Off-Farm Job as Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Small Scale Rice Producers in the Volta Region of Ghana

Abstract

Changes in Climate pose a significant threat to agriculture which is by far the most climate-sensitive sector because of the sectors’ over-reliance and dependence on rainfed production. This paper identifies off-farm job participation as one of the main climate change adaptation strategies used by small-scale rice producers in the Volta Region of Ghana. Stratified random sampling was used to select four hundred and forty (440) small-scale rice produces from the Volta Region of Ghana. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the socio-economic characteristics of respondents; determinants of off-farm job participation was analysed with Probit Regression while Propensity Score Matching was used to analyse the impact of the off-farm job on income. The study revealed that majority of small-scale rice producers in the Volta Region are into off-farm jobs as a means of survival against climate change. The factors that influence off-farm job participation positively were level of education and type of production system while age, average land size and average productivity of the land showed negative relationships. Majority of farmers who produced under rainfed production system were into off-farm jobs because of uncertainty in weather conditions compared to those under irrigation production system. It is therefore recommended that stakeholders such as NBSSI in the various districts and municipalities vis a vis other NGO’s involved in entrepreneurship development programmes should train farmers on available off-farm job opportunities to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change on their livelihood.