Baffour-Ata, F., Antwi-Agyei, P., Nkiaka, E. et al. (3 more authors) (2021) Effect of climate variability on yields of selected staple food crops in northern Ghana. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research.
Abstract
Agriculture in Ghana is vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate variability. This poses a challenge to food security across the country. Despite this vulnerability, limited research has been conducted to understand the effect of climate variability on the yields of staple food crops in Ghana. This study assessed the effect of climate variability on the yields of selected staple food crops (millet, sorghum, rice, groundnut and maize). The study used the Mann-Kendall trend test and multiple regression analysis to assess how climate variability (in annual rainfall, onset, cessation, number of dry days and temperature) has affected the yields of selected food crops in five districts in northern Ghana (Bole, Nanton, Tolon, Kassena Nankana East and Wa) over a 21-year period (1995?2016). Results suggested a marginal decrease in annual rainfall (p > 0.05) and a significant increase in temperature (p < 0.05) over the period of study in the districts. Variability in the onset, cessation, length of rainy days and number of dry days was statistically significant from year to year, and also across the districts (p < 0.05). Results indicated substantial variability in the yields of the selected staple food crops. Temperature, number of dry days, onset, annual rainfall and cessation explained about 43 32 30 254 respectively of the variations in the yields of groundnut, sorghum, millet, maize and rice. Our results generally suggest that the changing climate substantially affects food production in the study districts, highlighting the need for adaptations including the use of agricultural diversification and the greater use of drought tolerant varieties of these staple crops, as well as the continuing investment in crop breeding programmes to enhance drought tolerance.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | copyright 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Food security,Agriculture,Climate change,Crop yield,West Africa |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Environment and Geography (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 22 Jul 2022 17:10 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2025 00:30 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2021.100205 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jafr.2021.100205 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:189376 |
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