New Risk Management Findings from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Described (Understanding Drought Risk Management In Vulnerable Communities In Dryland Farming Systems: Evidence From Northwest Ghana): Risk Management

2024 FEB 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Risk Management. According to news originating from Kumasi, Ghana, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Drought intensity and associated risks are increasing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with dire implications for sustainable livelihood. Yet, there is a limited comprehensive understanding of the severity of drought risks in dryland farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana, where climate change has multiple effects on farming operations.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, “Monitoring episodic droughts is particularly important for developing local-based adaptive interventions to sustainably improve livelihood and food systems. Drawing evidence from Northwest Ghana, this study used a Rainfall Anomaly Index (RAI), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Binary Logistic Regression (BLR) to understand drought indices and risks of 40 years (1981-2020), and assessed prioritized coping measures and determinants in rural farming communities. The study revealed that farmers in Northwest Ghana have been experiencing severe intermittent drought risks in the last four decades, with extreme episodes observed in 1983 and 1984. Results show that northern Ghanaian households are coping with drought risks using several strategies such as picking edible wild fruit, migration for labour work, remittances from family members and friends, livestock rearing and sale, petty trading, and basket weaving as the key coping measures by households to counteract drought risk. The BLR estimates show that socio-economic variables such as marital status, household size, market access, and farmland size are significant factors that can predict farmers’ coping interventions. The sale of livestock as a buffer to support households rebound from a climate disaster is critical.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “We suggest that decision-makers and policy-makers mainstream access to social safety schemes in drought-affected locations to sustain local food systems, agricultural biodiversity and livelihoods.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Understanding Drought Risk Management In Vulnerable Communities In Dryland Farming Systems: Evidence From Northwest Ghana. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 2024;100. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-disaster-risk-reduction/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Felix Kpenekuu, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, College of Science, Dept. of Environmental Sciences, Kumasi, Ghana. Additional authors for this research include Philip Antwi-Agyei, Fred Nimoh, Marian Amoakowaah Osei and Lawrence Guodaar.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.104186. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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