Materials and methods study area the study was conducted in the guinea savanna gs and the semideciduous forest sdf zones of ghana in december 2011. Extract of an agro climatic constraints inventory 16. Potential net biomass and marketable yield based on radiation and temperature for different lgp zones 15. Sep 04, 2010 in ghana, only few studies have documented these linkages. The current study was conducted to compare fall armyworm larval numbers and infestation levels from five agro ecological zones aezs of togo and six aezs of ghana during the 3 yr environmental entomology, xxxx, 2020, 16 doi. Ghana highways authority roads and rail network with feeder roads dept. These agroecological zones have a bimodal equatorial rainfall pattern, allowing for two annual growing seasons major and minor growing seasons table 1. Cowpea yield as affected by level and time of mineral. Savannah agroecological zone in ghana is noted to be drought prone and characterized by temperature variability. The results for the validation revealed a good agreement r 0. Akumadan is located in the northern dry part of the cocoa belt representing marginal conditions for cocoa cultivation, whereas asankragua is located in the. Shade trees are an integral part of most cocoa growing systems across the world. Nutrient composition of moringa oleifera leaves from two agro.
Ecological zones aez process is the main system for assessing agricultural resources and potential can be applied at global, regional and national levels for better planning, management and monitoring of land resources fao involved in methodology development since 1978 used as so2 indicator area with improved agricultural productivity and crop suitability. Ghana has significant agricultural potential, particularly in the semiarid northern savannah agro ecological zone nsez, including the afram plains. Grain legumes cowpea, peanut, and soybean play important roles in household food and income security in smallholder farming systems in the guinea savanna agro. Climate, vegetation, parent material are pedogenic factors in classifying soils local and fao, their association with forest, savanna agro ecological zones. Sustainability free fulltext evaluating the environmental. Ghana s farming systems vary with agro ecological zones. Crops are getting destroyed due to periods of extreme heat and heavy rains. The global food security strategy gfss ghana country plan. Food security and climate change in droughtsensitive savanna. Empirical evidence from the three agro ecological zones in ghana. To address this public health concern, the enhancing child nutrition through animal source food management enam project developed a contextspeci. The seasonal and annual rainfall variability over the four agro ecological zones of ghana has been analyzed in this study using the satellitebased chirps v2 rainfall time series covering the period of 19812015. Pdf species range of fruit flies associated with mango. Smallholder farmers livelihood adaptation to climate variability and.
Ghana s economy relies greatly on agriculture and it accounts for the rise in the. The sudan savannathis covers an estimated area of 1,900 km2 and consists of short. Mar 11, 2017 the strategy targets two agro ecological zones aezs. To establish this link the study provides historical and predicted climatic changes for two drought sensitive agro ecological zones in ghana and further determines how these changes have influenced crop production within the two zones.
Perceptions and vulnerability of farming households to. Agricultural development in the northern savannah of ghana. Meta frontier model for agro ecological zones in ghana. It will also inform appropriate interventions for farming in the two agro ecological zones to reduce the impact of the changes in the climate. Ghana aquastat 2005 table 1 characteristics of agro ecological zones in ghana zone rainfall portion of total area length of growing season dominant land use systems main food crops mmyr % days rain forest 2 200 3 major season. These changes may affect the onset and length of rainfall, which has implication for ghana s rainfed agriculture. The savannah agro ecological zones experience the lowest rainfall agro ecological zones. Agro diversity in the forestsavannah transition zone of ghana. Iodine very weakly negatively correlated with c and n and showed a moderate positive correlation with clay. The agro ecological zones in ghana have been consistent over the years. Study area ghana s climate is classified as tropical and is characterized generally by two rainfall seasons. The agro ecological zones for maize cultivation in ghana can be mainly grouped into four. Diversity indices of the entomofauna this observation could also probably be in the semideciduous rain forest and coastal attributed to the number of sampling locations, savannah agro ecological zones of ghana management regimes, sampling techniques and sampling effort in the different studies.
The surveys were conducted on 120 farms in togo and 94 farms in ghana by collecting larvae from 200 maize plants per hectare. Caregivers food diversity and children s animal source food. Deciduous forest msdf agro ecological zone of ghana where climatic conditions. The guinea and sudan savannah make up the northern half of ghana. Fes and the ghana agricultural workers union gawu conducted a survey on the impact of climate change on the livelihood of farmers. The 2008 ghana demographic and health survey estimated that 28% of children under 5 years of age were stunted with high variation across agro ecological zones 19. Pdf crops and agroecological zones of ethiopia abebaw. Sudan savannah zone, guinea savannah zone, transition zone, semideciduous forest zone, rain forest zone and the coastal savannah zone figure 2. The 6 regions were purposefully selected to cover 4 different agro ecological zones.
