"The main stakeholders in this work are the farmers who provide data for my research through citizen science. The farmers serving as the indigenous forecasters are thus also the main beneficiaries of the findings of this study."
Smallholder farmers in Ghana have been disproportionately affected by climate variability and change, leading to crop failures, field reduction, and food insecurity in the region. Although most farmers adapt to climate change through changing planting dates, only about 30% have access to weather information, mainly through radio broadcasts that have not proven reliable over the years. Dr Enoch Bessah is researching the co-production of integrated indigenous and scientific weather and seasonal climate forecasts for climate change adaptation in the Pra River Basin of Ghana.
The study assesses the potential of climate information services in supporting farming decisions in the study area and identifying farmers' specific weather and seasonal climate information needs. Dr Bessah completed expert interviews, focus group discussions and a feedback workshop to assess the core social-ecological issues farmers perceived as critical challenges that required the development of weather and seasonal climate information services. He also conducted a questionnaire survey to evaluate farmers' information needs. This was done using quantitative methods like forecast verification methods. He used the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast-System (ECMWF-S5) model. Weighted arithmetic means and forecast verification methods are being used to integrate, validate, and estimate the reliability of integrated forecasts compared to indigenous and scientific forecasts.
Dr Bessah is busy installing one of the automatic weather stations for data collection.
"The main stakeholders in this work are the farmers who provide data for my research through citizen science. The farmers serving as the indigenous forecasters are thus also the main beneficiaries of the findings of this study," said Dr Bessah, and a workshop with visually facilitated scenarios will test the impact of forecast probabilities and lead times on farmers' decision-making. "We have also collaborated with the Department of Agriculture in three districts to monitor the activities on the project and, most importantly, disseminate the findings to other farmers who are not part of the project."
The project provided an automatic weather station to each district office with signed agreements for managing and maintaining the weather station even after the project and to make data available for studies. Another important stakeholder is the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), which calibrated the instruments used for the data collection according to standard practice and will promote the adoption of the research findings into policy and practice.
Dr Bessah praises his University of Pretoria mentor, Prof Willem Landman. "He is the scientific eye of the project. Since indigenous research is gaining ground in science, most new methods require thorough verifications. With the insight and expertise of my mentor, the methods used have been revised. Most importantly, he has linked me to key researchers in this field from his network to open career opportunities and gain research insight." Prof Sampson Agodzo, the supervisor at his home institution, KNUST, in Ghana, guided him through every project stage, opening doors and ensuring smooth administrative processes: "He has expanded my network and insight in research."
Heidi Sonnekus | FAR-LeaF Team
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