their native communities and lackof finances to venture into the seemingly capital intensivealternative livelihood activities

Of those who intend to switch to alternative livelihoodactivity as their primary livelihood activity only six per-cent perceived the rainfall pattern to be consistent andpredictable while 94 perceived it to be inconsistent andunpredictable This indicates that livelihood activities amidstclimate variability are threatened especially those that are

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

6 Scientifica

Table 1 Logistic regression table of variables in the equation

Predictive variables 119861 SE Wald df Sig Exp(119861) 950 CI for EXP(119861)Lower Upper

Age of respondent (119860119892) 1327 613 4685 1 030 3768 1134 12524Type of household 17435 15041198644 000 1 999 37331198647 000 mdashMarital status of respondent 708 456 2413 1 120 2030 831 4958Size of household (119878119911) 1858 791 5510 1 019 6408 1359 30224Location of community minus1783 998 3191 1 074 168 024 1189Increased expenditure on agricultural inputs 053 1070 002 1 961 1054 129 8582Reduced income from agriculture 623 1037 361 1 548 1865 244 14243Insecure household food supply (119867fs) 2613 1039 6326 1 012 13644 1781 104561Constant minus49068 30091198644 000 1 999 000Note Significant at 120572005

0

()

5

10

15

20

25

30

Live

stock

rear

ing

Chai

nsaw

ope

ratio

nCa

rpen

try

Dre

ssm

akin

gCh

arco

al p

rodu

ctio

nTr

adin

gFo

od v

endi

ngSa

le o

f fire

woo

dFi

shin

gH

air d

ress

ing

Driv

ing

Mas

onry

Palm

win

e tap

ping

Slid

ing

door

sN

ot ap

plic

able

3 4 5 5

11

28

6

2

9

14 5

2 2

15

Figure 2 Alternative income generating activities

without any climate related reason while 15 of respondentsdo not engage in any livelihood activity These are farmerswho depend solely on agriculture as a livelihood and relyon remittances and other forms of social support Thedistrict coordinator forWomen in Agricultural Development(WiAD)which serves to help farmers particularly women toengage in alternative income generating activities explainedthat off-farm income generating activities in the district haveincreased in the last fifteen years and have been skewedtowards trading logging and small-scale mining The latterhowever did not come up at all This could be due to thefact that those who engaged in these activities may not haveacquired the legal rights to undertake such activities andhence do not feel safe giving out such information Howeverinteractions with the key informant revealed that it is one ofthemajor alternative engagements that has emerged in recentyears She adds that ldquoin view of weather changes farmers haveincreasingly engaged in other livelihood activities particu-larly petty trading processing and sale of gari (a popular localfood made from cassava) and soap makingrdquo

Simbarashe [30] points out that farming in Bikita inZimbabwe has been adversely affected by climate variabilityresulting in failure of crops and low crop yields Farmers havethereby diversified into alternative livelihood activities suchas firewood trade and brick moulding Smallholder farmersin the BosomtweDistrict point out being limited in resourcesto engage in these activities One would expect trading to beprevalent in communities located in proximity to the lake dueto its tourist attraction In contrast the seasonal patronageor use has not sustained economic activities in this regardAlso fast growing periurban settlements in communitiesfarther away provides a sustained market for petty trading incommunities farther away

The study revealed that most smallholder farmers in thedistrict are into petty trading representing 28 of respon-dentsThis as observed in the communities ranged from thesale of cooked food foodstuff small household appliancesand their accessories and clothes among many others ontable tops and stores while others carried these from onecommunity to another on head pans Its predominance wasbecause it requires relatively less capital to commence aswas also asserted by Mitullah [31] Also 15 of respondentsdid not engage in any alternative livelihood activity Theyrelied on remittances from family members in urban centresand social support systems The next highest alternativelivelihood activity is charcoal production accounting for11 of alternative activities Abundance of trees suitable forcharcoal production was found to be the prime drivingforce for the practice Farmers may be considering makingthe most of the current situation while seeking to secureother sources of income as the sale of foodstuff can earn afarmer enough capital to engage in petit trading This alsoexplains why charcoal production is prevalent since there isan abundance of trees in forests and secondary growth inthe district In tandem with this charcoal production in thenorthern region was graded as the second major occupationto agriculture and also placed second with respect to incomegeneration [32] Agyeman and Lurumuah [33] also confirmcommercial charcoal production to be a major source oflivelihood in the northern parts of Ghana

