The rains are disappointing us: dynamic vulnerability and adaptation to multiple stressors in the Afram Plains, Ghana |
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Authors: | Lisa Westerhoff Barry Smit |
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Institution: | (1) University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada |
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Abstract: | This paper builds on work on the dynamics of vulnerability and multiple stressors through a case study in the Afram Plains
of the Eastern region in Ghana. A vulnerability framework is applied in the community of Mimkyemfre to identify and explain
the multiple underlying political, socioeconomic and environmental forces that influence the ways in which people are exposed
and sensitive to climate, and their capacities to adapt to changing conditions. The results of the study indicate that the
community experiences a range of biophysical and socioeconomic conditions that contribute to its vulnerability. Vulnerability
was found to change over time and in some cases was cyclical, in that certain actions taken for the purposes of adaptation
were found to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities. Processes of vulnerability were also found to occur at several scales and
were experienced unevenly at the community level. The findings of this assessment have important implications for the design
and implementation of successful adaptation initiatives, both in Africa and elsewhere. In particular, they demonstrate the
need to understand the social, economic and institutional challenges to development as a basis for any contemplation of adaptation
to climate change. |
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Keywords: | Adaptation Afram plains Africa Agriculture Community Ghana Food security Water Vulnerability |
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