ASSESSMENT OF THE ECOSYSTEM, GENDER AND IRRIGATION NEXUS IN THE BAWKU WEST DISTRICT OF GHANA: A LIVELIHOOD APPROACH

Abstract

In many drier countries around the world including Ghana, irrigation is one of the key strategies being used as climate change adaptation. This is however, being done without an adequate understanding of how the use of irrigation for livelihoods development affects the ecosystems. The purpose of this study therefore is to examine the irrigation, ecosystems and livelihoods nexus in the Bawku West District of the Upper East Region of Ghana. The study relied mainly on primary data collected from 304 respondents randomly sampled across four irrigating communities in the Bawku West District of Ghana. The data collected were analysed descriptively and quantitatively using probit and treatment effect models. The study results revealed that there is a strong link among irrigation, ecosystems and livelihoods of farmers. Whiles ecosystem provides important source of livelihoods through provision services such as food, income and good health, livelihood strategies, particularly irrigation are over-stretching it leading to the decline in its capacity to continue to support sustainable livelihoods. Age, marital status, market availability, extension contact and farm size, were found to significantly influence farmers’ decision to participate in irrigated agriculture, which improves the livelihood of farmers in the study area. Farmers in the study area are constrained with labour, pest and disease infestation, limited access to credit, high cost of inputs, low price of farm produce, limited access to technologies and poor water supply. This notwithstanding, potentials for the upscaling of irrigated agriculture exist – availability of land, accumulation of wide range of experience in farming and the willingness of farmers to venture into agriculture as a business (entrepreneurial skills). The study recommends among other things, the need for farmers to employ ecosystem friendly practices in their irrigation activities to ensure sustainable livelihoods in the long term.