Intersectional Vulnerabilities and Climate Resilience: Livelihood Adaptation Strategies Among Rural Smallholder Women Farmers in Northern Ghana

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 2, February 2026 | pp. 1–8

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/000101

Research Article

Title: Intersectional Vulnerabilities and Climate Resilience: Livelihood Adaptation Strategies Among Rural Smallholder Women Farmers in Northern Ghana

Names of Authors: Amina Gariba¹, Chinyere Okon²

Authors’ Affiliations: ¹Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana; ²Centre for Gender and Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

Abstract: Climate change disproportionately burdens rural women in sub-Saharan Africa due to deeply entrenched agrarian gender roles and restricted resource ownership. This empirical study investigates the adaptive capacity and livelihood resilience strategies deployed by female smallholder farmers across three climate-vulnerable districts in Northern Ghana. Utilizing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, quantitative survey data from n = 385 randomly sampled women heads of households were integrated with qualitative insights from 12 focus group discussions. Statistical evaluations revealed that while 78.4% of respondents experienced severe crop yield reductions (mean decrease = 35.2 ± 4.1%) over five consecutive seasons, only 14.2% possessed formal land titles limiting access to credit facilities (t = 6.84, p < 0.001). Coping mechanisms predominantly involved diversification into non-farm micro-enterprises and communal labor-sharing cooperatives. However, systemic exclusion from agricultural extension services restricted technology adoption rates to below μ = 25% efficiency thresholds. The findings underscore that enhancing regional food security necessitates gender-transformative climate policies that legally secure land rights and decentralize climate-smart agricultural training directly to women-led cooperatives.

Keywords: Climate change, intersectionality, smallholder farmers, adaptive capacity, gender roles, livelihood diversification, Ghana

Manuscript Timeline: Received: 12 October 2025; Revised: 05 January 2026; Accepted: 18 January 2026; Published: 01 February 2026

Citation: Gariba, A., & Okon, C. (2026). Intersectional Vulnerabilities and Climate Resilience: Livelihood Adaptation Strategies Among Rural Smallholder Women Farmers in Northern Ghana. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(2), 1–8.

Subscribe to read the full article: https://www.internationalscholarsjournals.org/subscribe-to-read