Climate variability, consumption risk and poverty in semi-arid Northern Ghana: Adaptation options for poor farm households

• Climate variability has substantial impacts on the poverty and food security status of farm households.
• Policy interventions like the provision of agricultural credit and expansion of irrigation access are highly important in reducing the adverse effects of climate variability for the capital constrained and poor rainfed farm households.
• To achieve significant changes in food security, a mix of adaptation strategies in the form of credit and irrigation has to be provided simultaneously.

This paper presents a micro-level simulation study on possible impacts of farm level adaptation strategies using a spatial dynamic hydro-economic model called Mathematical Programming based Multi Agent System. The model was validated for the Northern semi-arid region of Ghana. The simulation results revealed that climate variability has substantial impacts on the poverty and food security status of farm households. Policy interventions like the provision of agricultural credit and expansion of irrigation access are found to be highly important in reducing the adverse effects of climate variability for the capital constrained and poor rainfed farm households. However, to achieve significant changes in food security, a mix of adaptation strategies in the form of credit and irrigation has to be provided simultaneously. We also found that farm level adaption through shifting planting date as well as adopting early maturing crop varieties can substantially reduce the adverse impacts of climate variability.