Ghana mofa, 2012b and in 1995 to 1997 the area cropped to cassava increased from an average of 577,100 to 889,364 ha in 2011 mofa, 20092012. Sudan savannahguinea savannah, coastal savannah, forestsavannah, forest zone and the rain forest zone. The bush fallow system prevails wherever there is ample land to permit a plot to be rested enough to recoup its fertility, after one to three years cultivation. Characteristics of agro ecological zones in ghana 1.
The study analyzed scale efficiency parametrically for ghanas. Pdf species range of fruit flies associated with mango from. Flanked on the north, west and south by a series of highly eroded plateau formed mostly from crystalline intrusive rocks of volcanic origin. The survey area of this study covered three agro ecological zones of ghana, including the guinea savannah, moist semideciduous forest, and forestsavannah transition.
Response of grain legumes to phosphorus application in the. Agroecological zones aezs agroecological zones an agroecological zone aez is a zone or region which has unique combination of physiographic, soil, hydrological and agroclimatic characteristics. Savannah agro ecological zone include the inland valley soils occurring within the shale mudstone areas of the voltaian basin. This study should be used for discussion within the.
However there has been a change in weather due to global warming as a result of human activities. This study analyzed factors that influence farmers choice of adaptation strategies toward weather variability and food crop production. The original fao agro ecological zones project fao, 1978 was an early exercise in the application of land evaluation at a continental scale. Below are the various agro ecological zones in ghana, which includes their specific characteristics. The savanna agro ecological zone of ghana consists of the upper east, upper west, north east, savannah and northern regions located in the northernmost. The main agroecological zones and associated benchmark.
Pdf farmers choice of adaptation strategies towards. The general terrain of the high plains in northern ghana is defined by a dissected plateau with rivers draining into lake volta aquastat ghana 2005. Flanked on the north, west and south by a series of highly eroded plateau formed mostly from crystalline intrusive rocks of. In the forestsavanna transitional agro ecological zone of corresponding author. One of the biggest drawbacks in the long time series record of the meteorological dataset is the availability of data gaps. The vegetation consists typically of a ground cover of grasses of varying heights interspersed with fire resistant, deciduous, broadleaved trees at the forest margins.
In an agrarian economy like ghana, the need to understand climate change is as. Coastal savannah zone, forest zone, transition zone and guinea savannah zone. Evaluating the environmentaltechnology gaps of rice farms in. Perceptions and vulnerability of farming households to climate change in three agro ecological zones of ghana january 2021 journal of cleaner production 293. Ampiah department of crop science, school of agriculture, university of cape coast, cape coast, ghana email. Ghana s agricultural potential in the nsez remains mostly untapped. Agroecological zones an overview sciencedirect topics. Changes in rainfall characteristics in wenchi and saltpond.
The staple food crop of most ghanaians has been influenced by the climatic patterns in the country. Thirty agroecological regions and 88 subregions and 535 units have been. Agrodiversity in the forestsavannah transition zone of. The spatiotemporal variability of rainfall over the agro. Improved water control and crop management effects on lowland rice productivity in west africa. This paper examines the seasonal and annual rainfall variability in the four agro ecological zones of ghana from the chirps v2 rainfall time series spanning a period of 19812015. The climatic conditions of the different agro ecological zones are shown in table 4. Although production occurs in all of ghana s ten administrative regions, more than 70% of maize output comes from five regions in three of the six agro. How will climate change shift agroecological zones and impact. Fertilizer use by crop in ghana food and agriculture.
Pdf evaluation of maize top cross hybrids for grain. With about 40% of all animal species, the rainforests play a great role in sustaining the flora and fauna. These agro ecological zones from north to south are. The three key development priorities which will be supported through the 11th edf in ghana for a total amount of eur 323 million are. Facts and figures 2015, has been prepared by the statistics research and information directorate srid of the ministry of food and agriculture mofa. On the other hand, in the elaborated agro ecological zones there are 33 where many kinds of crops are also grown in each zone. Study area ghana s climate is classified as tropical. Sudan savannah, guinea savannah, coastal savannah, forestsavannah transitional zone, deciduous forest. Pdf perceptions and vulnerability of farming households. Nutrient composition of moringa oleifera leaves from two. The rainfall indices were computed with the aid of the fclimdex package whereas the trends of these indices were further tested using the mann kendall trend test.
Effects of fertilizer and cassavalegume cropping systems on. Assuming there are g agro ecological zones in the rice industry of ghana. Under i rrigation, soils found on the old levees of the volta and nasia rivers, lapliki series, are highly suitable. However, certain general features are discernible throughout the country. However, yields are low, rarely exceeding 600 kg ha. An agro ecological zone is a land resource mapping unit, defined in terms of climate, landform and soils, andor land cover, and having a specific range of potentials and constraints for land use. Performance of three cowpea vigna unguiculata l walp. Climate change and its impact on the livelihood of farmers. The differences in the agro ecological zones in terms of their biophysical, climatic, economic characteristics, and access to market and public utilities are presented in table 1. Farmers choice of adaptation strategies towards weather variability. The study explored climate change in the six agro ecological zones in ghana, which is located in west africa on latitude 4 44 0 n and 11 11 0 n and longitude 3 11 0 w and 1 11 0 e and shares. Agriculture in ghana is basically a rural activity and agricultural commodities. Gha 050205 cptable food and agriculture organization.
