Preparing for, coping with and bouncing back after shocks. A nuanced resilience assessment for smallholder farms and farmers in Northern Ghana

Smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana regularly face shocks, challenging the
sustainability of their farms and livelihoods. Different farm households and household
members may be differently affected and respond with different coping strategies. We
combined whole-farm modelling and farmer consultations to investigate the
vulnerability, buffer and adaptive capacity of three farm types in Northern Ghana
towards severe climate, economic and social shocks. We further assessed intrahousehold
differences in respective risk mitigation and coping strategies. Our model
results indicate that the drought shock would most severely affect all farm types,
drastically reducing their operating profits and soil organic matter balance. The
medium resource endowed farm was most affected by shocks, but all farm types could
enhance their capacity to recover by adopting technology packages for sustainable
intensification. Gendered coping strategies included livestock sales, post-harvest
storage, activating social networks, rice processing and the collection, processing and
sales of wild nuts and fruits. Farmers reported to aim at becoming more resilient by
increasing their herd size and expanding their farmland, thereby risking to increase
rather than reduce the pressure on natural resources. New questions arise concerning
the carrying capacity of local ecosystems and resilience at community and landscape level.