Integrating climate-smart agri-innovative technology adoption and agribusiness management skills to improve the livelihoods of smallholder female cocoa farmers in Ghana

ABSTRACT

Environmental and climate change issues have exacerbated the existing gender inequalities in Ghana's cocoa sector. The current underrepresentation and unequal access to opportunities for women in climate action initiatives has negative implications for their livelihoods. This research focuses on how harvesting cocoa waste enabled the creation of a sustainable micro enterprise to encourage adoption of shaded cocoa production to generate biomass (waste) for organic compost production. The study followed a prescribed training programme for organic compost production and agribusiness management skills. The study employed the analysis of project notes and post-training community-visit observation records and interviews to assess the success of the training workshops and the overall project progress. Results from the analyses indicate that the knowledge and skills provided engendered motivation for a continuous and expanded adoption of climate-smart agri-innovation of shaded cocoa production. Further, the results show evidence of positive social, environmental, cultural, and economic impacts and favourable prospects of improved livelihoods for female cocoa farmers. These insights imply that SDG13, which calls for urgent climate action, can be integrated with SDG5, which places emphasis on gender equity, to improve the adoption of cocoa agroforestry and the livelihood of women in the cocoa sector of Ghana.

KEYWORDS:

• Sdg13-climate action
• sdg5-gender equity
• climate smart cocoa agroforestry
• livelihood empowerment
• smallholder female cocoa farmers

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) QR funding from Birkbeck – University of London, London, UK.

Notes on contributors

Fred A. Yamoah

Fred A. Yamoah, PhD is a research academic in sustainability and food and agribusiness management. He is Birkbeck College – University of London's Lead for the Principles of Responsible Business Education (PRME) and Carbon Literacy Training. He has served in various leadership positions in higher education and well published with over 60 referred articles in internationally recognised journals and book chapters. He serves as a principal investigator for various research projects in the UK and overseas, journal editor, external examiner and visiting professor and a public speaker in sustainability and agribusiness management.

James S. Kaba

Dr James S. Kaba is a Lecturer and Researcher at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He obtained his PhD in Management of Mountain Environment and Agriculture in 2017 from Libera Università di Bozen, Italy. He previously obtained his BSc and MPhil degrees in Agriculture Technology and Crop Science from the University for Development Studies and the University of Ghana, Legon respectively. His research interest is in Crops/Soil Science, Agroforestry, Sustainable Agriculture, Climate Change, and Integrating Science with Farmers' Knowledge. His career ambition is to impact knowledge and improve farmers livelihood through innovative and sustainable methods of Farming. His publications (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James_Kaba/research) are on cocoa Agroforestry, waste management, nutrients management and biochar.