Charcoal production as the second highest alternativelivelihood activity is a maladaptive practice which serves to

Scientifica 7

11

12

1610

8

8

912 15

Number of years of involvement in alternative income activities

1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-8 years9-10 years

11-12 years13-14 yearsAbove 14 yearsNot applicable

Figure 3 Number of years of involvement in alternative incomeactivity

amplify climate variability Local climatic conditions can beexacerbated through the release of carbon sequestered intrees into the atmosphere The 15 of respondents who didnot engage in any alternative livelihood activity correspondsto findings by Shewmake [34] who analyzed the vulnerabilityand impact of climate change in SouthAfricarsquos LimpopoRiverBasin In his study he observed that majority of householdsdid nothing in times of droughts Smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District rather resorted to short term copingstrategies as borrowing food andmoney fromneighbours andrelatives migrating and changing eating patterns to get bythe situation

34 Length of Years of Engagement in These Activities Thenumber of years in which smallholder farmers have engagedin these alternative livelihood activities was categorize intoeight groups as follows The percentage of smallholder farm-ers who have been involved in alternative livelihood activitiesat least within the last 15 years in the BosomtweDistrict as thesum of the years ranges from 1 to 14 years is 73 (Figure 3)

Probing further to ascertain whether the shift from agri-culture to other livelihood activities is likely to persist amongsmallholder farmers they were asked if they were still consid-ering other sources of livelihood and the place of agricultureif such livelihood avenues open up Ninety-three percent(93) of respondent were still considering other sourcesof livelihood activities other than that which they alreadypractice alongside agriculture while only seven percent werecontent with their current economic activitiesmdashagricultureandor current alternative livelihood activity Of those stillconsidering alternative livelihood activities 60 said theywould keep agriculture as their primary occupation and 33intended to rather keep agriculture as a secondary occupationif only the alternative livelihood activity has more prospectsthan agriculture For the remaining seven percent this wasnot applicable Barrett et al [35] espouse that as output

from farms decline farm household in order to reduce riskand vulnerability naturally diversifies into off-farm activitiesThe main reason for diversification in Nigeria as observedby Abimbola and Oluwakemi [36] was limited agriculturalincome

The role of these alternative livelihood activities is evenmore crucial in the district as the level of remittances is verylow among smallholder farmers Only 23 of respondentsreceive remittances and 77 do not Most of those whoreceive remittances only received it on average twice ina year This contextualizes the relevance of these alterna-tive livelihood activities among smallholder farmers in theBosomtweDistrict as being a very critical adaptation strategyThis is also indicative of the fact that given an exposureto a stimulus such as climate change that makes a sourceof livelihood vulnerable smallholder farmers naturally seeksecurity in other livelihood activities that are not directlyaffected by such a stimulus This could be due to the factthat their current exposure to the eminent threat makes themrepulsive to anything that has direct dependence on it Hencesmallholder farmers generally looked in the direction of othersources of livelihood other than that which is directly affectedby climate This concurs with the findings of Roncoli et al[14] who observed in their study of farmers in Central Plateauin Burkina Faso that nonfarm activities were becomingimportant and already formed the main source of income forhouseholds

35 Effects of Climate Variability on Agricultural LivelihoodA cross tabulation of farmersrsquo perceived rainfall trend in thelast 15 years and considerations of practicing agriculture asa primary or secondary occupation revealed the possibilityof farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities astheir main economic activity due to the predictability ofrainfall pattern or otherwise if better livelihood opportunitiesemerge (Table 2) Farmersrsquo perceptions of rainfall trendsin recent times was in agreement with meteorological datawhich revealed that there had been shifts in the onset ofrains considerable variations in the peak rainfall monthsin the major and minor season and abnormalities in thetraditional bimodal rainfall regime demonstrating unimodalrainfall regimes in some years

Only 9 of respondents who intend to keep agricultureas their primary livelihood activity said the rainfall patternhas been consistent and predictable while 91 said it has beeninconsistent and unpredictableThis conforms to the findingsby Ontoyin and Agyemang [37] whose study in northernGhana indicates that smallholder farmers are increasinglyresorting to alternative livelihoods Those intending to keepagriculture as a primary livelihood activity gave reasonsas having comfort in their native communities and lackof finances to venture into the seemingly capital intensivealternative livelihood activities

