Gender, land rights and climate change adaptation in Ghana: Implications for land tenure, agriculture and rural development

Land rights, important dimensions of land tenure, are crucial for smallholder farmers’ land tenure security and climate change adaptation. However, there are knowledge gaps on the nexus between land rights and climate adaptation in Ghana, particularly from a gendered perspective. This study draws on land right frameworks to explore the nexus between gender, land rights and climate change adaptation among men and women smallholder farmers in rural Ghana. Data were collected through a randomized survey administered to 510 smallholder farmers from four purposively selected communities in the Adansi Asokwa District, and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results showed that compared to women, more men own more farmlands (averagely 6.8 vs. 5.4 acres for women), have formal land title deeds, and exercise more land rights, particularly exclusion and alienation rights, enhancing their tenure security. Besides frequency of pest invasion, there is no significant differences in men’s and women’s climate change perceptions and experiences. Farmers used multiple climate adaptation strategies, including planting improved crop varieties, changing planting season, climate information services and agrochemical application. We found a significant difference between men’s and women’s adoption of crop diversification, crop-livestock integration and seed storage. Unlike men’s adaptation strategies, those of women are influenced by the number of rights they exercise and farmland size. Also, perceptions about the raining season and temperature intensity as well as marital status, locality, years of farming experience, access to non-farm livelihood activities and credit significantly influence farmers’ climate change adaptation. Gender differentiated policies and incentives for farmers are needed to enhance tenure security and climate change adaptation.