Ghana

Agrarian resilience in a changing climate

Nutrient depletion and unpredictable rainfall have led to declining crop yields in Ghana, where 55 percent of labourers in the southern, central and western regions are connected to the cocoa industry. In recent years, farmers in the droughtprone north have been migrating to the cocoa-growing districts in the southern regions. Many of these farmers bring practical information on the effects of climate change with them, but little is known about how they share that knowledge and its impact on management.

With this project, researchers worked with Ghanaian producers to understand the transfer of knowledge on climate change between farmers and the development of social networks. Through social surveys and interviews, the team showed that migrant farmers play a key bridging role in transferring knowledge between previously isolated social networks. Researchers identified drought-resistant practices such as planting shade trees, and used innovative geo-imaging technologies to determine the impact of these adopted practices on crop production. Ultimately, they demonstrated that root zones are more dispersed in systems with more than one species and presumably more effective at using water resources efficiently.

Even as the project pursued this groundbreaking research, it held two training workshops to expose researchers to the field of social network analysis. The first, held in Ghana, attracted 65 technicians, graduate students and faculty from the partner organization and three other institutions. The second workshop in Toronto, which focused on data analysis, led Dr. Isaac to successfully secure a SSHRC Insight Development grant.

Indeed, the project leveraged several other funding sources to broaden its scope. Dr. Isaac obtained a Teaching Enhancement grant from the University of Toronto to help develop videos of lectures on socio-ecological systems for graduate students at both partner institutions. She also secured a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant, enabling the project to add a training session on ground-penetrating radar systems, as well as the intensive training of one technician at the African partner institution. 

Results from this project shed light on best practices for enhancing resilience in a changing and uncertain climate.