Of those who intend to switch to alternative livelihoodactivity as their primary livelihood activity only six per-cent perceived the rainfall pattern to be consistent andpredictable while 94 perceived it to be inconsistent andunpredictable This indicates that livelihood activities amidstclimate variability are threatened especially those that are

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

Scientifica 7

11

12

1610

8

8

912 15

Number of years of involvement in alternative income activities

1-2 years3-4 years5-6 years7-8 years9-10 years

11-12 years13-14 yearsAbove 14 yearsNot applicable

Figure 3 Number of years of involvement in alternative incomeactivity

amplify climate variability Local climatic conditions can beexacerbated through the release of carbon sequestered intrees into the atmosphere The 15 of respondents who didnot engage in any alternative livelihood activity correspondsto findings by Shewmake [34] who analyzed the vulnerabilityand impact of climate change in SouthAfricarsquos LimpopoRiverBasin In his study he observed that majority of householdsdid nothing in times of droughts Smallholder farmers inthe Bosomtwe District rather resorted to short term copingstrategies as borrowing food andmoney fromneighbours andrelatives migrating and changing eating patterns to get bythe situation

34 Length of Years of Engagement in These Activities Thenumber of years in which smallholder farmers have engagedin these alternative livelihood activities was categorize intoeight groups as follows The percentage of smallholder farm-ers who have been involved in alternative livelihood activitiesat least within the last 15 years in the BosomtweDistrict as thesum of the years ranges from 1 to 14 years is 73 (Figure 3)

Probing further to ascertain whether the shift from agri-culture to other livelihood activities is likely to persist amongsmallholder farmers they were asked if they were still consid-ering other sources of livelihood and the place of agricultureif such livelihood avenues open up Ninety-three percent(93) of respondent were still considering other sourcesof livelihood activities other than that which they alreadypractice alongside agriculture while only seven percent werecontent with their current economic activitiesmdashagricultureandor current alternative livelihood activity Of those stillconsidering alternative livelihood activities 60 said theywould keep agriculture as their primary occupation and 33intended to rather keep agriculture as a secondary occupationif only the alternative livelihood activity has more prospectsthan agriculture For the remaining seven percent this wasnot applicable Barrett et al [35] espouse that as output

from farms decline farm household in order to reduce riskand vulnerability naturally diversifies into off-farm activitiesThe main reason for diversification in Nigeria as observedby Abimbola and Oluwakemi [36] was limited agriculturalincome

The role of these alternative livelihood activities is evenmore crucial in the district as the level of remittances is verylow among smallholder farmers Only 23 of respondentsreceive remittances and 77 do not Most of those whoreceive remittances only received it on average twice ina year This contextualizes the relevance of these alterna-tive livelihood activities among smallholder farmers in theBosomtweDistrict as being a very critical adaptation strategyThis is also indicative of the fact that given an exposureto a stimulus such as climate change that makes a sourceof livelihood vulnerable smallholder farmers naturally seeksecurity in other livelihood activities that are not directlyaffected by such a stimulus This could be due to the factthat their current exposure to the eminent threat makes themrepulsive to anything that has direct dependence on it Hencesmallholder farmers generally looked in the direction of othersources of livelihood other than that which is directly affectedby climate This concurs with the findings of Roncoli et al[14] who observed in their study of farmers in Central Plateauin Burkina Faso that nonfarm activities were becomingimportant and already formed the main source of income forhouseholds

35 Effects of Climate Variability on Agricultural LivelihoodA cross tabulation of farmersrsquo perceived rainfall trend in thelast 15 years and considerations of practicing agriculture asa primary or secondary occupation revealed the possibilityof farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities astheir main economic activity due to the predictability ofrainfall pattern or otherwise if better livelihood opportunitiesemerge (Table 2) Farmersrsquo perceptions of rainfall trendsin recent times was in agreement with meteorological datawhich revealed that there had been shifts in the onset ofrains considerable variations in the peak rainfall monthsin the major and minor season and abnormalities in thetraditional bimodal rainfall regime demonstrating unimodalrainfall regimes in some years

