Iddisah Alhassan, Ugochinyere Agatha Okafor, Mihaela Sima, Philip Antwi-Agyei, Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, Henri-Count Evans, Inga Grinfelde, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, Jasenka Gajdoš Kljusurić, João Carlos Correia Leitão, Chunlan Li, Newton R. Matandirotya, Bethwel Mutai, Gustavo J. Nagy, Thierry Razanakoto, Jame Schaefer, Goran Trbic, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga, Sane Pashane Zuka, Charles Galdies, Adriana Consorte-McCrea, Francisco Platas, Mittul Vahanvati, Pedi Obani, Safwatun Nida, Lucas Gabriel Zanon, Mayara Régia Sousa de Melo, Renato da Costa dos Santos, Alison Glover, Roman Vakulchuk
To implement effective climate actions at all societal levels, it is crucial to understand the perceptions of different stakeholders on climate change. However, there have been limited empirical studies on the perceptions and adaptation strategies of stakeholders and farmers in climate-vulnerable districts of Ghana. The study addresses this research limitation by identifying the factors that influence perception and adaptation strategies in six climate-vulnerable districts in the Northern Region of Ghana. Data was acquired through face-to-face questionnaires from 384 farmers, interviews, and focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics, content analyses, and logistic regression were used to analyze the perceptions and adaptation strategies of stakeholders and farmers. The results of the descriptive statistics analysis indicate that the majority of farmers perceived changes in the region’s climate. The marginal effects of logistic regression show that farmers’ perception of climate variability is influenced by climate information, agricultural credit, the age of a farmer, extension services, and belonging to a faith group. Adopting climate adaptation strategies is significantly influenced by climate information, belonging to a faith group, and the age of the farmer. The farm experience hurts farmers’ adoption of adaptation strategies. The study recommends empowering extension agents to effectively disseminate climate adaptation strategies to strengthen the adaptive capacities of farmers in climate-vulnerable districts. Moreover, policies tailored to address the differential needs that would promote climate adaptation across these climate-vulnerable districts should be implemented. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
The Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kwaluseni Campus, Matsapha, South Africa; Institute of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Engineering, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia; Center for Sustainable Development (Greens), Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; School of Urban and Regional Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Kgotso Development Trust, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Centre, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; CERED, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Marquette University, Milwaukee, United States; University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Land Economy, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Blantyre 3, Malawi; Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta, Msida, Malta; Academy for Sustainable Futures, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom; Casa de Cultura de la UAEMéx en Tlalpan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico; School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom; Science Education Department of Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil; State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; Universidade do Contestado-UNC, Mafra, Brazil; The Open University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo, Norway; West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), University of The Gambia, Banjul, Gambia; Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Bucharest, Romania; Department of Environmental Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, KNUST-Kumasi, Kumasi, Ghana; Center for Food Security Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa Univesity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
