Abstract:
Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) has gained traction as one of the effective
strategies in tackling the climate crisis. Many CSA practices have been promoted by
development agencies to smallholder farmers based on the assumption that farmers
would adopt these innovations for their potential benefits. However, the adoption
of CSA practices in Ghana and much of Africa remains low and decision making and
on-farm innovation processes are poorly understood. This study seeks to provide
empirical and participatory insight into how smallholder farmers innovate. Based on
a novel application of a participatory video methodology, in farming communities
in the Upper West Region of Ghana, that have been exposed to multiple CSA
intervention programmes, the paper analyses farmers’ own self-curated accounts
of experiences with CSA innovation. The findings show that farmer’s motivation
to adopt CSA innovations is driven by their concerns for food security, economic
gains, and the environmental impact of climate change on their farming activities
and livelihood. The study reveals a mismatch between the CSA technologies and
practices advanced by the development agencies and what farmers perceive as
relevant and important in addressing their farming challenges. In particular, the
findings show that in a pool of more than 12 CSA technologies and practices
that had been promoted through three donor-driven intervention programmes
in the communities, farmers selected less labour intensive, less costly, and CSA
technologies and practices that fitted to their current farming practices and the local
context. Agricultural extension agents served as an important information source on
the CSA innovation and their practical implementation and farmers’ social groups played a crucial role in facilitating learning about the CSA technologies and practices.
There is the need to integrate farmers voices using innovative methodologies such
as participatory videos to better understand farmers’ experiences in the innovation
process which will help inform the design of effective interventions and promote
adoption of innovations aimed at enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers
and reducing environmental impacts in African food systems. By focusing on the
innovations that farmers perceive as beneficial and adaptable to their local contexts,
development organizations can use their resources more efficiently and promote
adoption of contextually appropriate CSA innovations.