Only 9 of respondents who intend to keep agricultureas their primary livelihood activity said the rainfall patternhas been consistent and predictable while 91 said it has beeninconsistent and unpredictableThis conforms to the findingsby Ontoyin and Agyemang [37] whose study in northernGhana indicates that smallholder farmers are increasinglyresorting to alternative livelihoods Those intending to keepagriculture as a primary livelihood activity gave reasonsas having comfort in their native communities and lackof finances to venture into the seemingly capital intensivealternative livelihood activities

Of those who intend to switch to alternative livelihoodactivity as their primary livelihood activity only six per-cent perceived the rainfall pattern to be consistent andpredictable while 94 perceived it to be inconsistent andunpredictable This indicates that livelihood activities amidstclimate variability are threatened especially those that are

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

8 Scientifica

Table 2 Cross tabulation showing farmers switching to alternative livelihood activities as their main economic activity based on theconsistency and predictability of rainfall

Perceived rainfall pattern in the last 15 yrs TotalConsistent and predictable Inconsistent and not predictable

Consideration of agricultureas primary or secondaryactivity with respect to altlivelihood activity

Primary occupation 8 (9) 83 (91) 91 (100)Secondary occupation 3 (6) 47 (94) 50 (100)

Not applicable 2 (19) 9 (82) 11 (100)Total 13 (100) 139 (100) 152 (100)

climatic dependent like smallholder farming This gradualtrend is stimulated by the fact that annual and seasonalweather patterns have increasingly become very unpre-dictable Hence income from agriculture has equally becomeunstable Engaging in an alternative livelihood activity istherefore a critical adaption measure which in the shortto medium term helps cushion smallholder farmers fromthe economic implication of the vagaries of the climateThis is because rural nonfarm activities provide alternativeeconomic livelihoods for the rural poor who have limitedassets [38]

A cross tabulation of the location of communities (eitherlocated near Lake Bosomtwe or located farther away) andalternative activities revealed that some alternative livelihoodactivities are dominant either in communities close to the lakeor farther away while others are evenly spread in the districtTrading which was the most prevalent alternative livelihoodactivity is more common in communities farther away (16)rather than those near the lake (12)This trend could be dueto the fact that communities close to the lake tend to havefishing as a dominant alternative livelihood activity whichis absent in communities farther away Engaging in tradingdoes not require any special training or skill and requires lesscapital [31] hence its high level among smallholder farmersin the district

However communities close to the lake found fishingto be a more attractive alternative livelihood activity This isdue to the generally high demand for fish in households inthe district and beyond and also the ease of access to thelake due to their proximate locations Hence fishing seemedless burdensome and more attractive compared with tradingThe decline in their engagement in trading is buffered byfishing activities Fishing and sale of firewood as alternativelivelihood activities recorded higher response in communi-ties near the lake (two percent for fishing and nine percentfor fishing) as compared to those farther away (recordedas zero for these livelihood activities) Sale of fire wood ishigh because it serves to provide fuel wood for food vendingactivities which also recorded 46 in communities close tothe lake compared with one percent in communities fartheraway from the lake Carpentry and livestock rearing werewidespread among the communities which are farther away(three percent each) rather than in those closer to the LakeBosomtwe (zero percent) That of carpentry corresponded tochainsaw activity as a livelihood activity which is equally highin communities farther away from than those near (chainsawthree percent and two percent for communities farther awayfrom and those near) Lake Bosomtwe respectively This

among other factors can be attributed to the topography ofthe landforest around the lakewhich is undulating and hencedifficult to access compared to that of those farther away witha gentler gradient This seems to have fueled carpentry asan alternative livelihood activity in the communities fartheraway from the lake due to easy access to timberwood Theother alternative livelihood activities were evenly distributedin the district regardless of whether the communities wereclose to the lake or farther away

These alternative livelihood activities are usually doneconcurrently with agricultural activities and only intensifiedin the minor rainy season (September-October) and dryseason and when crops do not do well in the major seasonSimilarly Roncoli et al [14] examining farmersrsquo responseto drought conditions in Burkina Faso found that off-farmalternative livelihood activities were predominant in the dryseason when agriculture produce is being sold and hencepeople have more money and time on their hand

