Browsing by Author "Nkiaka Elias"

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    Climate Variability, Land Cover Changes and Livelihoods of Communities on the Fringes of Bobiri Forest Reserve, Ghana
    (eprints.com, 2020) Ata -Baffour Frank; Antwi- Agyei Philip; Nkiaka Elias; 0000-0002-8599-474X
    Climate variability coupled with land use and land cover changes have resulted in significant changes in forest reserves in Ghana with major implications for rural livelihoods. Understanding the link between climate variability, land use and land cover changes and rural livelihoods is key for decision-making, especially regarding sustainable management of forest resources, monitoring of ecosystems and related livelihoods. The study determined the extent to which climate variability drives land cover changes in the Bobiri forest reserve, Ghana. Landsat images from 1986, 2003, 2010 and 2014 were used to evaluate land cover changes of the Bobiri forest reserve in Ghana. Participatory research approaches including household questionnaire surveys, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were conducted in four fringe communities of the Bobiri forest reserve. Findings showed that local people perceived changes in rainfall and temperature patterns over the past years. Historical rainfall and temperature data for the study area showed increased variability in rainfall and an increasing temperature trend, which are consistent with the perception of the study respondents. Analysis of land cover satellite images showed that there has been significant transformation of closed forest to open forest and non-forest land cover types over the 28-year period (1986–2014), with an overall kappa statistic of 0.77. Between 2003 and 2014, closed forest decreased by 15.6% but settlement/bare ground and crop land increased marginally by 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews revealed that increased land cover changes in the Bobiri forest reserve could partly be attributed to erratic rainfall patterns. Other factors such as logging and population growth were reported to be factors driving land cover changes. The study concluded that the Bobiri forest reserve has witnessed significant land cover changes and recommended that alternative livelihood sources should be provided to reduce the direct dependency of fringe communities on the forest for livelihood and firewood.
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    Economic value and latent demand for agricultural drought forecast: Emerging market for weather and climate information in Central-Southern Nigeria
    (ELSEVIER, 2023) Antwi- Agyei Philip; Awolala David; Mutemi Joseph; Adefisan Elijah; Taylor Andrea; Muita Richard; Bosire Emily; Mutai Bethwel; Nkiaka Elias; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8599-474X
    Provision of weather and climate services are expected to improve the capacity for rural households’ preparedness and response plans to weather shocks. With increase in public investments in developing and communicating weather information on local scale in Nigeria, uncertainty in timescales that meet farmers’ needs and economic value of the information is still poorly understood. It is now a policy concern on whether farmers’ preferences and demands might increase its uptake. This study analyzed the economic value, latent demand, and emerging market of weather and climate information in Central-Southern Nigeria. Farm-level crosssectional data reveals that 76% of the respondents were willing to pay for improved weather information and early warnings in taking climate smart decisions. Within farmers who showed positive responses, 86% would pay for sub-seasonal to seasonal weather information while 38% would pay for medium and short range weather information respectively. The economic value of sub-seasonal to seasonal weather information was estimated at N1600 ($3.60) per year per capita with total aggregated value of N1.3 billion ($2.9 m) yearly for the derived savannah area. Predictive total market value of N17.43billion ($39 m) would be obtained from improved weather information in Nigeria. Simulated results of 5% increase in the uptake with better dissemination channel through mobile phones in addition to robust farmers’ oriented features will generate additional annual market value at N86m ($193,360) for service providers. Large farm size, good farm-income, mobile phone dissemination channels, and location-specific information were drivers of farmers’ uptake decisions of weather information in the dry savannah area. The huge emerging market for improved weather information should be developed into a public–private market to efficiently facilitate uptake and use in Nigeria.
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    Exploring the Need for Developing Impact-Based Forecasting in West Africa
    (original research, 2020) Nkiaka Elias; Taylor Andrea; Dougill J Andrew; Antwi- Agyei Philip; Adefisa Adesanya Elijah; Ahiataku A Maureen; Ata -Baffour Frank; Fournier Nicholas; Indasi S Victor; Konte Oumar; Lawal Abiodun Kamoru; Toure Awa; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8599-474X
    While conventional weather forecasts focus on meteorological thresholds for extreme events, Impact-Based Forecasts (IBF) integrate information about the potential severity of weather impacts with their likelihood of occurrence. As IBF provides an indication of local risk, there is an increasing uptake of this approach globally. Despite the vulnerability ofWest Africa to severe weather, and the potential benefits of such a risk-based approach for informing disaster risk reduction, IBF remains rarely used in this region. To meet this need, three national workshops were held in Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal with forecasters, project researchers and users of Climate Information Services (CIS) from key sectors (e.g., agriculture, water resources, disaster, risk reduction). In addition, a more localized district level workshop was held in Northern Ghana to explore needs at a subnational scale in Tamale District. The objectives of these workshops were to evaluate the current use of forecast products provided by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) and to explore the potential for applying IBF. Findings indicate a recognition that the quality of forecast products provided by NMHSs in West Africa has substantially improved in recent years. However, challenges remain related to user understanding, clarity about forecast uncertainty, insufficient spatial and temporal resolution of forecasts leading to limited trust in forecasts. The workshops identified high demand for weather information related to storms, droughts and heatwaves in all the three countries. Dust storms were identified as having strong potential for IBF application in both Nigeria and Senegal. To increase the uptake of CIS by users in West Africa, NMHSs will need to develop and implement user-tailored IBF in their normal weather forecast approaches and improve communication channels with user communities. There is an urgent need for governments in West Africa to enhance the capacity of NMHSs to incorporate IBF as a routine forecast activity by first establishing a National Framework for Climate Services with user engagement as a key first pillar.
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    Gendered perceptions and adaptation practices of smallholder cocoa farmers to climate variability in the Central Region of Ghana
    (ELSEVIER.COM, 2021) Antwi- Agyei Philip; Jamal Mohammed Alawi; Ata -Baffour Frank; Nkiaka Elias; Antwi Kwabena; Gbordzor Antoinette; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8599-474X
    Understanding gendered adaptation practices among smallholder cocoa farmers is crucial to ensuring sustainable cocoa production in Ghana. This study examined the gendered perceptions and adaptation practices of small- holder cocoa farmers to climate variability in three selected communities (Breman Ayipey, Breman Baako and Breman Kuntanase) in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District of the Central Region, Ghana. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach including household surveys and focus group discussions with 10 participants in each community. Mann-Kendall trend test was used to determine the rainfall and temperature changes in the study district from 2000 to 2015. Results indicated that there was no significant difference between male and female farmers’ perceptions of climate variability ( p > 0.05). Both male and female farmers perceived an increasing temperature, rainfall, windstorms and flooding for the past 15 years. The Mann-Kendall trend test showed that annual rainfall and temperature had increased over the study period although the trends were not statistically significant ( p > 0.05). Both male and female farmers had resorted to the use of different adaptation practices to reduce the threats of climate variability. There was a substantial difference between adaptation practices used by male and female farmers such as changing planting dates, use of drought tolerant hybrids, shade management, livestock rearing and income from sale of properties ( p < 0.05). The study recommends policy formulations that incorporate gender perspectives into climate change adaptation practices among smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana.