Seed security among smallholder farmers in semi-arid Ghana

Abstract

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recent projections indicates that sensitivity to climate risks is likely to increase in the coming decades, with more erratic rainfall, prolonged dry periods, shorter growing seasons, and seed germination failures. The impacts of these risks on food, nutrition, and seed security among smallholder households are well-documented in literature. However, in the African context, the mechanisms through which the intersection of these ecological stressors and other factors affect seed security are poorly understood. We used a case study of semi-arid Ghana to examine seed security among smallholder farmers. We adopted a mixed-methods approach with intensive fieldwork in two farming villages. The study used multinomial logistic regression and qualitative interviews to understand how climatic and non-climatic factors determine seed security. Data collection methods included a household survey (n = 429), and in-depth interviews integrated with human-environment timelines (n = 20). Overall, the findings show that the significant determinants of seed security in semi-arid Ghana include village location, access to information, access to credit, and access to tractor plowing services. The results further showed that seed security is often disrupted by factors other than climate change, including farmer-herder conflicts, and the use of synthetic farming inputs. We found that some of the identified determinants are also evident in related food security studies. Ultimately, we argue that holistic efforts to resolving such factors is required to achieve both seed and food security among smallholders.

Keywords

• Climate change
• Smallholder agriculture
• Seed security
• Seeds
• Determinants