4 Conclusion and Recommendation

The study sought to explore the alternative livelihoods ofsmallholder farmers in the face of climate variability andclimate change in the Bosomtwe District in Ghana It hasespoused the nexus between climate change and smallholderfarmersrsquo livelihood activities as adaptation strategies in theBosomtwe District which are varied and complementaryAlso smallholder farmerrsquos involvement in alternative liveli-hood income activities has been high within the last 15years with the prime objective of securing household incomesupply The study also found that farmers generally engagedin activities that are interdependent These were based onthe various opportunities and resources available to themcreating a form of specialized microeconomic livelihoodsystem Resource availability and use and the extent to whichgovernment policies and interventions actually reach thegrassroots vary resulting in varied local response to stimulussuch as climate changeThis implies that anything that affectsone livelihood will have reverberations on another This alsoimplies that policies at advancing key livelihoods wouldgo a long way to improve others within the district It istherefore recommended that the BosomtweDistrict assemblyshould expand its collaboration with NGOs and other privateentities to provide training skill development and capital tostrengthen local alternative livelihood activities and createopportunities to expand the livelihood options availableCharcoal production and illegal chainsaw operations arealso prominent and have been sustained by the abundance

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

Scientifica 9

of trees species for the practices This is a maladaptivepractice that amplifies global climate change by releasingcarbon dioxide sequestered by trees into the atmosphereHence the government through the Forestry Commissionsmust initiate and implement policies that regulate accessto and utilization of timber and nontimber forest resourcessustainably

Additional Points

Limitations of the Study Although the objectives of thestudy were achieved there were inevitable limitations Theresearch was required as part of an academic exercise to bedone within a specified time frame This required that thestudy be narrowed down to specific areas in order to befeasible within the stipulated time frame This coupled withthe financial challenge underpinned the need to restrict thestudy to smallholder farmers in 12 out of 64 communitiesMoreover components of vulnerability of the farmers couldhave been included to aid a more comprehensive evaluationof agriculture vis-a-vis the various alternative livelihoodactivities The few years of research and academic activityhave also handicapped the scope and depth of discussion onthe various thematic areas considered

Ethical Approval

Thestudy had smallholder farmers at its focal point andhenceit was necessary to effectively undertake this study withoutinfringing upon their rights It was therefore necessary toconsider the ethical implications of this work in tandem withthe rights of the respondents in order not to overlook ortake their rights for granted Hence the researcher SampsonYamba showed his student identification card to respondentsto prove his identity as a student conducting this study foran academic purpose only Also an introductory letter fromthe researcherrsquos department (Department of Geography andRural Development) was taken to introduce him and state hispurpose to key institutions that were involved in the studyand to request their cooperation in the study The researcheralso assured the respondents of the anonymity and confi-dentiality of their personalities and the data collected fromthem Respondentsrsquo consent was sought before recordingresponses during interviews and the recordings were playedto the interviewees at the end of the interview Appointmentsfor interviews were booked with interviewees based on theirconvenience

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interestregarding this manuscript

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from theWest African Science Service Centre for Adapted Land Use(WASCAL) for this researchThey also thank theDepartmentof Geography and Rural Development for their provision of

office space and logistics They thank Miss Lois Antwi-Boadifor her careful proofreading of this manuscript

References

[1] M Chambwera and J Stage ldquoClimate change adaptationin developing countries issues and perspectives for eco-nomic analysisrdquo in International Institute for Environment andDevelopment- IIED 2010 httppubsiiedorgpdfs15517IIEDpdf

[2] C Aid ldquoIntegrating Adaptation to Climate Change into SecureLivelihoods An adaptation toolkitrdquo 2014 httpsunfcccintfilesadaptationapplicationpdfchristianaid ap update sep09 toolkit 7 sppdf

[3] R Selvaraju A R Subbiah S Baas and I Juergens LivelihoodAdaptation to Climate Variability and Change in Drought-Prone Areas of Bangladesh Developing Institutions and OptionsAsian Disaster Preparedness Center- (ADPC) and Food andAgriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) RomeItaly 2006

[4] Department for International Developmet ldquoSustainable liveli-hoods guidance sheetsrdquo Sustainable livelihoods guidancesheets London UK 2001 httpwwwgloppchB7enmulti-mediaB7 1 pdf2pdf