Evaluating the environmentaltechnology gaps of rice farms. A map of ghana showing the distribution of the study areas is shown in the appendix. The northern half of the country is mainly guinea savanna, this being the agro ecological zone of the three northern administrative regions. Basin is ghana s primary drainage system and includes the worlds largest reservoir, lake volta cia 20. It is the 25th edition of an annual series that commenced in 1991. Ecological zones aez process is the main system for assessing agricultural resources and potential can be applied at global, regional and national levels for better planning, management and monitoring of land resources fao involved in methodology development since 1978. Land suitability ratings of crops in thermal zones 14. In ghana, the climate has changed over the last years. Scale efficiency of maize farmers in four agro ecological. Pdf abundance and diversity of insects associated with. The ghana country plan is informed by performance, impact, and populationbased data and analysis of the first phase of feed the future.
Ghana is divided into six distinct agroecological zones. Garden production systems and food security in ghana jstor. Thirty agroecological regions and 88 subregions and 535 units have been identified by adding successive layers of information on the physical. An analysis of factors affecting agricultural land use in the transitional agro ecological zone of ghana, 19842000. Changes in the amount and pattern of rainfall over ghana are therefore, a major concern.
Farmers choice of adaptation strategies towards weather. Onfarm cocoa yields increase with canopy cover of shade trees in two agro ecological zones in ghana asare, richard. In an attempt to determine the potential sources of production shortfalls on rice farms in ghana, this paper estimates the production efficiency and the environmentaltechnology gaps of riceproducing households in the forestsavannah transition and guinea savannah agro ecological zones of ghana. Pdf variabilities in rainfall onset, cessation and. A trapping exercise to assess the range of fruit fly species from mango orchards in three agro ecological zones in ghana coastal savanna cs, the transitional tt and guinea savanna.
No major agro ecology area in hectare percentage 1 a1 hot arid lowland plains 12 202 265 10. Oct 19, 2018 ghana is divided into six distinct agroecological zones. Journal of the saudi society of agricultural sciences. The main agroecological zones and associated benchmark soils. The eight sites cover a range of agroecological zones. The objective of this study was to investigate and compare the nutritional components of mo leaves in two agro ecological zones of ghana. The inter tropical convergence zone is the region responsible for the rainforests.
This has allowed the agricultural sector to grow consistently. Pdf maize infestation of fall armyworm lepidoptera. Pdf perceptions and vulnerability of farming households to. How will climate change shift agro ecological zones and.
Box ka 9698, accra, ghana 2 institute of agricultural economics and social sciences in the tropics and. This paper examines the seasonal and annual rainfall variability in the four agro ecological zones of ghana from the chirps v2 rainfall time series spanning a. The global food security strategy gfss ghana country. The spatiotemporal variability of rainfall over the agroecological. Maize accounts for 50% of the total cereal production in ghana, with reported postharvest losses between 5% and 70%. Vegetation and agro ecological zones of ghana the guinea savanna this also covers almost the northern twothirds of the country with an area of 147,900 km2. Forest zones include high rainforesthrf, rainfall18002000mmy. Jul 01, 2019 the study was conducted in four agro ecological zones of ghana, namely, guinea savannah, transition, forest and coastal savannah zones. Caregivers food diversity and children s animal source. An agro ecological cell aec is defined by a unique combination of landform, soil and climatic characterist.
A strategy for food security against climatic and socioeconomic stressors jesse s. Pdf farmers choice of adaptation strategies towards weather. This study assesses farmers local knowledge of shade trees at two locations in ghana with different climatic conditions and vulnerability to climate change. Feeder roads department roads and rail network with ghana highways authority 16. The main agro ecological zones and associated benchmark soils of ghana. Ghana ports and harbours authority navigable waters and harbours 17.
Evaluating farmers knowledge of shade trees in different. The five principal growing regions are northern, brong. Transition and coastal savannah agro ecological zones of ghana. The guinea savannah zone is located along the north eastern corridor of the northern region with a total land area of about 125,430 square kilometres. There is no documented information about these soils in the moist semi. This information is important for the design of effective climatic and food security related projects across the agroecological zones in ghana.
1686 1123 1559 603 277 562 1265 1275 928 1289 1388 633 1329 537 1738 1559 1408 825 367 400 1522 1438 717 885 344 1248