A Poultry Farmers’ Perception and Coping Strategies to Climate Change: Implications on Poultry Production n Bono East Region, Ghana

Abstract

The study assessed poultry farmers' perception and coping strategies to the effect of climate change on poultry production in the Bono East region of Ghana. The Chi-square test was used to examine the drivers of the choice of coping strategies used by poultry farmers to mitigate the effects of climate change on poultry production. The results revealed that poultry farmers were aware of climate change in their various localities. Majority of the farmers acknowledged that drought has increased (60%) while others mentioned that temperature has gone up (63%), and most of them also perceived that rainfall has reduced (75%). Majority of the respondents revealed that climate change reduced the growth rate of poultry birds (62%), increases the incidence of diseases outbreak (58%), and has high effect on feed quality (67%). The main coping strategies used by the poultry farmers in the study area are litter spreading and cleaning out and planting of trees. Marital status, educational level and main occupation are the factors that influence the choice of coping strategies used by the poultry farmers. Hence, interventions on enhancing poultry farmer’s awareness and knowledge about different adaptation strategies to improve their adaptive capacity on climate change should be encouraged.