IMPACT OF ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON LAYER PRODUCTION AMONG POULTRY FARMERS IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA

Abstract

Climate variability in developing countries hinders agricultural productivity, especially poultry layer production. Adopting climate adaptation measures could improve layer health and performance in poultry production. This study assesses the impact of climate adaptation strategies on layer production among poultry farmers in Ghana, filling a knowledge gap. The study made use of cross-sectional data from poultry farmers in the Northern region as well as secondary data from the National Aeronautic Space and Administration (NASA) power platform. Specifically, the study employed the copula switching regression model to determine how climate variability affects egg production and poultry farmers' net revenue; identified poultry farmers' adaptation strategies and their perceived effectiveness using descriptive statistics and Kendall’s Concordance coefficient; analysed factors influencing the adoption of adaptation strategies using a multivariate probit model. Finally, the Marginal Treatment Effect (MTE) model was used to assess the impact of adopting poultry adaptation strategies on egg production while accounting for heterogeneity in treatment effects of farm and farmer observed and unobserved characteristics on their egg production. The Results show that the adoption of short-term related strategies (STRAS) and medium-term related strategies (MTRAS) increased egg output by 617%, and 307% respectively, whilst long-term related strategies (LTRAS) adoption alone decreased egg output by 30% folds when farms experience extreme temperature variability. This study calls for a proactive extension service system for information dissemination, educating and training poultry farmers on adaptation strategies to ensure widespread adoption for increased egg production in Northern Ghana