Strengthening climate adaptation in the northern region of Ghana: insights from a stakeholder analysis

• Published in: Climate policy 2022-11, Vol.22 (9-10), p.1169-1185
• Main Authors: Yeleliere, Enoch, Nyamekye, Andy Bonaventure, Antwi-Agyei, Philip, Boamah, Emmanuel Frimpong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; Agricultural conservation; Agriculture; Brainstorms; Climate; Climate action; Climate adaptation; Climate change; Climate change adaptation; Climate policy; Climatic analysis; Collaboration; Conservation; conservation agriculture; Coordination; Decision making; Design; Dynamics; Environmental risk; Experts; Farmers; Farming systems; Food security; Ghana; Governance; Interest groups; Intervention; NGOs; Nongovernmental organizations; Planning; Policy making; Poverty; Poverty alleviation; Power; Qualitative research; Redundancy; Regions; Research methodology; Research methods; Resilience; Rural communities; Small farms; smallholder farmers; Stakeholder analysis; Stakeholder collaboration; Stakeholders
• ISSN: 1469-3062; 1752-7457
• DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2022.2134085

Climate change significantly impacts agriculture. Building an informed and collaborative process among stakeholders remains vital in minimizing climate risks and building climate-adaptive and resilient agricultural systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, stakeholders' involvement and collaboration in agriculture decision-making are framed by institutional, power, and resource dynamics, often ignoring vulnerable stakeholders most susceptible to climate shocks. These collaborative dynamics are less studied in the climate adaptation literature, especially in the context of Ghana and SSA. This study promotes stakeholder engagement and collaboration in climate-adaptive and conservation agriculture (CA) by examining the influence of and relationship dynamics among key stakeholders in the northern region of Ghana (NRG). Drawing from the normative stakeholder theory and literature on climate adaptation intervention, we use multiple qualitative research methods (e.g. brainstorming, semi-structured interviews, and focus group sessions) to profile and explore stakeholders' roles, interests, and collaboration in CA and adaptation interventions. Our findings suggest that collaborations in CA in these smallholder farming communities are often fragmented, providing few collaboration advantages to smallholder farmers. Where collaboration occurs, it is often characterized by redundancy or duplication of roles and functions performed by stakeholders, poor coordination among key government actors, or by conflictual relationships among non-governmental organizations (NGOs); relationships amongst stakeholders are often driven by conflicting interests and asymmetric power differentials. These findings suggest that measures to engage stakeholders must carefully consider aligning stakeholders' interests and addressing power differentials, which are necessary to minimize conflicts in collaborative governance arrangements for adaptation and CA. Conservation agriculture (CA) creates resilient agricultural systems for enhanced food security and poverty alleviation. Stakeholder roles, interests, and collaborations should be identified to understand who should be included to establish a collaborative connection for adaptation planning. Policymakers should actively engage stakeholders, including smallholder farmers, in the design and implementation of climate adaptation planning and interventions. As the principal resource for adaptation planning and decision-making is the people