Abstract
The research paper adopts a mixed methods approach to understanding climate shock and its consequences in the Ghanaian context. The nationally representative Ghana Living Standards Household Survey (GLSS) is merged with district-level geocoded information on climate events to explore associations between climate shocks and farm inputs demand quantitatively. Results show commercial purchases of inputs as a potential coping strategy among agricultural households. The remainder of the paper uses qualitative methods to understand other adaptation strategies better. Interviews with women highlight their housework adjustments and implications for leisure. Adaptation is, however, not a universal response to climate change and disaster events. Despite observed mental health associations, the paper highlights the role of religion in passive dispositions when it is believed that disaster events are divine and do not merit an adaptation response. The study improves understanding of individuals’ adaptation, and non-adaptation, responses to climate shocks in Ghana.
Keywords: climate change fatalism, farm input demand, gender roles, mental health, mixed methods, Ghana
Citation: Nkechi S. Owoo. 2024. “Climate Shocks, Adaptation, and Well-Being in Ghana: A Mixed Methods Study.” CGD Working Paper 692. Washington, DC: Center for Global Development.
