What are the Impediments to Adoption of Effective Climate Change Adaptation Strategies in the West Mamprusi District of Northern Region of Ghana?

Climate change adaptation is critical to achieving food production goals in Ghana. Using a political economy approach this study explores the ways in which the adoption of ‘effective’ climate change adaptation strategies by smallholder farmers is impeded in the West Mamprusi district of Ghana. I argue in this paper that farmers’ adoption of agro-ecological and organic agricultural practices is fundamentally affected by the promotion of the use of hybrid seeds and chemical fertilizers as adaptation measures. This has implications for the preservation of local indigenous knowledge and practice since farmers are caught in a web of having to depend hybrid seeds and agro-chemicals every cropping season. It was also found that there exist several institutions including MDAs and NGOs which promote several adaptation programmes to farmers. The lack of collaboration amongst this institutions in the implementation of their programmes poses challenges to farmers’ adoption levels.