POULTRY FARMERS’ PERCEPTION AND COPING STRATEGIES TO CLIMATE CHANGE: IMPLICATIONS ON POULTRY PRODUCTION IN BONO EAST REGION, GHANA

Abstract

Poultry production has the potential to reduce poverty, food and nutrition insecurity and enhance employment creation. Despite the benefits from poultry farming, climate change is reported to have adverse effects on poultry production. However, literature on the coping strategies adopted by farmers within the Bono East region and their determinants are scarce. Based on this premise, this study used descriptive statistics and chi-square technique to examine poultry farmers' perception and the drivers of the choice of coping strategies adopted to reduce the negative effect of climate change on poultry production in the Bono East region of Ghana. The results revealed that poultry farmers were aware of climate change in their various localities. Majority of the farmers perceived an increase in temperature (63%), a decrease in rainfall (75%) and an increase in drought (60%). The farmers also reported that the changing climate poses severe consequences for poultry production, including, a decrease in the growth rate of poultry birds, increase in the incidence of diseases outbreak, high birds’ mortality rate and low feed quality. The main coping strategies used by the poultry farmers are litter spreading and cleaning out and planting of trees. The Chi-square analysis revealed that marital status, (X2 = 10.403, P <0.05), educational level (X2 = 15.653, P < 0.01), and main occupation (X2 = 21.011, P < 0.01) are the factors that influence the choice of coping strategies used by the poultry farmers. Hence, education interventions on enhancing poultry farmer’s awareness and knowledge about different coping strategies to improve their adaptive capacity on climate change should be encouraged.