article · Climate Services
Cocoa farming households in the Wassa East District use several strategies to adapt to climate change, including adjusting planting dates, planting improved cocoa varieties, diversifying crops, integrating trees, and engaging in non-farm activities. A survey of 150 households reveals that older age and active information seeking increase access to climate services, which in turn support these adaptation practices. However, existing climate services fail to address the full scope of farmers' needs. Current provisions primarily broadcast basic rainfall and temperature data over radio and television, omitting guidance on critical decisions such as planning and harvesting schedules. To improve climate resilience, access to climate services must expand to cover planting advice and crop improvement. Tailoring delivery through zero-literacy devices could enable farmers to effectively access and apply actionable information.
Climate change heavily threatens cocoa productivity, which sustains rural livelihoods and national agricultural output. Conventional weather broadcasts through radio and television do not give farmers the operational details needed for complex farm decisions. Expanding services to include tailored guidance on planting and harvesting, especially through accessible technologies for non-literate farmers, helps protect cocoa yields against variable climatic conditions.
The findings point to an opportunity for agricultural technology developers and climate information providers to design zero-literacy information delivery devices for smallholder cocoa farmers. Services could deliver actionable advisory tools covering planting schedules, harvesting dates, and crop improvement options beyond standard weather forecasts. This represents an early-stage concept requiring the development and field testing of specialised, accessible hardware or digital interfaces tailored to rural, non-literate agricultural users.
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Studies have generally shown that climate change has tremendous impacts on cocoa productivity. Although there is an increasing proliferation of studies on adaptation strategies of cocoa farmers, many of the studies are not linked to climate services that provide information to help ensure climate smart decision-making among cocoa farmers. This study investigates the perception and adaptation strategies of cocoa farmers to draw insights into climate services necessary for adaptation. Through a semi-structured questionnaire survey of 150 cocoa farming households and Focus Group Discussions, the study found that key adaptation strategies include changing planting dates, diversification to non-farm activities, planting improved cocoa varieties, crop diversification, and tree planting. Age and information seeking behaviour of farmers have positive influence on access to climate services which serves as a basis for these adaptation strategies. The existing climate services are not comprehensive enough to cover the wide array of adaptation needs of farmers. Current services focus on only dissemination of rainfall and temperature information through radio and television without providing information on other adaptation needs such as planning and harvesting dates. The findings suggest that there is a need for scaling up access to climate services in areas of planting services and crop improvement through zero literacy devices if cocoa farmers’ adaptation to climate impacts are to be addressed.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.cliser.2022.100289
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