[5] Practical Action Integrating approaches Practice Briefing -Integrating Approaches Sustainable Livelihoods Disaster RiskReduction and Climate Change Adaptation 2009 httpwwweldisorgvfileupload1document1005ESRCBriefingPaper1pdf

[6] SMorse andNMcNamara ldquoThe theory behind the sustainablelivelihood approachrdquo in Sustainable livelihood approach ACritique of Theory and Practice S Morse and N McNamaraEds Springer New York NY USA 2013

[7] B O Elasha N G Elhassan H Ahmed and Z Sumaya ldquoSus-tainable livelihood approach for assessing community resilienceto climate change case studies from Sudanrdquo AIACC WorkingPaper vol 17 no 17 pp 1ndash26 2005

[8] A N Colls and N Ikkala Ecosystem-Based Adaptation ANatural Response to Climate Change IUCNGland Switzerland2009

[9] M A Basar Climate Change loss of livelihood and the absenceof sustainable livelihood approach a case study of ShymnagerBangladesh Master in Asian Studies 2009 Lund httpluplubluseluurdownloadfunc=downloadFileandrecordOId=1670257andfileOId=1670258

[10] A Iglesias S Quiroga A Diz and L Garrote ldquoAdaptingagriculture to climate changerdquo Economia Agraria y RecursosNaturales vol 11 no 2 pp 109ndash122 2011

[11] R Y Kangalawe and J G Lyimo ldquoClimate change adaptivestrategies and rural livelihoods in Semiarid Tanzaniardquo NaturalResources vol 4 no 3 pp 266ndash278 2013

[12] S Amisah A B Gyampoh P Sarfo-Mensah and K K Qua-grainie ldquoLivelihood trends in response to climate change inforest fringe communities of the offin Basin in Ghanardquo Journalof Applied Sciences and Environmental Management vol 13 no2 pp 5ndash15 2009

[13] M A Akudugu and A Alhassan Abdul-Razak ldquoThe climatechange menace food security livelihoods and social safety inNorthern Ghanardquo International Journal of Sustainable Develop-ment and World Policy vol 1 no 3 pp 80ndash95 2012

[14] C Roncoli K Ingram and P Kirshen ldquoThe costs and risks ofcoping with drought livelihood impacts and farmersrsquo responses

10 Scientifica

in Burkina Fasordquo Climate Research vol 19 no 2 pp 119ndash1322001

[15] J A Stanturf M L Warren J S Charnley et al Ghana Cli-mate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment USAIDWashington Wash USA 2011

[16] J A Yaro ldquoBuilding resilience and reducing vulnerabilityto climate change implications for food security in GhanardquoFriedrich Ebert Stiftung 14 2013 httpwwwfesghanaorgup-loadsPDFFES ResilienceVulnerability CC Ghana 2013 FI-NALpdf

[17] A R N Armah R M Al-Hassan J K M Kuwornu and YOsei-Wusu ldquoAssessing the adaptation mechanisms of small-holder farmers to climate change and agrobiodiversity lossesin northern Ghanardquo British Journal of Applied Science ampTechnology vol 3 no 4 pp 1162ndash1176 2012

[18] M Nassef S Anderson and C Hesse ldquoPastoralism and climatechange enabling adaptive capacityrdquo in Regional Pastoral Liveli-hoods Advocacy Project p 23r Nairobi and ODI London UK2009 httpwwwiiedorgpubspdfsG02497pdf

[19] A B Demeke andM Zeller ldquoWeather Risk andHousehold Par-ticipation in Off-farm Activities in Rural Ethiopiardquo QuarterlyJournal of International Agriculture vol 51 no 1 pp 1ndash20 2012

[20] S Eshetu B Belete D Goshu et al Income diversificationthrough improved irrigation in Ethiopia impacts constraints andprospects for poverty reduction Evidence from East HarergheZone Oromia Region Ethiopia RiPPLE Addis Ababa Ethiopia2010

[21] B A Gyampoh W A Asante D J La Rose G Adu-Acheampong T Assimeng and A G Opoku ldquoMappingand documenting indigenous knowledge in climate changeadaptation in Ghanardquo Recovery Program Support to NorthernGhana-UNDPNADMO and African Adaptation Program ndashUNDPEnvironmental Protection Agency 2011 httpswwwundp-aaporgsitesundp-aaporgfilesGhana Mapping20and20Documenting20Indegenous20Knowledge20in20CCA20in20Ghana 2011pdf

