Assessing the climate change impacts of cocoa growing districts in Ghana: the livelihood vulnerability index analysis

Climate variability poses serious livelihood problems in most developing countries, especially in farming communities. This study assessed the vulnerability to climate change in two cocoa growing districts in Ghana. A total of 400 households from both districts were surveyed. Data were collected on socio-demographics, livelihoods, social networks, health, food, water, and natural disasters and climate variability. The composite index, differential, and integrated approach were used to aggregate the data, and differential vulnerabilities of the two districts were compared. The contributing factors (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity) were integrated to estimate livelihood vulnerability index (LVI)-IPCC. Results show that Asunafo North (ASN) had LVI-IPCC score of - 0.0236 compared to Bia West (BIW) of 0.0073. The results suggest that BIW may be more vulnerable regarding socio-demographics, social networks, health, food, water, natural disasters, and climate variability while ASN may be vulnerable to only livelihood strategies. The study also found that BIW was highly vulnerable to average receive-give and borrowed-lend money ratio. This assessment highlights how climate variability is affecting the livelihood of the cocoa-producing districts in Ghana. The study will be beneficial to the government of Ghana and non-governmental organizations in developing programs and projects to reduce vulnerabilities and enhance adaptive capacities in both ASN and BIW districts. Diversifying sources of income and livelihood could be the alternative to ameliorate vulnerability in both districts.