[22] C Perez E M Jones P Kristjanson et al ldquoHow resilientare farming households communities men and women to achanging climate in Africardquo CCAFS Working Paper no 80CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change Agriculture andFood Security (CCAFS) Copenhagen Denmark 2014

[23] United States Agriculture Department ldquoFarm Family In-comerdquo 2015 httpwwwusdagovdocumentsFARM FAMILYINCOMEpdf

[24] M Nasreen K M Hossain and A K Azad ldquoClimate changeand Livelihood in Bangladesh experiences of people livingin coastal regionsrdquo 2015 httpwwwbuildresilienceorg2013proceedingsfilespapers454pdf

[25] CCAFS CARE ENDA Community-based adaptation anapproach to build resilience and sustainable development inWest Africa Cotonou Communique CGIAR Research Programon Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS)Copenhagen Denmark 2013

[26] V T Mutekwa ldquoClimate change impacts and adaptation inthe agricultural sector the case of smallholder farmers inZimbabwerdquo Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa vol11 no 2 pp 237ndash256 2009

[27] Ghana Statistical Service Population and Housing CensusSummary Report of Final Results Ghana Statistical ServiceAccra Ghana Summary report of final results 2010 httpwwwstatsghanagovghdocfiles2010phcCensus2010 Sum-mary report of final resultspdf

[28] D O Appiah J T Bugri E K Forkuor and P K BoatengldquoDeterminants of peri-urbanization and land use change pat-terns in Peri-UrbanGhanardquo Journal of SustainableDevelopmentvol 7 no 6 pp 95ndash109 2014

[29] S Prakash P Wieringa B Ros et al ldquoSocio-economics offorest use in the Tropics and Subtropics potential of ecotourismdevelopment in the Lake Bosumtwi Basin A case study ofAnkaase in the Amansie East District Ghana Albert-Ludwigs-UniversitΣt Freiburgrdquo SEFUT Working Paper vol 15 no 152005

[30] G Simbarashe ldquoClimate change variability and sustainableagriculture in Zimbabwersquos rural communitiesrdquo Russian Journalof Agricultural and Socio-Economic Sciences vol 14 no 2 pp89ndash100 2013

[31] V W Mitullah Street Vending In African Cities A Synthesisof Empirical Findings from Kenya Cote DrsquoIvoire Ghana Zim-babwe Uganda and South Africa Background Paper for the2005 World Development Report 2003

[32] B T Anang and M A Akuriba ldquoCharcoal production inGushegu District Northern Region Ghana Lessons for sus-tainable forest managementrdquo International Journal of Environ-mental Sciences vol 1 no 7 pp 1944ndash1953 2011

[33] K O Agyeman and S Lurumuah ldquoCommercial charcoalproduction and sustainable community development of theupper west region Ghanardquo Journal of Sustainable Developmentvol 5 no 4 pp 149ndash164 2012

[34] S Shewmake ldquoVulnerability and the impact of climate changein South Africarsquos Limpopo River Basinrdquo Tech Rep IFPRIDiscussion Paper No 804 International Food Policy ResearchInstitute Washington Wash USA 2005

[35] C B Barrett T Reardon and P Webb ldquoNonfarm incomediversification and household livelihood strategies in ruralAfrica Concepts dynamics and policy implicationsrdquo FoodPolicy vol 26 no 4 pp 315ndash331 2001

[36] A O Abimbola and O A Oluwakemi ldquoLivelihood diversifica-tion and welfare of rural households in Ondo State NigeriardquoJournal of Development and Agricultural Economics vol 5 no12 pp 482ndash489 2013

[37] J Ontoyin and I Agyemang ldquoEnvironmental and rural liveli-hoods implications of small-scale gold mining in Talensi-Nabdam Districts in Northern Ghanardquo Journal of Geographyand Regional Planning vol 7 no 8 pp 150ndash159 2014

[38] D F Bryceson ldquoThe scramble in Africa reorienting rurallivelihoodsrdquo World Development vol 30 no 5 pp 725ndash7392002

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Advances in

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International Journal of

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EarthquakesJournal of

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ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

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Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014

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